Science and Conservation Science and technology

The butterfly and the remarkable Professor Hofstadter

Hofstadter’s butterfly, a remarkable spectrum of electron energy levels, was first described in 1976 by Douglas Hofstadter

From volcanoes on Java, to a supervolcano in Hong Kong, and dormant supervolcanoes today.

Picture an atom, and you may imagine spherical electrons orbiting a nucleus packed with particles: this is the Bohr atom, a simplistic model.

The 2012 Nobel Prize in Physics was for measuring and manipulating quantum systems; while the Chemistry prize was for work on receptors.

Lithium batteries have proven especially attractive as they produce high power relatively to their size.

3D printing is developing rapidly, with applications including rapidly making complex prototypes, and even creating aeroplane parts.

Beyond producing a pretty music album cover, mapping the brain’s circuitry may lead to significant medical advances

World’s biggest machine surely discovers the elusive Higgs boson, helping explain mass. Further quests await.

Meet the world's greatest dinosaur hunter.