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Members of the Academy in 1667 with Louis XIV

Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the world. Modern science is typically divided into two or three major branches: the natural sciences (e.g., physics, chemistry, and biology), which study the physical world; and the behavioural sciences (e.g., economics, psychology, and sociology), which study individuals and societies. The formal sciences (e.g., logic, mathematics, and theoretical computer science), which study formal systems governed by axioms and rules, are sometimes described as being sciences as well; however, they are often regarded as a separate field because they rely on deductive reasoning instead of the scientific method or empirical evidence as their main methodology. Applied sciences are disciplines that use scientific knowledge for practical purposes, such as engineering and medicine. (Full article...)

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Featured articles are displayed here, which represent some of the best content on English Wikipedia.

Image 1

The Brown Dog affair was a political controversy about vivisection that raged in Britain from 1903 until 1910. It involved the infiltration of University of London medical lectures by Swedish feminists, battles between medical students and the police, police protection for the statue of a dog, a libel trial at the Royal Courts of Justice, and the establishment of a Royal Commission to investigate the use of animals in experiments. The affair became a cause célèbre that divided the country. (Full article...)
Image 2

The Javan slow loris (Nycticebus javanicus) is a strepsirrhine primate and a species of slow loris native to the western and central portions of the island of Java, in Indonesia. Although originally described as a separate species, it was considered a subspecies of the Sunda slow loris (N. coucang) for many years, until reassessments of its morphology and genetics in the 2000s resulted in its promotion to full species status. It is most closely related to the Sunda slow loris and the Bengal slow loris (N. bengalensis). The species has two forms, based on hair length and, to a lesser extent, coloration. (Full article...)
Image 3

A Bengal tigress in Kanha Tiger Reserve, India

The tiger (Panthera tigris) is a member of the genus Panthera and the largest living cat species native to Asia. It has a powerful, muscular body with a large head and paws, a long tail and orange fur with black, mostly vertical stripes. It is traditionally classified into nine recent subspecies, though some recognise only two subspecies, mainland Asian tigers and the island tigers of the Sunda Islands. (Full article...)
Image 4

White in 1989

Ryan Wayne White (December 6, 1971 – April 8, 1990) was an American teenager from Kokomo, Indiana, who became a national poster child for HIV/AIDS in the United States after his school barred him from attending classes following a diagnosis of AIDS. (Full article...)
Image 5

Lithograph of Ross in 1845, by Nicolas Eustache Maurin

Ludwig Ross (22 July 1806 – 6 August 1859) was a German classical archaeologist. He is chiefly remembered for the rediscovery and reconstruction of the Temple of Athena Nike in 1835–1836, and for his other excavation and conservation work on the Acropolis of Athens. He was also an important figure in the early years of archaeology in the independent Kingdom of Greece, serving as Ephor General of Antiquities between 1834 and 1836. (Full article...)
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Emerson "Bud" Dunn (May 15, 1918 – January 11, 2001) was a Tennessee Walking Horse trainer from Kentucky who spent most of his career in northern Alabama. He trained horses for over forty years and won his first Tennessee Walking Horse World Grand Championship at age 74 with Dark Spirit's Rebel; at the time, he was the oldest rider to win the honor. He was inducted into the Tennessee Walking Horse Hall of Fame in 1987 and named trainer of the year in 1980 and 1991. In 1999 at age 81, Dunn surpassed his own record for the oldest winning rider by winning his second World Grand Championship, riding RPM. He died of a heart attack in January 2001. (Full article...)
Image 7

At Tamri, Morocco

The northern bald ibis, hermit ibis, or Waldrapp (Geronticus eremita) is a migratory Old World ibis found in open areas such as grasslands, rocky mountains, and semi-deserts, often close to running water. This 70–80 cm (28–31 in) glossy black ibis, which, unlike many members of the ibis family, is non-wading, has an unfeathered red face and head, and a long, curved red bill. It breeds colonially on coastal or mountain cliff ledges, where it typically lays two to three eggs in a stick nest, and feeds on lizards, insects, and other small animals. (Full article...)
Image 8

Skull cast with reconstructed predentary bone, right horn, and left part of face

Kosmoceratops (/ˌkɒzməˈsɛrətɒps/) is a genus of ceratopsid dinosaur that lived in North America about 76–75.9 million years ago during the Late Cretaceous period. Specimens were discovered in Utah in the Kaiparowits Formation of the Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument in 2006 and 2007, including an adult skull and postcranial skeleton and partial subadults. In 2010, the adult was made the holotype of the new genus and species Kosmoceratops richardsoni; the generic name means "ornate horned face", and the specific name honors Scott Richardson, who found the specimens. The find was part of a spate of ceratopsian discoveries in the early 21st century, and Kosmoceratops was considered significant due to its elaborate skull ornamentation. (Full article...)
Image 9

Holotype specimen, with tail and uncertain bones at left, and body at right

Podokesaurus is a genus of coelophysoid dinosaur that lived in what is now the eastern United States during the Early Jurassic Period. The first fossil was discovered by the geologist Mignon Talbot near Mount Holyoke, Massachusetts, in 1910. The specimen was fragmentary, preserving much of the body, limbs, and tail. In 1911, Talbot described and named the new genus and species Podokesaurus holyokensis based on it. The full name can be translated as "swift-footed lizard of Holyoke". This discovery made Talbot the first woman to find and describe a non-bird dinosaur. The holotype fossil was recognized as significant and was studied by other researchers, but was lost when the building it was kept in burned down in 1917; no unequivocal Podokesaurus specimens have since been discovered. It was made state dinosaur of Massachusetts in 2022. (Full article...)
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The white-eyed river martin (Pseudochelidon sirintarae) is a passerine bird, one of only two members of the river martin subfamily of the swallows. Since it has significant differences from its closest relative, the African river martin, it is sometimes placed in its own genus, Eurochelidon. First found in 1968, it is known only from a single wintering site in Thailand, and may be extinct, since it has not been seen since 1980 despite targeted surveys in Thailand and neighbouring Cambodia. It may possibly still breed in China or Southeast Asia, but a Chinese painting initially thought to depict this species was later reassessed as showing pratincoles. (Full article...)
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Debora Green (née Jones; born February 28, 1951) is an American physician who pleaded no contest to setting a 1995 fire that burned down her family's home and killed two of her children, and to poisoning her husband with ricin with the intention of causing his death. The case was sensational, and covered heavily by news media, especially in the Kansas–Missouri area, where the crimes occurred. Though Green has petitioned for a new trial twice in recent years, her requests have not been successful. (Full article...)
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Mounted cast in the Milwaukee Public Museum

Albertosaurus (/ælˌbɜːrtəˈsɔːrəs/; meaning "Alberta lizard") is a genus of large tyrannosaurid theropod dinosaur that lived in northwestern North America during the early to middle Maastrichtian age of the Late Cretaceous period, about 71 million years ago. The type species, A. sarcophagus, was apparently restricted in range to the modern-day Canadian province of Alberta, after which the genus is named, although an indeterminate species ("cf. Albertosaurus sp.") has been discovered in the Corral de Enmedio and Packard Formations of Mexico. Scientists disagree on the content of the genus and some recognize Gorgosaurus libratus as a second species. (Full article...)
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The sarsen megaliths that were once part of the chamber of the long barrow

Chestnuts Long Barrow, also known as Stony Warren or Long Warren, is a chambered long barrow near the village of Addington in the south-eastern English county of Kent. Probably constructed in the fifth millennium BC, during Britain's Early Neolithic period, today it survives only in a ruined state. (Full article...)
Image 14

A stallion

The Marwari or Malani is a rare breed of horse from the Marwar (or Jodhpur) region of Rajasthan, in north-west India. It is closely related to the Kathiawari breed of the Kathiawar peninsula of Gujarat, with which it shares an unusual inward-curving shape of the ears. It is found in all equine colours, including piebald and skewbald. It is a hardy riding horse; it may exhibit a natural ambling gait. (Full article...)
Image 15

Imaging from NASA's Shuttle Radar Topography Mission STS-99 reveals part of the diameter ring of the crater in the form of a shallow circular trough. Numerous cenotes (sinkholes) cluster around the trough marking the inner crater rim.

The Chicxulub crater (IPA: [t͡ʃikʃuˈluɓ] ^ⓘ cheek-shoo-LOOB) is an impact crater buried underneath the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico. Its center is offshore, but the crater is named after the onshore community of Chicxulub Pueblo (not the larger coastal town of Chicxulub Puerto). It was formed slightly over 66 million years ago when an asteroid, about ten kilometers (six miles) in diameter, struck Earth. The crater is estimated to be 200 kilometers (120 miles) in diameter and 1 kilometer (0.62 miles) in depth. It is believed to be the second largest impact structure on Earth, and the only one whose peak ring is intact and directly accessible for scientific research. (Full article...)

Featured pictures

Featured pictures about Science.

Image 1Hypervelocity impact demonstration, by NASA (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Sciences/Others)
Image 2Nobel Prize in Physics diploma, by Sofia Gisberg (restored by Jebulon) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Sciences/Others)
Image 3Translational motion at Thermodynamic temperature, by Greg L (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Sciences/Others)
Image 4Drop impact on a liquid surface, by José Manuel Suárez (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Sciences/Others)
Image 5Color cathodoluminescence of a diamond, by Pavel.Somov (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Sciences/Others)
Image 6Archaeologists prospecting Santa Ana Cave at Excavation (archaeology), by Mario modesto (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Sciences/Others)
Image 7Animation of a water drop, by Chris 73 and Gmaxwell (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Sciences/Others)
Image 8Total internal reflection, by Jean-Marc Kuffer (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Sciences/Others)
Image 9Global oceanic and terrestrial photoautotroph abundance at Primary production, by SeaWiFS Project (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Sciences/Others)
Image 10Archaeological excavation at Atapuerca Mountains, by Mario modesto (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Sciences/Others)
Image 11Thermite reaction, by Nikthestunned (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Sciences/Others)
Image 12Operation Tumbler-Snapper, by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Sciences/Others)
Image 13NASA study on wingtip vortices at Wake turbulence, by Langley Research Center (edited by Fir0002) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Sciences/Others)
Image 14Ice core, by the Greenland Ice Sheet Project (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Sciences/Others)
Image 15Rusty chain, by WikipedianMarlith (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Sciences/Others)
Image 16Lorentz transformation of world line, by Cyp (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Sciences/Others)
Image 17Vibrating glass beam at Euler–Bernoulli beam theory, by Ben pcc (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Sciences/Others)
Image 18Simulation of liquids with different viscosities, by Synapticrelay (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Sciences/Others)
Image 19Activation energy, by Debivort (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Sciences/Others)
Image 20Australian Synchrotron, by John O'Neill (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Sciences/Others)
Image 21Oblique shock, by NASA/United States Air Force (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Sciences/Others)
Image 22Fast breeder reactor, by Graevemoore (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Sciences/Others)
Image 23Kármán vortex street, by Cesareo de La Rosa Siqueira (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Sciences/Others)
Image 24Dichroic prism, by XRay (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Sciences/Others)
$Image 25Refraction in raindrops, by Mila Zinkova (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Sciences/Others)$
Image 25Refraction in raindrops, by Mila Zinkova (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Sciences/Others)
Image 26Diet Coke and Mentos eruption, by Mikemurphy (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Sciences/Others)
Image 27Mechanical advantage device, by Prolineserver (edited by Tomia, Ss181292 and Atropos235) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Sciences/Others)
Image 28Peruvian Andes at United States Exploring Expedition, by Alfred Thomas Agate (edited by Durova) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Sciences/Others)
Image 29Holdridge life zones, by Peter Halasz (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Sciences/Others)
Image 30Section of the Large Hadron Collider, by Maximilien Brice (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Sciences/Others)
Image 31Warming stripes, by Ed Hawkins (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Sciences/Others)
Image 32Plasma globe, by Colin (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Sciences/Others)
Image 33Toroid magnets of the ATLAS detector, by Maximilien Brice, CERN (edited by Bammesk) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Sciences/Others)
Image 34Projectile motion of a bouncing ball at Inelastic collision, by MichaelMaggs (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Sciences/Others)
Image 35Parallax, by Mila Zinkova (edited by Richard Bartz) (from Wikipedia:Featured pictures/Sciences/Others)

Vital articles

Vital articles to understand Science.

A chemical element is a chemical substance that cannot be broken down into other substances by chemical reactions. The basic particle that constitutes a chemical element is the atom. Elements are identified by the number of protons in their nucleus, known as the element's atomic number. For example, oxygen has an atomic number of 8, meaning each oxygen atom has 8 protons in its nucleus. Atoms of the same element can have different numbers of neutrons in their nuclei, known as isotopes of the element. Two or more atoms can combine to form molecules. Chemical compounds are molecules made of atoms of different elements, while mixtures contain atoms of different elements not necessarily combined as molecules. Atoms can be transformed into different elements in nuclear reactions, which change an atom's atomic number. (Full article...)

Did you know...

Did you know it about Science?

... that Ukrainian science fiction and fantasy is written both in Ukrainian and Russian?
... that the Polish science fiction novel Extensa marked the growing recognition of its writer, Jacek Dukaj, in Poland?
... that West Virginia nursing professor Christine Elizabeth Abrahamsen wrote science-fiction and Gothic novels under the pseudonyms Christabel and Kathleen Westcott?
... that several science fiction critics praised "Rock Diver", the first short story by American writer Harry Harrison, for its compelling take on technology for passing through matter?
... that according to science fiction essayist Jacques Van Herp, the novella The End of Illa caused the temporary decline of French science fiction?
... that at the age of 14, Jenny Suo conducted a science experiment that ultimately led to GlaxoSmithKline pleading guilty to breaching consumer protection laws?

Get involved

For editor resources and to collaborate with other editors on improving Wikipedia's Science-related articles, visit WikiProject Science.

Science News

15 September 2024 – Polaris program: The spacecraft of the Polaris Dawn private spaceflight mission operated by SpaceX returns to Earth after five days in orbit. (BBC News)
12 September 2024 – Polaris program: American billionaire Jared Isaacman becomes the first person to perform a commercial spacewalk as part of the Polaris Dawn private spaceflight mission operated by SpaceX. (AP)
11 September 2024 – Spaceflight: Following the launch of the Russian Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, there were a record 19 people in outer space: the three astronauts on the MS-26 mission, three more on China's Tiangong space station, four people on the SpaceX Polaris Dawn mission, and nine more on board the International Space Station. (CollectSPACE)
24 July 2024 –: Researchers from the Scottish Association for Marine Science report evidence of dark oxygen being produced from metals on the seafloor. It was previously assumed that almost all the free oxygen (O
₂) on Earth was created through photosynthesis, which requires sunlight. (NPR)
23 July 2024 –: A study by the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation finds thirteen Brazilian sharpnose sharks off the coast of Brazil with high levels of cocaine in their muscles and livers. Experts believe that the cocaine is making its way into the waters via illegal labs where the drug is manufactured or through the excrement of drug users. (BBC News)
15 July 2024 – Mare Tranquillitatis pit: In the journal Nature Astronomy, American and Italian scientists announce the discovery of a lunar cave, approximately 250 miles (400 km) from the landing site of Apollo 11. (AP) (Nature Astronomy)