Author Archives: Philip Ball
The magic of mushrooms forces us to rethink what intelligence means
The astonishing secrets of fungal life raise profound questions
Where is the evidence that early pub closures will lower infection rates?
Far from “following the science,” is Boris Johnson now making it up to suit his pandemic policies?
Ten million Covid tests a day? This “moonshot” looks off course already
The government’s grandiose gestures are no substitute for competence on the basics
The government must respect the autonomy of science to prevent future catastrophes like this one
The individuals, the culture, the structures and the messaging—all are culpable for this appalling outcome
Astronomers unknowingly dedicated moon craters to Nazis. Will the next historical reckoning be at cosmic level?
Science is slowly facing up to its own problems with monuments to its historical figures, even when they are not on earth
A clue to one of the greatest unexplained mysteries in physics
Seekers of dark matter are getting very excited. But has this elusive particle, which holds the key to where the universe’s mass is hidden, really been discovered?
Would an earlier lockdown have halved the death toll?
Prospect’s chief science writer speaks to leading epidemiologists—including Neil Ferguson, who made this striking claim. He concludes that countless lives were unnecessarily lost
Chris Whitty and Patrick Vallance must speak out against Dominic Cummings
Not to do so would be an insult to the public and the ideal of evidence-based policymaking
What exactly is the R number and how useful is it?
The reproduction measure hides a wealth of complications but is indispensable to decision-making
How the web is weaving connections that help spread lies about Covid-19
The disturbing story of how the web is weaving weird connections between hippies, Nazis, Russian agents and the rest of us to spread lies about Covid-19
Shot of hope: inside the race for a coronavirus vaccine
Social distancing, self-isolation, city-wide lockdowns—they can only do so much. In order to stop Covid-19 in its tracks, we need a vaccine. So, how long will we have to wait?
Why scientists are divided over the UK government's coronavirus strategy
There is an angry, heated row raging among scientists about how best to tackle Covid-19. Given all the variables, we shouldn't be surprised