History of science

Netflix is adapting the infamous Stanford Prison Experiment into a reality television format. The 1971 psychological study, in which student volunteers played guards and prisoners before descending into abuse, remains one of the most controversial episodes in social science history. Turning it into entertainment is drawing attention and debate about the ethics of staging such a scenario for viewers.

A newly published history-of-science article argues that Photograph 49, another X-ray diffraction image from Rosalind Franklin's King's College work, is the key to properly understanding the famous Photograph 51 used in determining DNA's double-helix structure. The paper, appearing in a Springer history of science journal, is being discussed for reframing how credit and interpretation of Franklin's crystallography are understood.

Star Cops was a British science fiction television series first broadcast by the BBC in the summer of 1987. Devised by Chris Boucher, previously known for work on Blake's 7 and Doctor Who, it was set in 2027 and followed the International Space Police as they investigated crimes in orbit. The series is being discussed again, with attention on its premise, its creator and its place in British sci-fi history.

A scientist is making headlines with claims that could upend long-standing assumptions about dinosaur history, challenging how these prehistoric animals are classified and understood. The research is drawing wide public attention, with many engaging in debate over whether it genuinely rewrites the dinosaur family tree or simply revisits old ideas with new evidence.

US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has announced an initiative to study vaccine safety. The move has drawn attention given Kennedy's long history of vaccine skepticism, with public health experts warning such reviews could fuel doubt about established immunisation science, while supporters argue closer scrutiny of vaccine safety is overdue.

History Today has published a review of 'Neanderthals Among Us' by Peter Sahlins. The piece examines the book's account of Neanderthals and their place in human history, including how their legacy survives in modern populations. Readers of science and history writing are sharing and discussing the review, keeping debates about Neanderthal ancestry and what it means for our understanding of human origins in view.

Discussion has turned to STS-51-F, the 1985 Space Shuttle mission that suffered an engine failure minutes after launch and performed the only Abort-to-Orbit in shuttle history. Despite the in-flight shutdown of a main engine, the crew safely reached a lower orbit and completed their Spacelab science mission aboard Challenger, later returning without injury.

Margaret Hamilton, the computer scientist who led development of the onboard flight software for NASA's Apollo program, has died at the age of 90. MIT News reported her death, describing her as a profoundly influential figure in computer science whose work made the Moon landings possible and helped found modern software engineering.

A 2014 paper recounts how Los Alamos scientists used the ENIAC computer in 1947 and 1948 to run Monte Carlo simulations of nuclear processes, an early landmark in scientific computing. The history highlights how gambling-inspired statistical methods and early electronic computers combined to shape weapons research and modern computational science. Readers are sharing the document and discussing the origins of simulation techniques still widely used today.

NASA's science blog has published a new piece asking whether a journey to the depths of ancient Mars is possible, inviting readers to consider what lies beneath the planet's surface and what it could reveal about Mars's early history. The post is being shared among space enthusiasts, who are discussing the planet's interior and the questions it still holds.

A Second World War historian is drawing attention for reviewing classic and modern war films, breaking down which battle scenes, weapons and details are historically accurate and which are pure Hollywood invention. Audiences are engaging heavily with the format, as viewers enjoy seeing famous combat movies judged against the real science and records of the war.

Mercury's unusually high density, its weak but puzzling magnetic field and mysterious hollows on its surface continue to raise major questions. In a podcast episode, science communicator pikarl recounts the planet's sporadic exploration history, from Albert Einstein's contributions to the few probes that have visited, and notes that a new mission is once again on its way to Mercury.

History Today has published a review of Peter Sahlins' book 'Neanderthals Among Us', examining how Neanderthals have been portrayed in human culture and science. The review is drawing modest attention on link-sharing forums, with readers passing it around for discussion, though no substantial comment threads have formed yet.

Gary Griggs's latest Our Ocean Backyard column examines fossils from an ancient ocean, continuing his long-running series for the Santa Cruz Sentinel. The piece looks at how marine remains record past ocean conditions, offering readers in the Monterey Bay area a local lens on deep-time ocean history and changing seas.

Two sisters took a commercial biological age test, which estimates how quickly a person is aging based on DNA markers rather than chronological age. The New York Times reports on their results and what the experience reveals about the science and limits of these increasingly popular tests. The story explores how factors like lifestyle and family history shape aging differently even between siblings.

Quantum-Si incorporated, a life sciences company traded under the ticker QSI, is being tracked by investors looking up its stock price, quote and trading history on Yahoo Finance. The company works on protein sequencing technology, and interest in its shares appears to be driven by market watchers monitoring biotech stocks. No specific price move or company announcement was included in the coverage.

On October 7, 1959, the Soviet Luna 3 probe returned humanity's first images of the far side of the Moon. Marking the anniversary, NASA has released the preliminary science reports from its Artemis II mission, prompting science commentators to trace the history of lunar far side exploration from Luna to Artemis.

Historian Surekha Davies is asking educators and students to share which courses have assigned her books, including subject and course titles, as she prepares a new book proposal. Her work spans ancient, medieval, early modern and eighteenth-century history, history of science, medicine, politics and art history. She welcomes thoughts and shares from anyone with classroom experience of her writing.

Thousands of elaborate ceramic dishes have been found preserved aboard a shipwreck dating back roughly 2,100 years. The find, reported by Nautilus, offers archaeologists a rare intact glimpse of ancient tableware and trade goods that survived centuries underwater, and the sheer scale of the haul is drawing wide attention from history and science enthusiasts.

Margaret Hamilton, whose pioneering software work played a critical role in the first moon landing, has died at the age of 90. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology announced that she died on September 30. Hamilton led the development of the onboard flight software for NASA's Apollo program, and tributes have highlighted her lasting influence on computer science and space exploration.

Margaret Hamilton, the NASA software engineer whose onboard flight software made the Apollo 11 moon landing possible, has died at the age of 90. Hamilton led the team that developed the Apollo guidance computer's software at MIT, coining the term 'software engineering' along the way and becoming an icon for women in science. Tributes are highlighting her legacy in space exploration and computing.

A roundup of odd science and history stories is making the rounds, featuring exploding grandmothers, a predator wrongly blamed because of its appearance, a mysterious two-hour gap nobody can explain, and metal created by the Hiroshima blast that never existed on Earth before. Readers are trading links and commentary on the strange-but-true collection.

Margaret Hamilton, the American computer scientist who led development of the onboard software for NASA's Apollo lunar programme, has died, according to a widely shared tribute. The post credits her work as essential to the moon landing, prompting renewed recognition of her role in computing history and heartfelt reactions from science and tech communities.

A new art exhibition in St. Louis examines the relationship between Black Americans and genetics, including DNA testing and ancestry. St. Louis Public Radio reports on the show, which uses art to explore how genetics shapes identity, family history and questions of race. Local audiences are being drawn to its blend of science and personal storytelling.