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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 universe. 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 social sciences (e.g., economics, psychology, and sociology), which study individuals and societies. Applied sciences are disciplines that use scientific knowledge for practical purposes, such as engineering and medicine. While sometimes referred to as the formal sciences, the study of logic, mathematics, and theoretical computer science (which study formal systems governed by axioms and rules) are typically regarded as separate because they rely on deductive reasoning instead of the scientific method or empirical evidence as their main methodology. (Full article...)

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

  • Image 12 Alan Shepard and the American flag on the Moon, Apollo 14, February 1971 (photo by Edgar Mitchell) Apollo 14 (January 31 – February 9, 1971) was the eighth crewed mission in the United States Apollo program, the third to land on the Moon, and the first to land in the lunar highlands. It was the last of the "H missions", landings at specific sites of scientific interest on the Moon for two-day stays with two lunar extravehicular activities (EVAs or moonwalks). (Full article...)

    Alan Shepard and the American flag on the Moon, Apollo 14, February 1971 (photo by Edgar Mitchell)

    Apollo 14 (January 31 – February 9, 1971) was the eighth crewed mission in the United States Apollo program, the third to land on the Moon, and the first to land in the lunar highlands. It was the last of the "H missions", landings at specific sites of scientific interest on the Moon for two-day stays with two lunar extravehicular activities (EVAs or moonwalks). (Full article...)
  • Image 13 The nuclear reaction theorised by Meitner and Frisch with the following nuclear chain reaction theorized by Hahn and Strassmann Nuclear fission was discovered in December 1938 by chemists Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassmann and physicists Lise Meitner and Otto Robert Frisch. Fission is a nuclear reaction or radioactive decay process in which the nucleus of an atom splits into two or more smaller, lighter nuclei and often other particles. The fission process often produces gamma rays and releases a very large amount of energy, even by the energetic standards of radioactive decay. Scientists already knew about alpha decay and beta decay, but fission assumed great importance because the discovery that a nuclear chain reaction was possible led to the development of nuclear power and nuclear weapons. Hahn was awarded the 1944 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the discovery of nuclear fission. (Full article...)
    The nuclear reaction theorised by Meitner and Frisch with the following nuclear chain reaction theorized by Hahn and Strassmann


    Nuclear fission was discovered in December 1938 by chemists Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassmann and physicists Lise Meitner and Otto Robert Frisch. Fission is a nuclear reaction or radioactive decay process in which the nucleus of an atom splits into two or more smaller, lighter nuclei and often other particles. The fission process often produces gamma rays and releases a very large amount of energy, even by the energetic standards of radioactive decay. Scientists already knew about alpha decay and beta decay, but fission assumed great importance because the discovery that a nuclear chain reaction was possible led to the development of nuclear power and nuclear weapons. Hahn was awarded the 1944 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the discovery of nuclear fission. (Full article...)
  • Image 14 Engraving captioned Urania riphaeus from Charles D. d'Orbigny's Dictionnaire universel d'histoire naturelle (1849) Chrysiridia rhipheus, the Madagascan sunset moth, is a species of day-flying moth of the family Uraniidae. It is considered one of the most impressive and appealing-looking lepidopterans. Famous worldwide, it is featured in most coffee table books on Lepidoptera and is much sought after by collectors, though many older sources misspell the species name as "ripheus". The colours originate from optical interference in the iridescent parts of the wings, while the black parts are pigmented. Adults have a wingspan of 7–9 cm (2.8–3.5 in). (Full article...)

    Engraving captioned Urania riphaeus from Charles D. d'Orbigny's Dictionnaire universel d'histoire naturelle (1849)

    Chrysiridia rhipheus, the Madagascan sunset moth, is a species of day-flying moth of the family Uraniidae. It is considered one of the most impressive and appealing-looking lepidopterans. Famous worldwide, it is featured in most coffee table books on Lepidoptera and is much sought after by collectors, though many older sources misspell the species name as "ripheus". The colours originate from optical interference in the iridescent parts of the wings, while the black parts are pigmented. Adults have a wingspan of 7–9 cm (2.8–3.5 in). (Full article...)
  • Image 15 J. Robert Oppenheimer was probed in a controversial four-week hearing in 1954. Over four weeks in 1954, the United States Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) explored the background, actions, and associations of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the American scientist who directed the Los Alamos Laboratory during World War II as part of the Manhattan Project to develop the atomic bomb. The hearing resulted in Oppenheimer's Q clearance being revoked. This marked the end of his formal relationship with the government of the United States and generated considerable controversy regarding whether the treatment of Oppenheimer was fair, or whether it was an expression of anti-communist McCarthyism. (Full article...)

    J. Robert Oppenheimer was probed in a controversial four-week hearing in 1954.

    Over four weeks in 1954, the United States Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) explored the background, actions, and associations of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the American scientist who directed the Los Alamos Laboratory during World War II as part of the Manhattan Project to develop the atomic bomb. The hearing resulted in Oppenheimer's Q clearance being revoked. This marked the end of his formal relationship with the government of the United States and generated considerable controversy regarding whether the treatment of Oppenheimer was fair, or whether it was an expression of anti-communist McCarthyism. (Full article...)
  •   Featured pictures about Science.

    Vital articles

      Vital articles to understand Science.

    The Hubble Ultra-Deep Field image shows some of the most remote galaxies visible to present technology (diagonal is ~1/10 apparent Moon diameter)

    The universe is all of space and time and their contents. It comprises all of existence, any fundamental interaction, physical process and physical constant, and therefore all forms of matter and energy, and the structures they form, from sub-atomic particles to entire galactic filaments. Since the early 20th century, the field of cosmology establishes that space and time emerged together at the Big Bang 13.787±0.020 billion years ago and that the universe has been expanding since then. The portion of the universe that can be seen by humans is approximately 93 billion light-years in diameter at present, but the total size of the universe is not known. (Full article...)

    Did you know...

    Did you know it about Science?

    • ... that Australian Madeleine Steere played water polo professionally in Turkey after studying biomolecular science in the United States?
    • ... that a job offer from the Empire Cinema saved science fiction writer John Russell Fearn from factory-based war work that "damned near killed [him]"?
    • ... that the communist-era science-fiction novel Małe zielone ludziki presents a futuristic depiction of Africa that reflects Polish perceptions of the continent during the Cold War?
    • ... that a poem by Moses da Rieti includes an encyclopedia of the sciences, a Jewish paradise fantasy, and a post-biblical history of Jewish literature?
    • ... that Mary Clutter used her directorial position at the National Science Foundation to require scientific conferences to include women speakers when presenting research done by them?
    • ... that after Ursula K. Le Guin published her collection The Wind's Twelve Quarters, a reviewer called her the "ideal science fiction writer for readers who ordinarily dislike science fiction"?

    Get involved

    For editor resources and to collaborate with other editors on improving Wikipedia's Science-related articles, visit WikiProject Science.
    Science things you can do
    Many naturally occurring phenomena approximate a normal distribution.
    Many naturally occurring phenomena approximate a normal distribution.
    • Integrate relatively new scientific knowledge and findings (major studies reported on by RS) into relevant articles
    • Expand 2025 in science and/or other articles for science-related topics of the year (in the box on the right)
      • Create new articles for items of this article, mostly articles relating to new scientific fields/topics/findings (the page does not use redlinks anymore but you will quickly identify possible new articles when reading it; here you can find a version with over 60 redlinked examples)
      • Some of the lists' items have not yet been integrated into their wikilinked articles; if you add a study there it should also be relevant to at least one other article
      • Maybe this could be done as part of an organized effort
    • Find[how?] studies published under a compatible open license (like CC BY 4.0) and upload the studies' images with descriptions from the study and add these images to articles if they are relevant and useful there
      • When a study with a useful image is published under an incompatible or unclear license (or the image is published not in a study but elsewhere), you could contact its authors (Twitter/Mail) and ask them to give you the permission to upload them under CC BY 4.0 (or whether they could upload the image/s under a compatible license)
      • You can also think about whether images would be useful as you read a science-related article and then search for such images:
        • if they already exist add them (if already on WMCommons) or upload them (if the license is ok) or ask their authors for permissions
        • if they don't, you could create (or request) them

    Science News

    1 April 2025 – Private spaceflight
    SpaceX successfully launches four humans into orbit over Earth’s poles for the first time for the human spaceflight mission Fram2. The journey will last three to five days. (The New York Times)
    26 March 2025 –
    Scientists discover Mongolian dinosaur Duonychus tsogtbaatari. (NBC News)
    25 March 2025 –
    A 6.7 magnitude earthquake hits New Zealand causing a tsunami warning to be issued. A tsunami was then spotted in Fiordland. [1]
    7 March 2025 – Stand Up for Science 2025
    Organized demonstrations and walkouts of scientists take place across 30 cities in the United States and France in protest of the Donald Trump administration's grant budget and employment cuts to several government scientific agencies. (AP)
    6 March 2025 –
    According to a report in the academic journal Science, the population of the 554 recorded species of butterflies in the U.S. have declined by 22% since 2000. (NPR)
    6 March 2025 – 2025 in spaceflight
    Starship flight test 8
    This following Science-related articles is a most visited articles of WikiProject Science, See complete list at Wikipedia:WikiProject Science/Popular pages.

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