Yale Scientific Magazine

What is the world’s smallest mammal?

With mammals as large as the Blue whale and the African elephant, it may be hard to imagine that the world’s smallest mammal is only about the size of your fingernail.

Why is uranium used in nuclear bombs?

In 1934, a team led by Italian scientist Enrico Fermi began bombarding uranium atoms with neutrons, producing much smaller atoms, such as barium, and some neutrons. This process came to be known as nuclear fission.

Principal Investigators

A Principal Investigator’s (PI) office yields a valuable window into his psyche. Dr. Charles Baltay’s office, unmistakably that of a senior professor, is no exception. The worn-in room is strewn with a variety of textbooks: Classical Mechanics, Physical Review Letters.

The Future of Science at Yale

Science at Yale, in the physical form if not always in the academic, has always existed on the fringe of campus life. In the nineteenth century, Yale consciously denied chemistry laboratories space on Old Campus. The early twentieth century saw

Inception: Is it really just a dream?

Since its release in July 2010, Inception gave cinematic portrayal to a world which we could only dream of—a world in which our dreams can be invaded, manipulated, and even controlled. Leonardo DiCaprio plays an “extractor,” a professional thief who

Controversies in Science

In April 2010, a paper surfaced questioning a well-established concept regarding the branched assembly of actin filaments in moving cells. However, before accepting the new theory published in Nature by Urban et al., YSM decided to critically analyze the circumstances

Rachel Corbin, ES ’11

“There was no moment when I said “I’m going to be a scientist!” I did want to be other things, like a poet, a chicken farmer, the president—but I always thought I’d raise chickens or rule the country while still

David Gelernter, B.A. & M.A. ’76

One could say that Professor David Gelernter is a man of three faces – a pioneer in computer science, an artist with deep cultural roots, and a writer. Indeed, Gelernter has made significant contributions to all three fields. In computer

In Search of the Grand Design

Curiosity has often pushed mankind to find the laws governing natural phenomena. Both mythology and the Scientific Revolution have been byproducts of our need to explain and reason the world around us. Recent advances in physics have allowed modern scientists