Fred Guterl

Back in 1994, when quantum computers existed only as so much chalk on a blackboard, mathematician Peter Shor invented what may soon prove to be their killer app.Shor trained his efforts on a calculation called “factoring,” which ordinarily nobody but a mathematician would care about, except it just happens to be an Achilles heel of the internet. If someone were to invent a computer that could perform this operation quickly, messages that are currently hidden from hackers, terrorists, military ad…

In 1972, Alex van der Eb, a molecular biologist, took cells from an aborted human embryo and cultured them in his lab in Leiden University in the Netherlands. The cells have since become “immortal,” meaning the descendants of the original cells have played a role in the research of numerous vaccines, including rubella, adenovirus, polio, rabies, chickenpox, Ebola and, most recently, several of the most widely used coronavirus vaccines.That puts the Roman Catholic Church, which opposes abortion a…

The two men battled over the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the role played by scientists in a Chinese lab. How accurate were the statements Senator Paul and Dr. Fauci offered in their exchange?

COVID-19 may have made a future pandemic—from a lab leak, bioterrorism or natural causes—more likely. Is Biden making the right moves to protect us?

The Omicron wave could possibly mark the beginning of the end of the pandemic. What else does the virus have in store for 2022 and the years to come?

A mistake—a Russian plane crossing into NATO territory or a NATO plane into Ukraine airspace—could bring the nuclear superpowers into direct conflict.

What’s needed is a $100-billion public-health overhaul to avoid the next catastrophe.

When talking with Google’s AI program, says Lemoine, it seems like a person—and that is reason enough to start treating it like one.

A rare comet from deep space will soon appear in the night skies. Stop what you’re doing and look up.

Did the virus originate in a lab or emerge as a spillover from nature? There’s no proof either way. But experts dug themselves in on one side or the other.