Watch a video overview of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, which advises the pope on science, from one of its Nobel Prize-winning members.

The Pontifical Academy of Sciences is the only supranational academy of sciences in the world, with its members giving up some of their sovereignty to achieve shared objectives.

Explore the list of Pontifical Academicians that make up the Pontifical Academy of Sciences.

Browse the published volumes from the Pontifical Academy of Sciences—the Vatican's scientific advisory board.

As of 2026, the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, which advises the pope on scientific matters, has included 90 Nobel laureates among its members.

The Pius XI Medal—named after the pope who rebranded the Pontifical Academy of Sciences in 1936—has been awarded every two years to a promising scientist under 45.

In 2026, Pope Leo XIV published a 42,000-word document on AI, written with the advice of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences.

Galileo Galilei—considered the father of modern science—was once president of the Academy of Lynxes and used the name Galileo Galilei Linceo on the title pages of his works in its honor.

Critics say Nobel Prizes need updating to reflect how science and society work today

The rules still favor individuals over teams and may reflect outdated views on who does science. In 2013, the Nobel Prize in physics went to two theorists, even though over 5,000 scientists helped confirm the Higgs boson.

Learn about the National Science Board, the advisory body of the National Science Foundation

The apolitical Board's 24 presidentially appointed members, along with the NSF director, establish the agency's operational policies, programs, and awards, and approve its budget. They also advise the President and Congress on matters of science and engineering research and education to fulfill the NSF's goals of promoting scientific progress, advancing national health, prosperity, and welfare, and securing national defense.

Who’s who at the Vatican?

The Vatican is a massive organization whose processes and positions can appear impossibly dense to the common public. But, as this explainer from a University of Dayton professor makes clear, the Catholic Church's bureaucracy functions much like similarly-sized companies and universities. While the processes might still seem unnecessarily complex after reading, you'll at least be able to trace the org chart from the Pope on down.

Pope Francis and his distinctive approach to leading the Catholic Church

Pope Francis, born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, was known for promoting social and economic justice rather than just traditional moral teachings while he led the Catholic Church. During his papacy, he exhibited a more open point of view towards historically controversial matters related to marriage, sexuality, the priesthood, and celibacy—and not without criticism. Reflect on his legacy and how he changed the church in this video.

Each Nobel committee sends nomination requests to 3,000 leading academics annually

Each Nobel selection committee consults with experts to create a shortlist of finalists from the hundreds of nominations, which is then sent to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. The literature and peace awards also involve nominations from "qualified persons," such as university professors.

The Nobel Prize remains science's top honor despite limits and inequities

Each October, a few scientists gain global fame when told they’ve won a Nobel Prize—a century-old award founded by Alfred Nobel to recognize major achievements. While the prizes boost attention and prestige for winners, they exclude many deserving scientists due to rigid rules.

Only allowing three recipients causes the Nobel Prize to overlook team discoveries

While science has grown more inclusive and collaborative, the Nobel Prize system still struggles with outdated practices, such as secrecy and a rigid limit on awardees. This restriction sidelines many deserving scientists, especially in complex projects like the human genome or gravitational waves.

The Academy of Lynxes—a 17th-century science academy—was cofounded by an 18-year-old whose father suspected he was associating with sorcerers and magicians.

Explore a list of Nobel Prize winners supported by National Science Foundation grants

As of 2025, 274 Nobel laureates have received funding from the NSF at some point during their careers, including 49 in physiology or medicine, 82 in physics, and 70 in chemistry. The 73 NSF-funded laureates in economics include every prize winner since 1997.

A close look at the figures in Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel

The ceiling of the chapel—the site at the Vatican in Rome where the Roman Catholic Church selects the pope—was painted between 1508 and 1512. There are dozens of figures depicted on the ceiling and walls pulled from the Bible's Old Testament, with the centerpiece the nine center panels covering the Creation, Noah's Ark, and more. Explore a rich interpretation of the piece in this video.

Nobel Prizes in science have heavily favored male, North American, and European scientists

Most science laureates come from established academic institutions, and limited outreach and nomination rules have biased against researchers from low- and middle-income countries. As of 2024, China ranks among the world’s top scientific contributors, but has only won 10 Nobel Prizes in the sciences.

An overview of the National Science Foundation and the technologies it has helped fund

Established in 1950, the federal agency has provided billions of dollars to over 300,000 researchers, entrepreneurs, and students to conduct research across all seven continents. These funds have contributed to major technological achievements, from the invention of the internet to the first image of a black hole.

Why the structure of the National Science Board contributes to the NSF's nonpartisan design

After Congressional debates over the merits of having an independent agency versus one accountable to the president and the public, it was decided that the director and Board members would be presidentially appointed but serve staggered six-year terms. By replacing one-third of the Board's members every two years, each could outlast any single administration.

Non-Nobel Prize awards recognize topics outside of chemistry, physics and medicine

Established in 2002, the Abel Prize awards $750,000 to a mathematician for pioneering scientific achievements, while the $1M Turing Award honors contributions in computer science. Additional prizes in earth science, engineering, environmental science and policy, astrophysics, nanoscience and neuroscience have also been established.

Of the 736 Nobel Prizes in physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, and economics awarded through 2023, more than 95% come from the same academic family, having been taught by a lineage of previous winners.

Experience games that explore Nobel Prize-winning work

Inspired by the educators who set laureates on their path, the Nobel Foundation has created a library of interactive activities for the general public. These allow users to make groundbreaking discoveries, showing that such work is accessible to all.

Explore a timeline of research from the NSF National Center for Atmospheric Research

Since its founding in 1960, the group of research institutions has pooled together observational and computational resources to make significant advancements in the atmospheric sciences. These include the discovery of coupled atmospheric systems, the development of increasingly accurate climate models, and the creation of the National Scientific Balloon Facility.

Everything you need to know about the Tomb of Saint Peter

The Tomb of Saint Peter lies in Vatican City, a city-state surrounded by Rome, Italy. This comprehensive video explains the history of the apostle’s burial site and the brand-new technological developments surrounding it. Start your journey in Ancient Rome, learning how the Vatican got its name, and end with Microsoft’s AI technology that allows curious people from all around the world the ability to tour and interact with the space.

Georges Lemaître, a Belgian Catholic priest who proposed the Big Bang theory in 1931, became president of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences in 1960.

Oscar winners are selected by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

The organization includes over 10,000 members who work in various aspects of the film industry. Specific branches nominate for relevant categories, but once nominees have been selected, all members can vote for the award winners. For most categories, the nominee with the most votes wins. Best picture, however, uses ranked-choice voting.

University of California Santa Barbara produced 6 Nobel prize winners

The public school system is ranked as the eighth best by Forbes, and 56 of its faculty are members in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. See more figures on the school here.

Why the Linux Foundation partnered with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

In founding the Academy Software Foundation in 2018, the Linux Foundation spread its open-source philosophy to the cinema by establishing a neutral forum for sharing animation, visual effects, and audio technologies across projects. Its founding members include DreamWorks Animation, Epic Games, Google Cloud, Intel, and Walt Disney Studios.

A former grant recipient and reviewer explains how the NSF decides what research to fund

Every year, approximately 50,000 research proposals are evaluated against two merit review criteria approved by the National Science Board: the quality of the project and its potential societal impact. These evaluations are conducted by experts in the fields related to each proposal, identified by NSF program officers from a list of about 50,000 volunteers.

The Ig Nobel Prize is a satirical version of the Nobel Prize and aims to engage broader audiences with science by spotlighting scientific achievements that make people laugh before they think.

An organizational breakdown of the National Science Foundation's directorates

Each is responsible for supporting a different discipline within science, engineering, and education, such as the Directorate for Biological Sciences, the Directorate for Engineering, and the Directorate for STEM Education. Formed in 2022, the Directorate for Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships is the NSF's first new directorate in 30 years and is focused on growing industry and an equitable STEM workforce.

The Lucasian Chair is among the most prestigious academic positions in science

Once held by icons like Newton, Dirac, and Hawking, the position was founded in 1663. "Star Trek" imagined the Lucasian Chair’s future holder as the android Data, cementing its mythos across scientific and science fiction realms.

View the evolution of the National Science Foundation logo

When the agency was established in 1950, the logo featured an eagle holding a shield with symbols of a pyramid, a test tube, a microscope, and a lamp from which light radiated. Subsequent logos featured variations of a ring composed of people holding hands, which would eventually be redesigned to enclose a globe bearing the "NSF" abbreviation.

Some Nobel laureates have expressed beliefs in pseudoscience after winning

Examples of the phenomenon, known as Nobelitis or Nobel disease, include promoting psychic research, harmful practices like eugenics, and seeing talking raccoons. Increased external pressures after a win and a greater spotlight may contribute to developing or exposing these beliefs.

Bill Nye made a course on the framework of scientific thinking and problem solving

The class focuses on developing and fostering critical thinking skills to evaluate the world and the accuracy of claims. Nye highlights how these skills can be applied to overcoming fear of the unknown and engineering creative, outside-the-box solutions to some of the world's biggest challenges, including climate change.

The Louvre in Paris has its own particle accelerator for art analysis

The Accélérateur Grand Louvre d'analyse élémentaire serves as a noninvasive tool for identifying and quantifying trace elements present in artworks by analyzing how particles backscatter off targets. This information can help detect forgeries and determine a piece's provenance. (Some readers may experience a paywall.)

View an historical mural depicting the NSF's impact across seven decades

From 1950 to 2020, the National Science Foundation supported discovery-based, exploratory research that led to numerous breakthroughs, including the development of supercomputing centers, 3D printing technologies, biometric identification systems, an understanding of vector-borne illnesses, a DNA amplification technique, mobile meteorology units, and scientific education and literacy programming.

Take a tour of The Planetary Society headquarters with Neil deGrasse Tyson

Led by Bill Nye, the Hayden Planetarium director examines the LightSail aircraft, observes historical artifacts, such as a Mars meteorite, and explores props from the "Cosmos" TV series, which was hosted by Planetary Society cofounder Carl Sagan.

Explore a series of interdisciplinary explainers on climate science

From animations on the quantum mechanics of greenhouse gases to a photo essay on how scientists acquire climate data, this collection provides detailed explorations of how different branches of science have contributed to our understanding of climatology.

How the Trump administration explained the firing of the NSF's National Science Board

The White House argued that the April 24, 2026, decision resulted from the 2021 US v. Arthrex Supreme Court ruling, which "set limits on the powers of executive branch officials who are not Senate-confirmed" and therefore conflicts with the law that created the NSB. As of May 2026, the administration has yet to explain its next steps for the advisory arm of the National Science Foundation, which has lost about a third of its staff since the start of 2025.

The next generation of space-based observatories

How exactly does a space telescope come to be funded by NASA? NASA's most famous telescopes, like Hubble and James Webb, were once featured in the decadal survey–a once per decade survey run by the National Academy of Science that recommends which projects to support. This article and podcast covers which telescope designs are in contention to be part of NASA's next generation of space-based observatories.

Hear firsthand how scientists and policymakers saved the ozone layer

In this episode, atmospheric chemist Susan Solomon and Protocol architect Stephen Andersen recount how scientific discovery, diplomacy, and public pressure drove the Montreal Protocol—and share lessons for tackling climate change.

Anthropic's Claude Science is an AI workbench connected to more than 60 scientific databases, designed to assist scientific research in molecular and cellular biology and drug discovery.

Each scientific study adds incremental knowledge to existing understanding

On its own, no study serves as a source of truth or solves an existing problem indefinitely, though many can be analyzed collectively in a systematic review to build more confidence—the result of more data—in a conclusion. Studies can explore knowledge gaps or test an existing theory, which is always subject to refinement and improvement.

The secret lives of cells

Cutting-edge microscopy has revealed previously unseen interactions of biological molecules within their cellular environment, enabling scientists to observe and analyze the molecules in a holistic view. This podcast explains the minute advancements made over the last few decades in observing cells, revealing how scientists have come and what the future holds for the field.

Pixar relies on a 'brain trust,' a candid group of the company's minds that works collectively to shepherd creative productions.

Science is rarely a linear progression of understanding

Particularly at the frontiers, investigations conducted based on established knowledge can provide unexpected results. This opens the door to revising existing models, inspiring new lines of research, and ultimately leading to better future comprehension. For instance, experiments on the speed of light and the expansion of the universe yielded then-confusing data that led to revolutionary insights.

How Congressional oversight can override confidentiality in the NSF's proposal review process

In 2014, to investigate claims that the NSF was funding wasteful research rather than proposals that served national interests, confidential grant files were provided and reviewed by members of the House Science Committee. The actions, led by Lamar Smith (R-TX), were denounced by the scientific research community. (Some readers may experience a paywall.)

The basics behind mRNA vaccines

In this video, Yale experts Saad Omer, MBBS, MPH, PhD; Onyema Ogbuagu, MBBCh; and Akiko Iwasaki, PhD, explain the science behind COVID-19 mRNA vaccines.