Meet some of the people featured in the December 2021 issue of The Scientist.

In Chapter 7, “Wind and Breath,” author Jeremy England considers research findings that point to a surprising, emergent property of seemingly disordered molecules.

The MIT physicist has demonstrated the importance of clusters of RNA polymerase and other transcription mediators in regulating RNA production.

The Australian physicist-turned-biologist served as a top scientist in the UK government and president of the Royal Society, among other prestigious appointments.

Will the study of interactions between living things ever mirror the fundamental nature of physics and mathematics?

Scientists create a micro-CT scan image of Drosophila in fine detail.

The astronomical idea doesn’t align well with the fossil record, anthropologists argue, but the origins of bipedalism are still difficult to determine.

From the remarkable speed of enzyme-catalyzed reactions to the workings of the human brain, numerous biological puzzles are now being explored for evidence of quantum effects.

At magnetic field intensities somewhat above that of Earth, stem cell proliferation shifts gears.

Two new allegations surfaced last week, following an earlier accusation of rape.

The unit of mass will no longer be defined by a lone physical object but instead in terms of a universal constant.

Micrometer-scale fractures in elephant skin results from the way the epidermis grows.

Three researchers, Arthur Ashkin, Gérard Mourou, and Donna Strickland, who worked on optical tweezers and chirped pulse amplification win the 2018 award.

Famed for his work on black holes and cosmology, he also survived decades with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Empirical data and humans’ biased interpretations can only get so far in truly understanding life at the microscale.

Nicolaas Bloembergen’s research laid the groundwork for the development of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technology.

The $88 million agreement is part of efforts by the UK government to increase transatlantic collaboration as the country prepares to leave the European Union.

The Nobel laureate helped lay the groundwork for today’s ubiquitous magnetic resonance imaging machines.

The dissection of how cells sense and propagate physical forces is leading to exciting new tools and discoveries in mechanobiology and mechanomedicine.