And there are some really big questions that we need answers to. Our current theory of what the world is made from down at the fundamental level is known as the “standard model” of particle physics—a deceptively boring name for one of humankind’s greatest intellectual achievements. Developed over decades through the combined efforts of thousands of theorists and experimentalists, the standard model says that everything we see around us—galaxies, stars, planets, and people—is made of just a few different types of particles, which are bound together inside atoms and molecules by a small number of fundamental forces. It’s a theory that explains everything from why the Sun shines to what … Continue reading How to Make an Apple Pie from Scratch (Harry Cliff)