UChicago Explainer Series
Learn about some of the intellectual contributions pioneered at the University of Chicago, and how its scholars continue to shape the world and our understanding of it.
Cosmic rays, explained
Trillions upon trillions of cosmic rays hit the Earth every day. What are they?
All Explainers
The solar wind, explained
First proposed in the 1950s by UChicago physicist Eugene Parker, the solar wind is a flow of particles that comes off the sun at about one million miles an hour.
The Doomsday Clock, explained
The Doomsday Clock is a symbol that represents how close humanity is to self-destruction. The clock hands are set annually by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, a group formed by Manhattan Project scientists at UChicago after World War II.