Take the classic piano tuner question. To solve it, you might start by estimating Chicago’s population (say, 3 million). Then, you’d guess how many households own pianos (maybe 1 in 5).

Discover the Fermi Paradox — why, in a vast universe full of stars and planets, haven't we found extraterrestrial life? Explore the theories behind this great mystery.

Without looking, I could guess that Chicago’s population is somewhere between one and five million people. Using 2.5 million to start, and assuming an average household has four people, we would ...

During the test, the Nobel-prize winning physicist Enrico Fermi, one of the leaders of the team, estimated that it was about 10 kilotons. This was more than a mere guess. As the shockwave from… ...

The Fermi bubbles rise above and below the center of the Milky Way. They stretch across 50,000 light-years—about half the width of our entire galaxy. They were first detected in 2010 through ...

Italy, sentimental over their homegrown genius, also issued a stamp honoring Fermi. Guess which picture they used. In recent years, a little controversy has kicked up over the famous photo.

NASA's Fermi Telescope just mapped the entire sky at unprecedented energies. It saw lots of familiar sights, and one thing we've never seen.

Researchers have found clouds of cold gas embedded deep within larger, superheated gas clouds—or Fermi bubbles—at the Milky Way's center. The finding challenges current models of Fermi bubble ...