A neutron star collision detected by gravitational waves is Science's 2017 Breakthrough of the Year.

Determining if a fire is accidental or due to arson is a process often plagued by poorly understood science, subjective judgments on the part of investigators and inadequately trained personnel, according to a new AAAS report on the quality of fire investigation in the United States.

As a curious 11-year-old, Alan Alda posed the question “What is a flame?” to his teacher. An unsatisfactory answer left him discouraged. More than 50 years later, the former M*A*S*H star and current faculty member at the State University of New York’s Center for Communicating Science makes the case for communicating science with clarity (and charm) in a recent editorial in the 1 March issue of the journal Science.

Calling it “a seminal event in the history of nuclear power,” the chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission told the AAAS Forum on Science and Technology Policy that the tsunami-triggered accident at the Fukushima Daiichi facility in Japan is likely to provide nuclear safety lessons for regulators in this country as well as Japan.