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The Absurd Pregnancy Math behind the Texas 'Six-Week' Abortion Ban 2021-09-04
The law the Supreme Court just failed to block is not just a blow to women; it’s biologically nonsensical
Michelle Rodrigues
You Have Probably Eaten This Natural Food Additive without Knowing It 2021-09-02
A new video series from Scientific American and Spektrum der Wissenschaft gives you a serving of science. In this episode, we take a look at something called inulin.
Spektrum, Scientific American Staff
Abortion Rights Are at the Greatest Risk since Roe v. Wade Was Decided in 1972 2021-09-02
The Supreme Court will hear a case in the upcoming term that could officially overturn that historic ruling
Elizabeth Nash
Rogue Antibodies Involved In Nearly One Fifth of COVID Deaths 2021-09-01
Self-targeting antibodies attack part of the immune system that plays a key role in fighting infection
Diana Kwon, Nature magazine
New Tool Shows Geology behind Kidney Stone Crystallization 2021-09-01
Rather than crystallizing all at once, kidney stones dissolve and re-form over and over
Harini Barath
Virus or Bacterium? Rapid Test Pinpoints Infection's Cause 2021-08-31
A generation of new tests could lessen overuse of antibiotics
Harini Barath
U.S. Forces Are Leaving a Toxic Environmental Legacy in Afghanistan 2021-08-30
Legal and practical obstacles make it difficult to clean the burn pits and health-damaging chemicals that remain at military bases
Kelsey D. Atherton
COVID, Quickly, Episode 13: Vaccine Approval, Breakthrough Infections, Boosters 2021-08-27
Today we bring you a new episode in our podcast series COVID, Quickly. Every two weeks, Scientific American’s senior health editors Tanya Lewis and Josh Fischman catch you up on the essential developments in the pandemic: from vaccines to new variants and everything in between. You can listen to all past episodes here.
Josh Fischman, Tanya Lewis, Jeffery DelViscio
YouTube's Plan to Showcase Credible Health Information Is Flawed, Experts Warn 2021-08-27
Search results may include a special section with videos from sources that are deemed reliable
Grant Currin
How to Reduce Racial Disparities in Smoking Deaths 2021-08-26
African Americans die at a higher rate than other groups and have a harder time quitting. But new evidence-based approaches can change that
Bryan W. Heckman, Anne Davis, James E.K. Hildreth
Humanitarians Push to Vaccinate in Conflict Zones 2021-08-26
Pandemic ceasefires offer an opportunity to expand vaccination efforts, experts say. But negotiation is tricky
Madeline Drexler, Undark
How COVID, Inequality and Politics Make a Vicious Syndemic 2021-08-26
Overlapping diseases and social conditions in the U.S. continue to dictate who is hurt most badly by the novel coronavirus
Emily Mendenhall, Clarence C. Gravlee
Unraveling the Mystery of Why Children Are Better Protected from COVID Than Adults 2021-08-26
Their immune system is more primed to fight off the novel coronavirus
Lars Fischer
COVID Vaccines Show No Signs of Harming Fertility or Sexual Function 2021-08-24
The novel coronavirus, in contrast, can disrupt both things in unvaccinated men and women
Emily Willingham
Policies Mandated by Multilateral Institutions Are Contributing to India's COVID Catastrophe 2021-08-22
The World Bank’s and the International Monetary Fund’s pressure to privatize India’s health care system deepened inequities in access—to lethal effect
Puja Changoiwala
The FDA Should Remove Its Restrictions on the 'Abortion Pill' Mifepristone 2021-08-21
The science is clear: abortion by medication is safe and effective
Kelly Cleland
Should You Get a Booster Shot? Here's What We Know 2021-08-20
Experts weigh in on common questions about whether and when additional doses of coronavirus vaccines may be needed
Tanya Lewis
Years Before COVID-19, Zombies Helped Prepare One Hospital System for the Real Pandemic 2021-08-20
An educational experiment used escape rooms and the undead to set the stage for a terrible situation that would become all too real
Maddie Bender
The True Haiti Earthquake Death Toll Is Much Worse Than Early Official Counts 2021-08-19
A tool built by the U.S. Geological Survey suggests that the number of fatalities may range from 10,000 to 100,000 or more
Sara Reardon
A New Resource for Fighting Vaccine Misinformation 2021-08-19
The #ScienceUpFirst initiative was created to provide, support and amplify accurate scientific information to help people make informed health decisions
Jonathan N. Stea, Krishana Sankar

Was 'Oumuamua, the First Known Interstellar Object, Less Weird Than We Thought? 2023-03-22
A new study suggests that ’Oumuamua, the mysterious visitor that whizzed through our solar system in 2017, may have been merely a small comet from another star
Meghan Bartels
'Plasticosis' in Seabirds Could Herald New Era of Animal Disease 2023-03-22
Ocean animals are growing sicker from ingesting too much plastic
Matthew Savoca, The Conversation US
Use Nature as Infrastructure 2023-03-22
In the climate crisis, wetlands have more economic value than new development
The Editors
Volcanic Activity on Mars Upends Red Planet Assumptions 2023-03-22
A mass of moving material on Mars called a mantle plume may be causing marsquakes and volcanism
Phil Plait
Health Research Is Needed Now before Sending Civilians to Space 2023-03-22
Now is the time to protect the health and safety of civilians who will be traveling, living and working in the dangerous environment of space
Michael Marge
Spring Is Starting Earlier--It's Not Your Imagination 2023-03-22
Birds are heading north before their insect prey emerge. Bees are missing out on early blossoms. Ticks and other pests have more time to feast and spread disease
Jude Coleman
Artificial Intelligence Helped Make the Coolest Song You've Heard This Week 2023-03-22
Machine-learning algorithms are getting so good that they can translate Western instruments into Thai ones with ease.
Allison Parshall
Deadly Fungi Are the Newest Emerging Microbe Threat All Over the World 2023-03-21
These pathogens already kill 1.6 million people every year, and we have few defenses against them
Maryn McKenna
Scientists Just Warned We Need to Cut Emissions by 60 Percent, but the U.S. Is Years Away 2023-03-21
The IPCC’s latest climate assessment says the world must cut greenhouse gas emissions by 60 percent by 2035, but the U.S. is already behind on a less ambitious target
Jean Chemnick
Will Humans Ever Go Extinct? 2023-03-21
It’s probably a matter of when and how, not if, we humans will meet our doom
Stephanie Pappas
Fast, Deep Cuts in Emissions Are Needed to Avoid 'Climate Time Bomb' 2023-03-20
To keep warming below levels that scientists say will bring extreme climate impacts, nations must act quickly to make deep cuts in carbon emissions, according to the final installment of the IPCC’s latest climate report
Andrea Thompson
Fixing the Hated Open-Design Office 2023-03-20
Open-office designs create productivity and health problems. New insights from Deaf and autistic communities could fix them
George Musser
The Strange Way a 12-Foot-Long Invasive Python Was Caught 2023-03-20
In Key Largo, Fla., scientists are looking to protect endangered native rodents and slow the invasion of massive Burmese pythons
Meghan Bartels
The Science of Spring's Green Show 2023-03-20
Spring’s burst of brightness comes before chloroplasts grow and mature
Clara Moskowitz, Rebecca Konte
RSV Vaccines Are Nearly Here after Decades of False Starts 2023-03-20
Decades of failed attempts have given way to several successful vaccines and treatments for the respiratory disease RSV
Tara Haelle
The World's Simplest Theorem Shows That 8,000 People Globally Have the Same Number of Hairs on Their Head 2023-03-20
Hairiness is the perfect way to demonstrate the math underlying the “pigeonhole principle,” first conceived in 1622
Manon Bischoff
Space Force Humor, Laser Dazzlers, and the Havoc a War in Space Would Actually Wreak 2023-03-20
In the inaugural episode of Cosmos, Quickly, we blast off with Lt. Gen. Nina Armagno of the Space Force, who is charged with protecting our space in space, particularly from Russia and China.
Lee Billings, Clara Moskowitz, Jeffery DelViscio
How the Psychology of Silicon Valley Contributed to a Bank Collapse 2023-03-18
Venture capitalists and start-ups don’t mind losing money, but dealing with a bank run is a whole different story
Gary Stix
New Evidence Supports Animal Origin of COVID Virus through Raccoon Dogs 2023-03-18
Genetic sequences show evidence of raccoon dogs and other animals at the Wuhan market sites where SARS-CoV-2 was found in early 2020, adding to evidence of a natural spillover event
Tanya Lewis
What High-Tech Prizes Does the Downed U.S. Drone Hold? Russia Really Wants to Know 2023-03-17
An MQ-9 Reaper drone is sitting at the bottom of the Black Sea. Will the U.S. or Russia recover it?
Jason Sherman

Fixing the Hated Open-Design Office 2023-03-20
Open-office designs create productivity and health problems. New insights from Deaf and autistic communities could fix them
George Musser
How the Psychology of Silicon Valley Contributed to a Bank Collapse 2023-03-18
Venture capitalists and start-ups don’t mind losing money, but dealing with a bank run is a whole different story
Gary Stix
AI Can Re-create What You See from a Brain Scan 2023-03-17
Image-generating AI is getting better at re-creating what people are looking at from their fMRI data. But this isn’t mind reading—yet
Allison Parshall
There's a Psychological 'Vaccine' against Misinformation 2023-03-13
A social psychologist found that showing people how manipulative techniques work can create resilience against misinformation
Daisy Yuhas
Vitamin D Supplements Probably Won't Prevent Mental Illness After All 2023-03-13
Despite the stream of “good news” about vitamin D, the supplement’s prospects to prevent mental health disorders in adults remain dim
Ingrid Wickelgren
The Scientific Secret to Soothing Fussy Babies 2023-03-08
Some animals’ babies physically relax when their parents whisk them away from danger. The same thing works for tiny, wailing humans.
Karen Hopkin
The Weird Reason We're Afraid of Clowns 2023-03-07
Scientists figure out the origin of our fear of clowns
Sophie Scorey, James Greville, Philip Tyson, Shakiela Davies, The Conversation
Babies Are Born with an Innate Number Sense 2023-03-07
Plato was right: newborns do math
Jacob Beck, Sam Clarke
How 'Anomalous Health Incidents' in Cuba Sidelined Science 2023-03-06
The Havana syndrome saga is an epic failure of science, one with severe consequences both for patients and for international relations
Mitchell J. Valdés-Sosa
Spotlight on Women in Science 2023-03-06
Honoring women at the forefront of science
Scientific American
Many Differences between Liberals and Conservatives May Boil Down to One Belief 2023-03-01
Conservatives tend to believe that strict divisions are an inherent part of life. Liberals do not
Jer Clifton
Does Not Being Able to Picture Something in Your Mind Affect Your Creativity? 2023-02-27
Researchers who study aphantasia, or the inability to visualize something in your “mind’s eye,” are starting to get a sense of how to accurately measure the condition and what it may mean for those who have it.
Stefano Montali
Your Brain Could Be Controlling How Sick You Get--And How You Recover 2023-02-27
Scientists are deciphering how the brain choreographs immune responses, hoping to find treatments for a range of diseases
Diana Kwon, Nature magazine
Love and the Brain: Do Partnerships Really Make Us Happy? Here's What the Science Says 2023-02-20
How romance affects our well-being is a lot more complicated than “they lived happily ever after.”
Shayla Love
Survivors of Deadly Earthquakes Must Deal with Lasting Trauma 2023-02-17
A psychiatrist who has studied the effects of previous devastating quakes explains how the Turkey-Syria earthquake could impact survivors’ mental health
Tanya Lewis
Love and the Brain: The Animal Matchmaker and the Panda Romeo and Juliet 2023-02-17
In fair zoo-ona, a pair of star-cross’d pandas take their life. And we learn about whether or not animals can fall in love.
Shayla Love
Love and the Brain: How Attached Are We to Attachment Styles? 2023-02-15
Are you “anxious,” “avoidant” or “disorganized?” So-called attachment styles have taken the Internet by storm. But it turns out there’s a lot more to unpack than people think.
Shayla Love
Long COVID Now Looks like a Neurological Disease, Helping Doctors to Focus Treatments 2023-02-14
The causes of long COVID, which disables millions, may come together in the brain and nervous system
Stephani Sutherland
Monogamous Prairie Voles Reveal the Neurobiology of Love 2023-02-13
Studies of prairie voles are providing surprising new insights into how social bonds form
Steven Phelps, Zoe Donaldson, Dev Manoli
The Best Way to Boost Workers’ Mental Health Is to Give Them Good Managers 2023-02-13
To improve workers’ health, research shows, companies need to support “transformational” leaders and weed out “destructive” actors, not just tout wellness programs
Daisy Grewal

Artificial Intelligence Helped Make the Coolest Song You've Heard This Week 2023-03-22
Machine-learning algorithms are getting so good that they can translate Western instruments into Thai ones with ease.
Allison Parshall
Space Force Humor, Laser Dazzlers, and the Havoc a War in Space Would Actually Wreak 2023-03-20
In the inaugural episode of Cosmos, Quickly, we blast off with Lt. Gen. Nina Armagno of the Space Force, who is charged with protecting our space in space, particularly from Russia and China.
Lee Billings, Clara Moskowitz, Jeffery DelViscio
What High-Tech Prizes Does the Downed U.S. Drone Hold? Russia Really Wants to Know 2023-03-17
An MQ-9 Reaper drone is sitting at the bottom of the Black Sea. Will the U.S. or Russia recover it?
Jason Sherman
Nord Stream Pipeline Blasts Stirred Up Toxic Sediment 2023-03-17
The Nord Stream pipeline explosions happened in a dumping ground for chemical warfare, but other contaminants proved most toxic to marine life
Katharine Sanderson, Nature magazine
AI Can Re-create What You See from a Brain Scan 2023-03-17
Image-generating AI is getting better at re-creating what people are looking at from their fMRI data. But this isn’t mind reading—yet
Allison Parshall
Squeak Squeak, Buzz Buzz: How Researchers Are Using AI to Talk to Animals 2023-03-17
The burgeoning field of “digital bioacoustics” is helping us understand animals like never before.
Sophie Bushwick, Kelso Harper
What the New GPT-4 AI Can Do 2023-03-16
OpenAI just released an updated version of its text-generating artificial intelligence program. Here’s how GPT-4 improves on its predecessor
Sophie Bushwick
What the Silicon Valley Bank Collapse Means for Science Start-ups 2023-03-16
Bailouts mean customers’ deposits are safe, but the Silicon Valley Bank’s demise has sparked concern about future investment in small tech companies
Katharine Sanderson, Nature magazine
Quantum Computing Is the Future, and Schools Need to Catch Up 2023-03-15
Top universities are finally bringing the excitement of the quantum future into the classroom
Olivia Lanes
AI's Victories in Go Inspire Better Human Game Playing 2023-03-13
Famed AI wins in Go let human players rethink their moves in a whole new way
Emily Willingham
Controversy Surrounds Blockbuster Superconductivity Claim 2023-03-10
Will a possible breakthrough for room-temperature superconducting materials hold up to scrutiny?
Sophie Bushwick
NASA's Latest Asteroid Explorer Celebrates Our Ancient Origins in Space and on Earth 2023-03-08
The Lucy spacecraft and its target asteroids show that the way that we name discoveries matters
Phil Plait
Nuclear Waste Is Piling Up. Does the U.S. Have a Plan? 2023-03-06
We needs a permanent national nuclear waste disposal site now, before the spent nuclear fuel stored in 35 states becomes unsafe
Allison Macfarlane, Rodney C. Ewing
Spotlight on Women in Science 2023-03-06
Honoring women at the forefront of science
Scientific American
These Researchers Used AI to Design a Completely New 'Animal Robot' 2023-03-06
“Xenobots” are living, swimming self-powered robots that measure less than a millimeter across. They are evolved by artificial intelligence and built out of frog stem cells—and they could open new medical frontiers.
Luke Groskin
What Can We Do to Make Sure the FAA and Southwest Airlines Fiascoes Never Happen Again? 2023-03-02
Congress and the airline industry must reassess how they approach and fund air transportation modernization
Laurie Garrow
Why Is It So Hard to Make Vegan Fish? 2023-02-28
Futuristic food science technology could finally bring plant-based salmon filets and tuna steaks to the table
Joanna Thompson
New Color-Changing Coating Could Both Heat and Cool Buildings 2023-02-27
A thin film can switch from releasing heat to trapping it, and wrapping the coating around buildings could make them more energy-efficient
Allison Parshall
Sorry, UFO Hunters--You Might Just Be Looking at a Spy Balloon 2023-02-24
From space aliens to foreign surveillance, we spoke to experts to find out what’s really going on with the balloon brouhaha.
Sophie Bushwick, Tulika Bose
AI Outraces Human Champs at the Video Game Gran Turismo 2023-02-23
The program also challenges certain assumptions about self-driving cars
Sophie Bushwick

Readers Respond to the April 2021 Issue 2021-08-28
Letters to the editor from the April 2021 issue of Scientific American
Scientific American
Poem: 'Elizabeth Cabot Agassiz (1822–1907)' 2021-08-21
Science in meter and verse
Jessy Randall
In Case You Missed It 2021-08-14
Top news from around the world
Maddie Bender
One Head, 1,000 Rear Ends: The Tale of a Deeply Weird Worm 2021-08-08
Ramisyllis multicaudata is an animal that seems to have adopted the lifestyle of a fungus
Jennifer Frazer
O UFOs, Where Art Thou? 2021-08-05
Five reasons why sorting all of this out is so scientifically challenging
Caleb A. Scharf
50, 100 & 150 Years Ago: August 2021 2021-08-01
Tasty radio; early fake leather
Mark Fischetti
The Human Framework for Alien Life 2021-07-29
Andrea Gawrylewski
Why So Many Young People Hate STEM Courses 2021-07-28
Take it from someone who almost gave up on her dream of being a scientist
Rhea Wanchoo
NASA Investigates Renaming James Webb Space Telescope after Anti-LGBT+ Claims 2021-07-26
Some astronomers argue the space agency’s next flagship observatory will memorialize discrimination. Others are waiting for more evidence
Alexandra Witze, Nature magazine
Quantum Mechanics, Plato's Cave and the Blind Piranha 2021-07-24
Can we ever really know the world?
John Horgan
For Good Science, You Need Engaged Citizens 2021-07-22
They strengthen the institutions that ensure a strong democracy, leading to rational decisions
Gregory E. Kaebnick, Michael K. Gusmano
These Dinosaurs Had a Complicated Air Conditioner in Their Skull 2021-07-21
Cooling 5,000-pound, armor-plated giants was no small feat.
Aaron Martin
Moths Have an Acoustic Invisibility Cloak to Stay under Bats' Radar 2021-07-21
New research finds they fly around on noise-cancelling wings
Karen Hopkin
Hardy Microbes Hint at Possibilities for Extraterrestrial Life 2021-07-21
Studies of extreme ecosystems on Earth can guide the search for Martian life and may reveal the fundamental limits of biology
Brianne Palmer
Jeff Bezos Launches into Space on Blue Origin's First Astronaut Flight 2021-07-20
The billionaire and three others take a suborbital trip onboard the craft New Shepard
Mike Wall, SPACE.com
Behold the 'Borg': Massive DNA Structures Perplex Scientists 2021-07-20
Researchers say they have discovered unique and exciting DNA strands in the mud; others are not sure of their novelty
Amber Dance, Nature magazine
Play Is Serious Business for Elephants 2021-07-20
Young dogs, apes and other animals develop skills needed to survive and reproduce
Caitlin O'Connell
Jeff Bezos and Blue Origin Are Finally Flying to Space 2021-07-19
After nearly twenty years pursuing a lifelong dream of spaceflight, the world’s wealthiest person is at last ready for lift off
Mike Wall, SPACE.com
The Idea That Trees Talk to Cooperate Is Misleading 2021-07-19
It’s a romantic notion, but pretending they’re like humans could actually harm the cause of conservation
Kathryn Flinn
Poem: 'Lesson from the West African Lungfish (Protopterus annectens)' 2021-07-17
Science in meter and verse
Christina Olson

Inside the Scientific Quest to Save (Most) of the World's Parasites 2023-03-13
Scientists are on a mission to save parasites—not to kill them. Climate change is already doing an increasingly good job at the latter, and that could be a big problem for the world.
Emily V. Driscoll
These Researchers Used AI to Design a Completely New 'Animal Robot' 2023-03-06
“Xenobots” are living, swimming self-powered robots that measure less than a millimeter across. They are evolved by artificial intelligence and built out of frog stem cells—and they could open new medical frontiers.
Luke Groskin
This Particle Accelerator Makes a Substance That Has Not Existed in 13 Billion Years 2023-02-22
By using one of the most complicated and powerful machines on the planet, scientists have found a way to glimpse back to the very beginning of time itself.
Jason Drakeford, Clara Moskowitz, Jeffery DelViscio
Can We Stop Aging? 2023-02-01
What really happens to our bodies when we age—and could we find a way to slow it down?
Michael Tabb, Tulika Bose
Did Plants Domesticate Humans? Watch 'The First Entanglement' 2023-01-26
Archaeologists studying one of the birthplaces of agriculture find a complex interplay between human actions and the workings of nature and genetics.
Regina Sobel
All the Gold in the Universe Was (Likely) Created This Way 2023-01-05
For a long time, no one knew how “heavy metals” formed—or showed up on Earth. Now some new evidence finally points the way to an answer.
Jason Drakeford, Clara Moskowitz, Jeffery DelViscio
Meet the Medical Student Challenging Racial Bias with TikTok 2022-12-23
Medical influencer Joel Bervell is challenging racism in health care, one TikTok at a time.
Tulika Bose

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