Road Map for U.S. Particle Physics Wins Broad Approval

A major report plotting the future of U.S. particle physics calls for cuts to the beleaguered DUNE project, advocates a “muon shot” for a next-generation collider and recommends a new survey of the universe’s oldest observable light | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 months ago

Is Cannabis Bad for Teens? Data Paint a Conflicting Picture

Ten years after cannabis was first legalized for recreational use in adults, scientists are struggling to provide evidence-based recommendations about the risks to young people | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 months ago

Researchers Just Created the World's First Permafrost Atlas of the Entire Arctic

The Arctic Permafrost Atlas, which took years to create, is both beautiful and sobering, given the pace of climate change. | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 months ago

Electric Vehicle Owners Are Not Driving Enough (And That's Bad)

Used car buyers and the U.S. government need to dive into the marketplace to deliver the emissions reductions promised by electric vehicles | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 months ago

This Flying Frog Spends Its Youth Masquerading as Poop

These froglets disguise themselves as feces to gross out potential predators until they’re old enough to glide through jungle canopies | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 months ago

Hottest Survivable Temperatures Are Lower Than Expected

Researchers say the primary “wet-bulb temperature” method for measuring dangerous heat underestimates deaths, particularly among elderly and health-compromised individuals | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 months ago

Male Songbirds Need Daily Vocal Practice to Woo Females

Birds might sing in the morning because they need a vocal workout | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 months ago

PFAS 'Forever Chemicals' Found in Freshwater Fish, Yet Most States Don't Warn Residents

Staggering amounts of toxic “forever chemicals” have been found in freshwater fish, but there is no federal guidance on what is a safe amount to eat | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 months ago

Green Glow of 'Mesospheric Ghosts' Decoded

Mysterious green displays in the sky dubbed “mesospheric ghosts” can sometimes accompany the dramatic red atmospheric lights called sprites | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 months ago

Cats Kill a Staggering Number of Species across the World

Domestic cats are cherished human companions, but a new study shows the enormous breadth of species the felines prey on when they are left to roam freely | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 months ago

Subterranean 'Microbial Dark Matter' Reveals a Strange Dichotomy

The genes of microbes living as deep as 1.5 kilometers below the surface reveal a split between minimalist and maximalist lifestyles | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 months ago

Why Do We Dream? Maybe to Ensure We Can Literally 'See' the World upon Awakening

A theory holds that dreams are a way for the visual cortex of the brain to “defend its turf” against being “taken over” to process inputs from other senses | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 months ago

World Leaders Agree to a Climate Deal on Food for the First Time

The first global declaration on reducing emissions from food production is a start, researchers say—but it sidesteps contentious issues such as meat consumption | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 months ago

Millions of U.S. Homes Risk Disaster because of Outdated Building Codes

Building codes that don’t fully account for climate change are “one of the most significant factors” in increasing disaster risk, a federal report says | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 months ago

A New Type of Heart Disease is on the Rise

Problems with the heart, kidneys and metabolic health are all connected | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 months ago

A New Type of Heart Disease is on the Rise

Problems with the heart, kidneys and metabolic health are all connected | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 months ago

Christmas Tree Economics, Explained

Economists dive into the financial impact of Christmas trees—real and artificial alike—on the U.S. | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 months ago

Why Some People Choose Not to Know

Altruists seek to understand how their actions will affect others—while willful ignorance can free people to act selfishly | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 months ago

OpenAI's Soap Opera Collapse Bodes Ill for AI Benefiting Humanity

Whatever fantasies we may have had about the nonprofit structure of OpenAI have been eviscerated. While it remains a nonprofit, it’s proven entirely beholden to ruthless capitalism | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 months ago

Betelgeuse Will Briefly Disappear in Once-in-a-Lifetime Coincidence

For six seconds tonight, the constellation Orion will appear to lose the vibrant red star at its shoulder—and scientists are thrilled | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 months ago

Ultrasound Enables Remote 3-D Printing--Even in the Human Body

For the first time, researchers have used sound waves to 3-D print an object from a distance—even with a wall in the way | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 months ago

73 Pre-Incan Mummies, Some with 'False Heads,' Unearthed in Peru

Burials holding mummies with false heads have been discovered from the Wari Empire in Peru | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 months ago

Tyrannosaur's Stomach Contents Have Been Found for the First Time

The fossilized stomach contents of a tyrannosaur have been found for the first time, revealing what the fearsome predator ate | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 months ago

Tyrannosaur's Stomach Contents Have Been Found for the First Time

The fossilized stomach contents of a tyrannosaur have been found for the first time, revealing what the fearsome predator ate | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 months ago

FDA Approves First CRISPR Gene Editing Treatment for Sickle Cell Disease

Most people with sickle cell disease who received a new gene editing treatment saw their pain resolve for at least one year, but longer follow up is needed | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 months ago

AI Can Now Read Your Cat's Pain

Thanks to researchers, new AI tech is delving into feline feelings to see when cats could need medical help.  | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 months ago

AI Can Now Read Your Cat's Pain

Thanks to researchers, new AI tech is delving into feline feelings to see when cats could need medical help.  | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 months ago

Thunderstorm Damage Keeps Rising

Increasingly frequent thunderstorms caused insurers to pay $60 billion in claims in 2023 | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 months ago

How to Choose an Environmentally Friendly Christmas Tree

Real or artificial? Here’s a climate scientist’s take on what makes a Christmas tree more sustainable, based on how it was made or where it grew | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 months ago

Bad Science and Bad Statistics in the Courtroom Convict Innocent People

Science, statistics and expert testimony are crucial in securing justice. But their dubious applications in the courtroom can send innocent people to jail  | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 months ago

Astronomers Spy First Star-Forming Disk beyond the Milky Way

No one has ever seen a newborn star feeding on its natal disk anywhere outside our galaxy—that is, until now | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 months ago

55 Books Scientific American Recommends in 2023

The best fiction, nonfiction, history and sci-fi books Scientific American staff read in 2023 | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 months ago

Cats Can Hide Their Pain--But Not from AI

Machine-learning software gets behind the inscrutable feline face and may improve pet care | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 months ago

The World Got Failing Grades on Climate Action. Here's How COP28 Aims to Fix That

The main negotiations at the COP28 climate meeting will aim to address how countries plan to fix shortcomings in their plans to reduce planet-warming emissions, as highlighted in the “Global Stocktake” | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 months ago

Golden Mole That Swims through Sand Rediscovered after 86 Years

The iridescent, blind De Winton’s golden mole was last seen in 1937 and later declared officially lost. But scientists have since rediscovered it by tracking its environmental DNA | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 months ago

Hair Relaxers Will Be Safer without Formaldehyde, but It's Just a Start

Banning formaldehyde hair relaxers might help protect Black women’s health, but won’t end the racism that drives their use | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 months ago

How Cryptographic 'Secret Sharing' Can Keep Information Safe

One safe, five sons and betrayal: this principle shows how shared knowledge can protect secrets—without having to trust anyone | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 months ago

The Same Extremists Target Both Muslims and Jews

Far-right extremists shifted their online hate from Muslims to Jews in 2017, and offline hate followed the same trends  | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 months ago

U.S. Drinking-Water Systems Still Haven't Defeated This Nasty Parasite

The U.S.’s largest-ever outbreak of waterborne illness—cryptosporidiosis—hit Milwaukee 30 years ago. Why are many other water systems still vulnerable to the same parasite today? | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 months ago

AI's Climate Impact Goes beyond Its Emissions

To understand how AI is contributing to climate change, look at the way it’s being used | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 months ago

A Good Night's Sleep May Help Control Blood Sugar

Brain waves during sleep influence glucose and insulin, offering new insights into controlling diabetes | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 months ago

Your Organs Might Be Aging at Different Rates

It turns out that your chronological age really is just a number. What’s more important for knowing disease risk is the biological age of each of your organs | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 months ago

Unless We Cut Emissions, Ice Sheets, Forests and Ocean Currents Are Headed for Catastrophe

Hundreds of scientists warn that the world must rapidly phase out planet-warming emissions to avoid crossing dangerous climate “tipping points” | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 months ago

A Small Town Waits for a Dark Matter Gold Rush

A mining town waits for economic recovery while physicists under their feet wait for answers from the universe. | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 months ago

These Researchers Put Sperm Through a Kind of 'Hunger Games'

The research focused on figuring out what enables certain sperm to gain some competitive advantage over millions of others fighting for the same prize. | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 months ago

These Researchers Put Sperm Through a Kind of 'Hunger Games'

The research focused on figuring out what enables certain sperm to gain some competitive advantage over millions of others fighting for the same prize. | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 months ago

How Quantum Math Theory Turned into a Jazz Concert

A mathematician and a musician collaborated to turn a quantum research paper into a jazz performance | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 months ago

In the Search for Life beyond Earth, NASA Dreams Big for a Future Space Telescope

Astronomers are moving ahead in planning NASA’s Habitable Worlds Observatory, a telescope designed to answer the ultimate question: Are we alone in the universe? | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 months ago