Frothy rock floating on the ocean near Papua New Guinea is the sign scientists needed that, hidden from view, an underwater volcano was erupting | Continue reading
Historian Craig Fehrman unpacks the science, politics and human stories behind one of America’s most famous expeditions | Continue reading
David Haskell brings readers through millions of years of botanical history for his latest book, How Flowers Made Our World | Continue reading
Scientists analyzing modern genomes may have found a long-lost branch of the human family tree | Continue reading
Centuries-old DNA that was found in these mummies belongs to an extinct viral lineage of smallpox that was brought across the Atlantic during European colonization of the Americas | Continue reading
The U.S. has been pummeled with heat waves this summer. Here’s how hot overnight temperatures can get in the way of a good night’s rest—in 3 charts | Continue reading
Space agencies around the globe are coordinating missions to visit the asteroid Apophis during a close encounter with Earth in 2029 | Continue reading
he extreme conditions of atomic bomb explosions create “uncontrolled microexperiments” that, in Hiroshima, forged a never-before-seen metallic alloy | Continue reading
A newly discovered change in ribosomal RNA makes protein production more precise, potentially safeguarding these cephalopods’ complex nervous systems | Continue reading
Many of these structures date to around C.E. 100–300, during the time of the Aquiry civilization, and may have been used for ceremonial purposes | Continue reading
Giant black holes adrift in deep space are normally invisible—unless they’re dining on stars | Continue reading
A private spacecraft launched to boost the decaying orbit of NASA’s Swift Observatory is now suffering from potentially mission-ending malfunctions | Continue reading
Smell can bring back vivid childhood memories—the so-called “Proust’s madeleine” phenomenon—and neuroscientists now think they know why | Continue reading
New work explains how avocado trees coordinate a complex reproductive strategy, switching every day between male and female | Continue reading
SciAm books editor Bri Kane shares her favorite science books for every summer mood | Continue reading
Discovered by an amateur mathematician in 2022, this strange construct can tile an infinite surface without repeating. But can it be useful in the real world? | Continue reading
Physicists, mathematicians and philosophers have been exploring the possibility of going forward to the future or back to the past | Continue reading
Neuroscientists show how the brain weighs effort against reward when we're mentally fatigued | Continue reading
The quake, which has caused damage to several roads and buildings, occurred along a strike-slip fault | Continue reading
After decades of hints and speculation, scientists have at last unveiled the hidden companion to the iconic star Betelgeuse | Continue reading
In searches for past and present Martian life, some scientists say we’ve been too cautious to see what’s right in front of us | Continue reading
Magnetoreception is one of the most controversial animal senses. And several bee species might have it | Continue reading
From ecohorror to science-inspired poetry, discover the books Scientific American staffers are recommending this summer | Continue reading
Italian Renaissance painter Sandro Botticelli painted Simonetta Vespucci as Venus rising from the waves. Now, scientists think they’ve solved how she died | Continue reading
When the roads get crowded, many drivers start changing lanes. Mathematics suggests this intuition is typically wrong | Continue reading
Starship demonstrated key abilities on its path to becoming a fully reusable transport for astronauts to the moon | Continue reading
Biodegradable textile is alive and can host engineered microbes that can change its color or add UV protection | Continue reading
After fatal crashes in which occupants or rescuers could not open Tesla doors, federal regulators are considering rules requiring obvious mechanical releases—but any new standard could take years. | Continue reading
Thousands of people have gotten sick from cyclospora. Experts can’t agree whether the end is in sight | Continue reading
The European continent is facing a dual reckoning this summer—extreme heat is killing thousands and draining its rivers, soils and reservoirs at a record pace | Continue reading
Joan Birman popularized the Burau representation problem decades ago. Now she and two colleagues have a proof that reveals brand new insights into the geometry of braids | Continue reading
Smell is one of the most complex and least understood senses | Continue reading
Using the new Vera C. Rubin Observatory, astronomers are beginning the largest and deepest survey of the sky. What will they see? | Continue reading
Could sunlight actually improve your health? New research suggests we may need to rethink total sun avoidance | Continue reading
Thousands of shipping containers vanish every year—what becomes of them? | Continue reading
Iran’s Pickaxe Mountain, or Kuh-e Kolang Gaz La in Persian, is part of a volcanic arc that formed tens of millions of years ago and is made of a tough-to-penetrate rock | Continue reading
The history of testicular transplants is long and often sordid, but this successful procedure offers hope for survivors of cancer and other diseases that affect fertility | Continue reading
If approved, this deal would give SpaceX hundreds of acres that are currently part of the Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge in exchange for private land | Continue reading
Nobody knows why insects aren't found living in the ocean. Scientists just eliminated one theory | Continue reading
During a lost ‘golden age’ of language, humans may have spoken tens of thousands of different tongues, a new study suggests | Continue reading
Actor Tom Hiddleston reflects on the first time he visited Pompeii as a teenager and explains why the ancient city’s preserved tragedy continues to shape his understanding of history and humanity | Continue reading
Moonshot AI’s Kimi K3 shows how opening a model to outsiders can turn other companies’ computing power into a competitive advantage | Continue reading
The 2026 Fields Medals recognize breakthroughs in the math of messy fluids, tangled knots, spinning pencils, and more | Continue reading
There are many observations of animals behaving oddly during eclipses, but the reason may have nothing to do with the sun and moon | Continue reading
The behavior could be a strategy to help younger orcas feed, or it may just be for their own amusement, researchers say | Continue reading
The behavior could be a strategy to help younger orcas feed, or it may just be for their own amusement, researchers say | Continue reading
The White House’s senior science adviser faced questions over research funding cuts from lawmakers on Wednesday | Continue reading
This marine ecosystem in the Gulf of Guinea shows the resilience of coral reefs against climate change | Continue reading