Addressing the Coronavirus's Outsized Toll on People of Color

U.S. scientists say that better data, testing and hospital preparedness are key to tackling the significant racial disparities | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Shyness Helps Parrotfish Survive Invasive Predators

Prey fish still do not recognize lionfish as a threat. But selection pressure from the invaders is making them shy | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Pointy-headed Pygmies Evolved into Humans

Originally published in August 1906 | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Special Report: The Coronavirus Pandemic

How it started, where it’s headed, and how scientists are fighting back | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Diseases and Deadlines

Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Pi in the Sky: General Relativity Passes the Ratio's Test

Using gravitational waves to approximate pi, physicists see no problem with Einstein’s theory | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

How COVID-19 Deaths Are Counted

Assigning a cause of death is never straightforward, but data on excess deaths suggest coronavirus death tolls are likely an underestimate | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

How COVID-19 Deaths Are Counted

Assigning a cause of death is never straightforward, but data on excess deaths suggest coronavirus death tolls are likely an underestimate | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Geometry Points to Coronavirus Drug Target Candidates

A new mathematical model predicts areas on a virus that might be especially vulnerable to disabling treatments | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Geometry Points to Coronavirus Drug Target Candidates

A new mathematical model predicts areas on a virus that might be especially vulnerable to disabling treatments | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Card Sharps Do Have Something Up Their Sleeve

Originally published in April 1910 | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Facial-Recognition Technology Needs More Regulation

Algorithms that can recognize people are too often biased or inaccurate—and they can easily invade our privacy | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

From Headaches to 'COVID Toes,' Coronavirus Symptoms Are a Bizarre Mix

Blood clots and inflammation may underlie many of these complications | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

From Headaches to 'COVID Toes,' Coronavirus Symptoms Are a Bizarre Mix

Blood clots and inflammation may underlie many of these complications | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Flat Earthers Are Flat Wrong

Those who doubt the planet is spherical often wind up subscribing to a host of other nonsensical notions | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

When Will Speech-Recognition Software Finally Be Good Enough?

Think how much time we’d save if voice assistants always understood commands or questions the first time | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

To Track Massive Locust Swarms, Officials Use Tool that Forecasts Smoke Plumes

The pests that have been laying waste to crops across Africa follow the winds, just like smoke | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Blind People Could 'See' Letters That Scientists Drew on Their Brains with Electricity

Scientists stimulated the brain using electrodes implanted on its surface | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Electric Street Cars Are More Efficient than Horses

Originally published in June 1899 | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Dogs Caught Coronavirus From Their Owners, Genetic Analysis Suggests

There is no evidence that dogs can pass the virus to people, however | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

We're Being Tested

President Trump pointed out yesterday that if we didn't do any testing for the virus we would have very few cases, which forces us to confront the issues posed by testing in general. | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Expanding Paved Areas Has an Outsize Effect on Urban Flooding

Researchers have finally been able to pinpoint just how much impervious surfaces exacerbate flood levels | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Barn Owl Babies Can Be Helpful Hatchmates

Food sharing is mainly found in adult animals as part of social bonding. But in a rarely observed behavior in birds, older barn owl chicks will share food with younger ones. | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Barn Owl Babies Can Be Helpful Hatch Mates

Food sharing is mainly found in adult animals as a part of social bonding. But in a rarely observed behavior in birds, older barn owl chicks will share food with younger ones. | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

This App Shows Storm Surge Damage Before Flooding Begins

With floods maps often outdated, augmented reality may help homeowners better understand the risk of inundation | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Pluto's Wispy Atmosphere May Be Surprisingly Robust

The dwarf planet’s blue-tinged air may punch far above its weight | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Soviet Scientists Rebuke Media for 'Cheap Sensationalism'

Originally published in January 1960 | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Why History Urges Caution on Coronavirus Immunity Testing

Being immune was once a status symbol—and another way to segregate and divide humanity | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Masks Reveal New Social Norms: What a Difference a Plague Makes

A 120-nanometer virus makes face coverings de rigueur in places where they were once shunned or against the law | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

From Hamsters to Baboons: The Animals Helping Scientists Understand the Coronavirus

Different species are helping answer different questions about COVID-19 in humans in order to develop vaccines and treatments | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Anti-Vaccine Movement Could Prolong Coronavirus Pandemic, Researchers Warn

Studies of social networks show that opposition to vaccines is small but far-reaching—and growing | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Researchers Will Track Whether Coronavirus Recovery Spending Benefits Climate

The ways governments choose to bolster foundering economies could impact greenhouse gas emissions | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

'Photography' Outshines Silver Plates and Mercury Vapor

Originally published in November 1855 | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

The New Alzheimer's–Air Pollution Link

Toxic airborne particles can travel from lungs and nose to the brain, and exposure is linked to memory loss | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Coping with 'Death Awareness' in the COVID-19 Era

According to terror management theory, people can have surprising reactions | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Coronavirus Test Shortages Trigger a New Strategy: Group Screening

Pooling diagnostic samples, and using a little math, lets more people get tested with fewer assays | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Coronavirus Test Shortages Trigger a New Strategy: Group Screening

Pooling diagnostic samples, and using a little math, lets more people get tested with fewer assays | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Donut Sugar Could Help Stored Blood Last

Dehydrated blood that could keep at room temperature for years may be possible thanks to a sugar used to preserve donuts, and by tardigrades and brine shrimp to dry out and spring back with water. | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Ultrasensitive Fuel Gauges Could Improve Electric Vehicle Batteries

The devices can image a battery’s magnetic field, spotting weaknesses and more accurate readings of charge levels | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

How Do Children Spread the Coronavirus? The Science Still Isn't Clear

Researchers are still trying to understand what the deal is with kids and COVID-19 | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

100,000-Year-Old Human at Home on the Subway

Originally published in July 1948 | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Antipoaching Tech Tracks COVID-19 Flare-Ups in South Africa

Coming out of lockdown, the country is relying on thousands of local case trackers and on software, once used to protect rhinoceroses, for disease surveillance | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

How Coronavirus Spreads Through the Air: What We Know So Far

The virus that causes COVID-19 can persist in aerosol form, some studies suggest. But the potential for transmission depends on many factors, including infectiousness, dose and ventilation | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

How Coronavirus Spreads Through the Air: What We Know So Far

The virus that causes COVID-19 can persist in aerosol form, some studies suggest. But the potential for transmission depends on many factors, including infectiousness, dose and ventilation | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

How Heavy is the Universe? Conflicting Answers Hint at New Physics

The discrepancy could be a statistical fluke—or a sign that physicists will need to revise the standard model of cosmology | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Lemur Flirting Uses Common Scents

To entice female lemurs, ring-tailed males rub wrist secretions, which include compounds we use in perfumes, onto their tails and then wave the tails near the gals.   | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Blood Clots Are Mysteriously Tied to Many Coronavirus Problems

Research begins to pick apart the mechanisms behind a deadly COVID-19 complication | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Millions More Americans Will Face Climate Disasters with Warming

The population exposed to one or more extreme weather events each year could more than double by mid-century | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago