Why Measles Deaths Are Surging--and Coronavirus Could Make it Worse

Measles has killed thousands in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and 23 countries have suspended vaccination campaigns | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Margaret Burbidge, Astronomer Who Studied the Inner Workings of Stars, Dies at 100

Sometimes called “Lady Stardust,” Burbidge helped reveal the cosmic origins of chemical elements | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

How People with Autism Forge Friendships

Most autistic individuals want to and can make friends, though their relationships often have a distinctive quality | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

"Punch Card" DNA Could Mean Cheaper High-Capacity Data Storage

The new method may be faster and easier than other genetic storage attempts | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Cancer Patients Face Treatment Delays and Uncertainty As Coronavirus Overwhelms Hospitals

Healthcare providers are delaying “non-essential” surgeries—and that could hurt some patients | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Antiparticles Would Deliver Mortal Blow to Einstein's Principle

Originally published in March 1961 | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Why We Have So Many Problems with Our Teeth

Our choppers are crowded, crooked and riddled with cavities. It hasn’t always been this way | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Are Smokers or Vapers More at Risk for COVID-19? Here's What We know

Investigating the potential danger to those who use tobacco products or e-cigarettes calls for a look at the lungs | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Not Just Ventilators: Staff Trained to Run Them Are in Short Supply

Each patient on a breathing machine requires multiple doctors and nurses to care for that person | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

A Simpler Origin for Life

The sudden appearance of a large self-copying molecule such as RNA was exceedingly improbable. Energy-driven networks of small molecules afford better odds as the initiators of life. | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Coronavirus Misinformation Is Its Own Deadly Condition

Pulitzer-winning Laurie Garrett, author of The Coming Plague: Newly Emerging Diseases in a World Out of Balance, talks about the dangers of politicians offering coronavirus misinformation. | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Coronavirus Misinformation Its Own Deadly Condition

Pulitzer-winning Laurie Garrett, author of The Coming Plague: Newly Emerging Diseases in a World Out of Balance, talks about the dangers of politicians offering coronavirus misinformation. | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

New Coronavirus Drug Shows Promise in Animal Tests

Slated for human trials, EIDD-2801 could become the first pill for COVID-19 | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

New Coronavirus Drug Shows Promise in Animal Tests

Slated for human trials, EIDD-2801 could become the first pill for COVID-19 | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

As CO2 Emissions Drop During Pandemic, Methane May Rise

With oil revenues down, companies may not prioritize fixing leaks and could vent more unwanted gas | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Astronomers Battle Space Explorers for Access to Moon's Far Side

Without protection from radio interference, a giant observatory on the moon's hidden hemisphere could prove unworkable | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Meat Pills Fight Tuberculosis

Originally published in June 1868 | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Why Do White Men and Scientists Tend to Downplay the Risks of Technology?

The naive answer is that white men and scientists are coldly rational—but that’s not the whole story | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

The Problem with Telling Children They're Better Than Others

There is a superior way to motivate kids and make them feel proud about their accomplishments | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Coronavirus Can Infect Cats

Tigers and lions at the Bronx Zoo have tested positive for the virus, and studies show that house cats--but apparently not dogs--can become infected. | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

How Do They Do That? A Closer Look at Quantum Magnetic Levitation

When you mingle a superconductor, magnet and liquid nitrogen, strange physics emerges | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

5 Ways the Economic Upheaval of Coronavirus May Impact CO2 Emissions

When Americans return to the roads, what happens to oil prices and China’s recovery strategy could all impact emissions levels | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

COVID-19 Shutdown May Obscure Mysteries of Cracked Interstellar Comet

Pristine alien material from the object 2I/Borisov is being exposed to space for the first time—but the coronavirus pandemic is stopping astronomers from watching it | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Newsflash: We Could Live on Venus

Originally published in March 1911 | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

When Can We Lift the Coronavirus Pandemic Restrictions? Not Before Taking These Steps

Johns Hopkins health security expert Tom Inglesby discusses the need for widespread testing, protective equipment and face coverings | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Heart Damage in COVID Patients Puzzles Doctors

Up to 1 in 5 infected patients have signs of heart injury. Cardiologists are trying to learn whether the virus attacks the organ | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Wild Ideas in Science

Science history is chock full of world-changing innovations that initially faced skepticism and ridicule for being too unconventional: light bulbs, cars and home computers are just a few examples. In this eBook, we take a look at the latest out-of-the-box ideas to tackle today&rs … | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

In Case You Missed It

Top news from around the world | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

The Myth of the Sustainable City

Urban areas are usually celebrated for their energy efficiency and low per capita carbon dioxide emissions, but such accounting ignores how and where they acquire their resources | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

How Can You Tell If You Have Perfect Pitch?

Some famous musicians—from Mariah Carey to Jimi Hendrix—have a gift known as perfect pitch. What is it? Could you have it, too? | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Readers Respond to the December 2019 Issue

Letters to the editor from the December 2019 issue of Scientific American | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

COVID-19: The Need for Secure Labs--and Their Risks

Coronavirus research requires high-containment labs. Journalist Elisabeth Eaves talks with Scientific American contributing editor W. Wayt Gibbs about her article "The Risks of Building Too Many Biohazard Labs?", a joint project of the New Yorker and the Bulletin of the … | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

How Sewage Could Reveal True Scale of Coronavirus Outbreak

Wastewater testing could also be used as an early-warning sign if the virus returns | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Climate Change Has Doubled Riskiest Fire Days in California

The extreme conditions that are ripe for wildfires will only increase if warming continues unabated | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Mathematical Proof that Rocked Number Theory Will Be Published

But some experts say author Shinichi Mochizuki failed to fix fatal flaw in solution of major arithmetics problem | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Note to Polluters: Salmon Are Sensible Fish

Originally published in July 1857 | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Coronavirus Disrupts Vital Field Research--Including Disease Transmission Work

Scientists across the globe have been cut off from sites and experimental resources—or stranded abroad | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Why the Coronavirus Slipped Past Disease Detectives

Groups of scientists tasked with identifying pandemic-prone microbes were stretched too far and thin | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Squid Glowing Skin Patterns May Be Code

Humboldt squid can rapidly change the pigmentation and luminescence patterns on their skin by contracting and relaxing their muscles, possibly to communicate.  | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Squid's Glowing Skin Patterns May Be Code

Humboldt squid can rapidly change the pigmentation and luminescence patterns on their skin by contracting and relaxing their muscles, possibly to communicate. | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

U.N. Postpones Global Climate Summit Over Pandemic Concerns

Countries were expected to ramp up their emissions reductions goals at the November meeting, now delayed until 2021 | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Chalk in Bread Causes Kidney Stones

Originally published in June 1968 | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Map Reveals Hidden U.S. Hotspots of Coronavirus Infection

By adjusting for population, researchers have identified rural areas in several states that could be disproportionally affected by COVID-19 | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

High-Tech Ghost Ships Will Set Sail sans Sailors

Maritime technology groups are building robotic vessels to cross the oceans | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

The Loneliness of the "Social Distancer" Triggers Brain Cravings Akin to Hunger

A study on isolation’s neural underpinnings implies many may feel literally “starved” for contact amid the COVID-19 pandemic | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Bird Fossil Shared Earth with T. Rex

Dating back 67 million years, this representative of the group of modern birds has been dubbed the Wonderchicken. [Not an April Fool's Day joke.] | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Cats Can Get Coronavirus, Study Suggests--But Pet Owners Need Not Panic

Scientists say it is unclear whether felines can spread the virus to people | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

NASA's Next Solar Mission Will Use Six Spacecraft to Make One Giant Telescope

Launching no earlier than July 2023, the SunRISE mission will study the origins of solar storms | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago