Collision on One Side of Pluto Ripped Up Terrain on the Other, Study Suggests

A new computer model shows how a buried ocean on the dwarf planet might have enabled seismic waves to travel | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Sick Vampire Bats Restrict Grooming to Close Family

When vampire bats feel sick they'll still engage in prosocial acts like sharing food with non-relatives, but they cut back on grooming anyone other than their closest kin. | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Some States are Reporting Incomplete COVID-19 Results, Blurring the Full Picture

Collecting only positive test results from certain labs skews the data | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Antarctic Glacier Has Retreated 3 Miles in 22 Years

Sitting atop a deep canyon, Denman Glacier could be a weak point in the Antarctic Ice Sheet | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

How Blood from Coronavirus Survivors Might Save Lives

New York City researchers hope antibody-rich plasma can keep people out of intensive care | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Genetically Engineering the Perfect Bee--in 1892

Originally published in August 1892 | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Warfare in Wonderland

The new coronavirus raises questions about how pathogens evolve—and if we’re ready to face them | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

How Disaster Aid Ravaged an Island People

The 2004 tsunami devastated the Nicobar Islanders, but what came next was arguably worse | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Will String Theory Finally Be Put to the Experimental Test?

Physicists have found a way the theory might limit the cosmic inflation that is thought to have expanded the early universe | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Exponential Infection Increases Are Deadly Serious

Listen in as I use two calculators to track the difference in numbers of infections over a short period of time depending on how many people each infected individual on average infects. | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

COVID-19: Predicting the Path and Analyzing Immunity

Scientific American contributing editor W. Wayt Gibbs continues to report on the coronavirus outbreak from his home in Kirkland, Washington, site of the first U.S. cases. In this installment, he talks with researchers about what their models show for the future of the pandemic, a … | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Smoke from Australia's Bushfires Killed Hundreds

Exposure to particulate matter led to heart and lung problems for thousands | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Urban Riots Are Actually "Prepolitical" Protests

Originally published in June 1968 | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Some Kinds of Doctors Get More Speeding Tickets Than Others

Make way for emergencies—but go safely | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Deaths of Young Children Are Decreasing Globally, but ...

Progress in improving mortality varies significantly within countries | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Treating "Moral" Injuries

A potentially debilitating condition in veterans, distinct from PTSD, results from crossing moral lines | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Paris Climate Agreement Architects Make a Case for "Stubborn Optimism"

It is possible for the world to cut emissions enough to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. But tenacious belief will be needed to achieve that goal | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

COVID-19: How and Why the Virus Spreads Quickly

Scientific American contributing editor W. Wayt Gibbs reports from the original U.S. epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, Kirkland, Washington. In this installment of our ongoing series, he talks with researchers about the properties of the virus and why the virus spreads so qu … | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Fast, Portable Tests Come Online to Curb Coronavirus Pandemic

Testing kits delivered by courier and digital tools combine to battle the COVID-19 outbreak | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

U.N. Shifts from Climate Change to Coronavirus

Secretary-General António Guterres still urged countries not to lose sight of the global warming challenge | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Can Science Explain Deja Vu?

Most of us have experienced deja vu—that sensation when new events feel eerily familiar. Could this "glitch in the Matrix" be a brain short-circuit? | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Giving Babies Solid Food Is Illegal in France

Originally published in August 1892 | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

A Breakthrough in Genetic Medicine for Rare Diseases

A long-disdained therapy that targets RNA is suddenly achieving spectacular success | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Lessons from Past Outbreaks Could Help Fight the Coronavirus Pandemic

The 1918 influenza pandemic and 2002–2003 SARS outbreak suggest social distancing measures, communication and international cooperation are the most effective methods to slow COVID-19 | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Lessons from Past Outbreaks Could Help Fight the Coronavirus Pandemic

The 1918 influenza pandemic and 2002–2003 SARS outbreak suggest social distancing measures, communication and international cooperation are the most effective methods to slow COVID-19 | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Are Viruses Alive?

Although viruses challenge our concept of what "living" means, they are vital members of the web of life | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Swamp Wallaby Reproduction Give Tribbles a Run

They're not born pregnant like tribbles, but swamp wallabies routinely get pregnant while pregnant.   | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Recommended Books, March 2020

Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Coronavirus Vaccines: Five Key Questions as Trials Begin

Some experts warn that accelerated testing will involve risky trade-offs | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Covert Coronavirus Infections Could Be Seeding New Outbreaks

Scientists are rushing to estimate the proportion of people with mild or no symptoms who could be spreading the pathogen | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

In Just 10 Years, Warming Has Increased the Odds of Disasters

The likelihood of extreme events today is being underestimated, new research suggests | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

How COVID-19 Drug Hunters Spot Virus-Fighting Compounds

A big project looks at “doorways” the coronavirus uses to get into cells&mndash;and finds drugs that could block them | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Martians Get Their Water from the Poles

Originally published in July 1907 | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Ensuring Measurement Devices Are Accurate Is Tedious but Crucial

Instrument calibration is essential for science—and justice | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Larry Brilliant Helped to Eradicate Smallpox--and He Has Advice for COVID-19

The doctor’s firsthand experience with epidemics gives him a unique view of our current health crisis | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Larry Brilliant Helped to Eradicate Smallpox--and He Has Advice for COVID-19

The doctor’s firsthand experience with epidemics gives him a unique view of our current health crisis | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

How to Triage Patients Who Need Intensive Care

A new computer model analyzes when to admit people to intensive care units—and when to move them out—which could help doctors handle the coronavirus surge | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

COVID-19: The Wildlife Trade and Human Disease

Christian Walzer, executive director of global health at the Wildlife Conservation Society, talks about how the wildlife trade, especially for human consumption, can lead to disease outbreaks. | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Ocean Plastic Smells Great to Sea Turtles

Ocean plastic gets covered with algae and other marine organisms, making it smell delicious to sea turtles--with potentially deadly results.    | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Democrats Want to Include Climate Action in Coronavirus Aid

The two main proposals are for airlines to reduce carbon emissions and to extend clean-tech tax credits | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Near Real-Time Studies Look for Behavioral Measures Vital to Stopping Coronavirus

The goal is to identify the best means of encouraging individuals to change the way they live. Young people may need more convincing | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Blood Ties: Vampire Bats Build Trust to Become Food-Sharing Pals

New research examines how the animals begin close, blood-sharing partnerships | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

To Save Car Tires, Darken the Garage Windows

Originally published in August 1942 | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Carbon Conundrum: Experiment Aims to Re-create Synthesis of Key Element

An Ohio particle accelerator will test an alternative idea of how the universe’s carbon came to be | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

David Quammen: How Animal Infections Spill Over to Humans

In this 2012 interview, David Quammen talks about his book, Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic, which is highly relevant to the emergence of the coronavirus that has changed our lives. | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Can Exercising Before Breakfast Dramatically Improve Your Health?

Hot on the heels of National Diabetes Month, a new study has shown that exercising before eating breakfast can improve how your body responds to insulin | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Packing the Tundra with Animals Could Slow Arctic Melt

Herds of reindeer or other species could help pack down snows to protect permafrost | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Small Jets of Air Make Cats Neurotic

Originally published in March 1950 | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago