Wasp Nests Help Date Aboriginal Art

Art created by Australian Aboriginal people used organic carbon-free pigments, but wasp nests above or below the art can be used for radiocarbon dating that supplies boundaries for the age of artworks. | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Racial Inequalities in Housing Extend to Flood Buyout Programs

Whiter, wealthier communities disproportionately benefit from government programs to purchase flood-damaged homes | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Physicists Come Closer to Answering Question of Antimatter's Scarcity

Researchers have confirmed a long-predicted key similarity between hydrogen and antihydrogen | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

How to Maximize Your Workout with Push-Pull Strength Training

Do you want a flexible, balanced, easy-to-remember workout that doesn't require spending all day at the gym? Push-pull strength training is for you! | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Parlor Trick Keeps Monorails on Track

Originally published in January 1914 | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Kilometers of "Dark Cable" Form the Newest Seismic Sensors

Fiber-optic cables stretching below cities, through glaciers and along the seafloor could record earthquakes and more | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Industrial Revolution Pollution Found in Himalayan Glacier

Ice cores from a Tibetan glacier reveal the first deposits of Industrial Revolution pollution starting in layers deposited in about 1780. | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Trump Administration Begins Work on Next National Climate Report

Climate science deniers are hoping to have a hand in the fifth assessment of climate impacts on the U.S., due out in 2022 | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Sanofi Announces It Will Work with HHS to Develop Coronavirus Vaccine

The vaccine likely won’t be ready to test in people for at least a year | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Found in Space: 100 Energetic Photons

Originally published in May 1962 | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

The Underappreciated Geniuses among Us

In The Genius of Women, journalist Janice Kaplan celebrates stories of pure brilliance that most people have never heard | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

How a Dispute over a Single Number Became a Cosmological Crisis

Two divergent measurements of how fast the universe is expanding cannot both be right. Something must give—but what? | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Mathematical Glossolalia

Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Cool Butterfly Effect: Insect Equipment Could Inspire Heat-Radiating Tech

Butterfly wings contain complex thermodynamic structures that can teach us to make efficient—and colorful—cooling materials | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

The Super-Cool Materials That Send Heat to Space

Paints, plastics and even wood can be engineered to stay cool in direct sunlight—but their role in displacing power-hungry air conditioners remains unclear | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

The Supercool Materials That Send Heat to Space

Paints, plastics and even wood can be engineered to stay cool in direct sunlight—but their role in displacing power-hungry air conditioners remains unclear | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Indigenous Lands Ace Biodiversity Measurements

Across the board, indigenous-managed regions equal or surpass conventional conservation areas  | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

50, 100 & 150 Years Ago: February 2020 Cooling the Air around Us; The Dangers of Diving

Ice, refrigeration and the technology of chill | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Sleeping with Half a Brain

Animals are not the only creatures who can be literally half asleep. Research shows we experience this, too | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

'Fight or Flight' Nerves Make Mice Go Gray

A new study in mice concludes stress can cause gray hair—and credits overactive nerves with the change in hue. Karen Hopkin reports.  | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

3 Strategies for Eating Healthier--Which One Works Best?

There’s new research on the most effective strategies for changing behavior. Which one is best at helping you eat healthier? | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Will Past Criminals Reoffend? Humans Are Terrible at Guessing, and Computers Aren't Much Better

A new study finds algorithms’ predictions are slightly superior but not under all circumstances | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

NASA's Next Low-Cost Planetary Science Missions Will Visit Venus or the Outer Solar System

With its selection of four candidates for its coveted Discovery class of interplanetary missions, the space agency seeks to handle some unfinished business | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

BP Pledges to Go Carbon Neutral--How Remains an Open Question

The oil major says it will eliminate or offset all its emissions—roughly equal to those of Australia—by 2050 | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Barbarians Worshipped Meteorites in Pagan Temple

Originally published in September 1899 | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Attempts at Debunking "Fake News" about Epidemics Might Do More Harm Than Good

Batting down conspiracy theories about disease outbreaks such as that of the new coronavirus may prove counterproductive to public health efforts | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Espresso May Be Better when Ground Coarser

A very fine grind can actually hamper espresso brewing, because particles may clump more than larger particles will. | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Espresso May Be Better Ground Coarser

A very fine grind can actually hamper espresso brewing, because particles may clump more than larger particles will. | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

3 Anxiety-Related Disorders You Might Not Know About

Some psychological disorders fly under the radar, but they're no less real for the people who suffer from them | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Twin Dangers of Scorching Days and Sweltering Nights Are on the Rise

The combination of day and night extreme heat will only get more frequent—and hotter—in the future | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

To Fight Coronavirus Outbreak, Doctors Deploy Drugs Targeting HIV, Malaria And Ebola

Despite flimsy evidence, trying these drugs in humans is the only way to know if they will work against COVID-19 | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

The Case for Fewer Heart Procedures

For some of the most common cardiac conditions, medication is a solid alternative  | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

The First Molecule in the Universe

Scientists have identified mystery molecules in space and the compound thought to have started chemistry in the cosmos | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

All That We Might Possibly Know

What if consciousness is not something special that the brain does but is instead a quality inherent to all matter? | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

H.G. Wells Envisions Atomic Bomb 30 Years Ahead of Time

Originally published in May 1914 | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Here's How Computer Models Simulate the Future Spread of New Coronavirus

They aim for clarity amid confusion surrounding the outbreak | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Kirk, Spock and Darwin

Duke University evolutionary biologist Mohamed Noor talks about his book Live Long and Evolve: What Star Trek Can Teach Us About Evolution, Genetics, and Life on Other Worlds. | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Global CO2 Emissions Were Flat in 2019--But Don't Cheer Yet

Developing economies continue to build coal power plants, and growth in oil and gas has been persistent | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Epidemiologist Veteran of SARS and MERS Shares Coronavirus Insights after China Trip

Columbia University professor W. Ian Lipkin looks for lessons from the new disease COVID-19 to prevent the next disaster | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Deadly Air Pollution Doesn't Respect State Borders

U.S. federal authorities have recently been reluctant to step in to mediate cross-border air quality issues among states | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Jackdaws Have Different Rules for Different Flocks

New work shows how jackdaw flocks (sometimes) transition from chaos to order | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Steam Locomotives Make Subway Air Sweet and Pleasant

Originally published in May 1862 | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Reducing Street Sprawl Could Help Combat Climate Change

Building more disconnected thoroughfares might lock cities into a dependence on greenhouse-gas emitting cars | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

NASA Soars and Others Plummet in Trump's Budget Proposal

U.S. research sees deep cuts in the president’s request for 2021. But Congress has resisted similar reductions in the past | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Feral Dogs Respond to Human Hand Cues

Most feral dogs that did not run away from humans were able to respond to hand cues about the location of food, even without training. | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Augmented Reality Is Getting Real

AR headsets are still bulky and expensive, but smartphone-based apps are filling the gap | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Climate Change Once Again Left Out of Trump's Federal Budget

The administration’s proposed spending for 2021 repeats previous calls for steep cuts to environmental programs | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago

Disease Caused by the Novel Coronavirus Officially Has a Name: Covid-19

The World Health Organization chose the name based on the type of virus and the year the first cases were seen | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 4 years ago