How the Mind Emerges from the Brain's Complex Networks  

The new discipline of network neuroscience yields a picture of how mental activity arises from carefully orchestrated interactions among different brain areas | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 years ago

In Case You Missed It

Top news from around the world | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 years ago

The World's First Virus-Proof Cell, with Redesigned DNA, Is about to Meet the Test of Its Life  

Biologists are building an organism that can shrug off any virus on the planet. Impervious human cells may be next | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 years ago

Cannabis Could Help Solve the Opioid Crisis

Not alone, but it could be part of the solution | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 years ago

"Emotional AI" Might Sound Good, but It Could Have Some Troubling Consequences

But its consequences could be troubling | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 years ago

Jared Diamond's New Book Upheaval Looks at Lessons to Be Found from Countries in Crisis  

Fixing a problem first requires recognizing that it exists | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 years ago

We Should Be More Worried about Climate Change Than We Are about Nuclear Power

Climate change scares me more than the risk of meltdowns | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 years ago

1969: Catching Small Particles; 1919: Crashing Large Airplanes

Innovation and discovery as chronicled in Scientific American | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 years ago

Meet the Ebola Workers Battling a Virus in a War Zone

Nature's Amy Maxmen reports from the front line of the crisis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 years ago

Babies Know the Difference between the Laughter of Friends and Strangers

Five-month-olds may use chuckles to identify information about social interactions | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 years ago

Extreme Physics

Physicists are pushing into the extreme ends of the universe as we know it—from invisible particles and colliding massive black holes to the most crushing gravitational forces ever detected and spooky quantum entanglement. The 14-billion-year-old tale of our universe is far … | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 years ago

Scientist Encourages Other Women Scientists to Make Themselves Heard

Geneticist Natalie Telis noticed few women asking questions at scientific conferences. So she publicized the problem and set about to make a change. Christopher Intagliata reports. | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 years ago

Discrimination Drives LGBT+ Scientists to Think About Quitting

Despite progress, many physical scientists from sexual and gender minorities experience exclusion or harassment at work, finds UK survey | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 years ago

Second Democratic Debate Highlights Divergence on Green New Deal

Climate change once again received relatively little attention on the debate stage | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 years ago

Mucus: The Body's Unsung Hero

The slimy stuff has a surprisingly wide array of beneficial biological functions | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 years ago

Male Bats Up Mating Odds With Mouth Morsels

Males that allow females to take food right out of their mouths are more likely to sire offspring with their dining companions. | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 years ago

New NASA Mission Will Fly Titan's Frigid Skies to Search for Life's Beginnings

Dragonfly, a nuclear-powered drone, will visit Saturn’s largest moon in the 2030s | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 years ago

Democrats Divided on "Medicare for All" in First Debate

Senator Elizabeth Warren and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio were the only candidates in the first night in favor of eliminating private insurance | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 years ago

Our Brain Uses a Not-So-Instant Replay to Make Decisions

Neural processing centers repeat recent sequences of events to lay down new memories used for abstract thought | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 years ago

Mysterious Outburst's Quiet Cosmic Home Yields More Questions Than Answers

For the first time, astronomers have pinpointed the location of a nonrepeating fast radio burst, and the result defies expectations | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 years ago

Extinct 11-Foot "Super-Ostrich" Was As Massive As a Polar Bear

The giant bird roamed Europe more than 2 million years ago | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 years ago

Climate Comes Up at Democratic Debate, But with Few New Details

The brief mentions were not enough to satisfy environmentalists pushing for a climate-focused debate | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 years ago

To Clean Drinking Water, Just Add Microbes

A new approach to water treatment could be cheaper, produce less waste and possibly help fix nitrate pollution in California  | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 years ago

Scientists Fool Flies with 'Virtual Tastes'

By switching fruit flies' sensory neurons on and off with light, scientists were able to create the sensation of sweet or bitter tastes. Christopher Intagliata reports. | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 years ago

Going Barefoot Is Good for the Sole

Walking without shoes builds calluses, but that does not limit sensation | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 years ago

No End in Sight for Record Midwest Flood Crisis

High waters continue to swamp towns and agricultural fields throughout the Mississippi basin | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 years ago

What's So Funny? The Science of Why We Laugh

Psychologists, neuroscientists and philosophers are trying to understand humor | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 years ago

Wheat Plants "Sneeze" And Spread Disease

Wheat plants' leaves repel water, which creates the perfect conditions for dew droplets to catapult off the leaves—taking pathogenic spores for the ride. Christopher Intagliata reports. | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 years ago

Bone Up On What's Inside You

Author and self-described fossil fanatic Brian Switek talks about his new book Skeleton Keys: The Secret Life of Bone. | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 years ago

One Small Step Back In Time: Relive the Wonder of Apollo 11

Half a century after the moon shot, we remember how we achieved the impossible—and why we need to do it again | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 years ago

Major Medical Groups Release Call to Action on Climate Change

The agenda urges emissions reductions and a guarantee of access to clean water | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 years ago

A Saturn V LEGO Set, a Moon Images Exhibit and New Science Books

Special Apollo 11 –themed recommendations from the editors of Scientific American | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 years ago

The New Scramble for the Moon  

A new race could be heating up to claim valuable moon terrain amid uncertain laws | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 years ago

50 Years of Moon Missions: Graphic

All 122 attempts, visualized | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 years ago

How to Debate a Science Denier

A new finding shows that marshaling facts and identifying an opponent’s rhetorical techniques are effective at dampening a skeptic’s message | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 years ago

Elite Runners' Microbes Make Mice Mightier

Mice fed bacteria isolated from elite athletes logged more treadmill time than other mice that got bacteria found in yogurt. | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 years ago

Elite Athletes' Gut Bacteria Give Rodent Runners a Boost

The chemical these bacteria produce appears to enhance athleticism | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 years ago

Some Disaster Prevention Spending Reaps Higher Rewards

Protecting against flood and wind yields higher average benefits than fire and earthquakes | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 years ago

The U.S. Needs To Tighten Vaccination Mandates

Existing religious and philosophical exemptions endanger public health | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 years ago

Mars Rover Detects "Excitingly Huge" Methane Spike

NASA’s Curiosity rover reports the highest-ever reading of the gas at the planet’s surface | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 years ago

Business as Usual Threatens Thousands of Amazon Tree Species

Climate change and deforestation could also severely fragment much of the forest by 2050, a new model projects | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 years ago

European Comet Interceptor Could Visit an Interstellar Object

Launching in 2028, the European Space Agency’s newly announced mission will wait in space for an exciting target | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 years ago

Science News Briefs from Around the World

A few brief reports about international science and technology from Canada to Kenya, including one about how humans thousands of years ago in what is now Argentina butchered and presumably ate giant ground sloths. | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 years ago

Meet the Eye Microbiome

Bacteria live on our eyeballs, and understanding their role could help treat common eye diseases | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 years ago

Is BMI an Accurate Way to Measure Body Fat?

As widespread as the BMI method of body measurement is, the ever-growing consensus is that this one-size-fits-all approach may be flawed | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 years ago

Scientists Find Early Evidence of Humans Cooking Starches

More than 100 millennia ago, people were roasting tubers—a practice that fueled their bodies and may have aided migrations | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 years ago

Antiperspirant Boosts Armpit and Toe-Web Microbial Diversity

Rather than wiping microbes out, antiperspirants and foot powders increased the diversity of microbial flora in armpits and between toes. Christopher Intagliata reports. | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 years ago

How the Numbers on the EPA's New Climate Rule Stack Up

The rule will have little impact on emissions and provides only modest cuts to other harmful pollutants | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 years ago