U.S. Communities Urged to Boost Immunity to "Shock Events"

Past disasters point to steps cities and counties can take to bolster their resilience | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 years ago

Why Is There More Matter Than Antimatter?

A new experiment at the world’s most powerful particle collider sheds light on an enduring cosmic mystery | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 years ago

A Common Anesthetic Could Ease PTSD and Other Stress Disorders

Propofol reduces the intensity of traumatic memories | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 years ago

Study on Weed-Killers and Monarch Butterflies Spurs Ecological Flap

Some scientists question museum data analysis that suggests Roundup is not responsible for the insects’ decline | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 years ago

What Is Your Metabolism?

You've probably heard the word "metabolism," especially as it relates to weight loss or gain. But what is your metabolism, what does it do, and do you have any control over it? | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 years ago

The Root of Thought: What Do Glial Cells Do?

Nearly 90 percent of the brain is composed of glial cells, not neurons. Andrew Koob argues that these overlooked cells just might be the source of the imagination | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 years ago

Atheism Is Inconsistent with the Scientific Method, Prize-Winning Physicist Says

In conversation, the 2019 Templeton Prize winner does not pull punches on the limits of science, the value of humility and the irrationality of nonbelief | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 years ago

Big Religion May Have Gotten Too Much Credit for the Evolution of Modern Society

Contrary to a popular hypothesis, pro-social religions didn’t kick-start complex social systems | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 years ago

A Major Migratory Bird Habitat Is in Danger

North America’s Great Basin is getting warmer, drier and saltier | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 years ago

FDA Approves First New Drug Developed for Women with Postpartum Depression

The new drug, Zulresso, can work in days, not the weeks it takes for current treatments | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 years ago

Soap-Bubble Pioneer Is First Woman to Win Prestigious Math Prize

Abel-prize winner Karen Keskulla Uhlenbeck built bridges between analysis, geometry and physics | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 years ago

Asteroid's Bumpiness Threatens U.S. Plan to Return a Sample to Earth

NASA mission finds asteroid Bennu littered with big boulders and spraying out particles | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 years ago

'Oumuamua, Our First Interstellar Visitor, May Have Been a Comet After All

New research flags jets of water vapor—rather than alien technology—as the source of the mysterious object’s anomalous motions | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 years ago

Solar Jets Cause Standing Waves in Earth's Magnetic Field

When jets of charged particles from the sun hit our magnetosphere, some of the ensuing ripples travel towards the north and southern poles and get reflected back. The resulting interference allows standing waves to form, like on a drumhead. | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 years ago

A Reason to be Skeptical of the Workplace Wellness Industry

New study finds no changes in health care costs | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 years ago

Record Floods Could "Test the Limits" of Midwest Defenses

Rains and melting snow have caused rivers to breach levees from Minnesota to Missouri | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 years ago

YouTube's Recommendation Algorithm Has a Dark Side

It leads users down rabbit holes | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 years ago

Coral Reefugees: Certain Corals Could "Outrun" Climate Change

New evidence suggests that corals once sought refuge from warming waters by migrating | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 years ago

Sing Solo For Higher Fidelity

By tracking duetting choir singers, researchers found that when an individual singer's pitch drifts off tune their partner’s tend to too. Christopher Intagliata reports.  | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 years ago

Are Some Fruits More Fattening Than Others?

It’s time to clear up some confusion about fruit, sugar, fructose and how this all fits together into a healthy diet | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 years ago

Is NASA's Golden Age of Space Telescopes Ending?

For the second year in a row, the White House is seeking to cancel one of the space agency’s top-priority astrophysics projects, the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 years ago

The Private Sector Is Returning to the Flood Insurance Game

New technology and increased investment could help expand paltry flood coverage | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 years ago

AI-Based App Could Screen for Cervical Cancer  

An algorithm that can diagnose the disease from photographs would be especially useful in developing countries  | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 years ago

U.S. Blocks U.N. Resolution on Geoengineering

The measure called for a report on carbon capture and solar radiation management | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 years ago

Susceptibility to Mental Illness May Have Helped Humans Adapt over the Millennia

Psychiatrist Randolph Nesse, one of the founders of evolutionary medicine, explains why natural selection did not rid our species of onerous psychiatric disorders | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 years ago

Budding Yeast Produce Cannabis Compounds

Biologists have taken the genes that produce cannabinoids in weed and plugged them into yeast, making rare and novel compounds more accessible. Christopher Intagliata reports. | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 years ago

Researchers Enable "Super Mice" to See Near-Infrared Light

Nanoscale devices convert near-infrared light into visible, green light. When injected into the eyes, they enabled mice to see in the infrared | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 years ago

SpaceX's Crew Dragon Signals Sea Change in U.S. Spaceflight

An uncrewed test flight to the International Space Station will be a crucial milestone for the company’s grand vision of private spaceflight | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 years ago

Leave No House Behind in Flood Buyout Programs, Group Says

Buyouts in flood-prone areas should be more proactive and target homes near environmental assets like streams | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 years ago

Untangling the Ties between Autism and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Autism and OCD frequently accompany each other; scientists are studying both to understand how they differ | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 years ago

Local Flood Forecasting Has Been Dangerously Imprecise--That's About to Change

Scientists are crafting clearer, faster ways to warn of serious damage from flooding | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 years ago

Rising High: GM Yeast Generates Known and Novel Marijuana Compounds

Engineered microorganisms churn out THC, CBD and rarer, less-understood cannabis cousins | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 years ago

How to Be Happy When the World Makes You Depressed

Savvy Psychologist Dr. Ellen Hendriksen offers 4 tips to be happy in a world that can feel like a “Mad Max” chase through the headlines | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 years ago

Physicists Solve a 35-Year-Old Mystery Hidden Inside Atomic Cores

New research reveals that pairs of protons and neutrons within atomic nuclei influence the speed of quarks passing through | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 years ago

Clouds May Hold the Key to Future Warming

New findings that certain clouds could disintegrate under extreme warming come with key caveats | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 years ago

Why Do We Crave Sweets When We're Stressed?

A brain researcher explains our desire for chocolate and other carbs during tough times | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 years ago

My Patient Was Suicidal, and His Step-Father Wouldn't Remove the Family Gun Collection

How can we do better? | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 years ago

Who Has "the Right Stuff" for Mars?

Humans traveling to Mars will be required to operate with a degree of autonomy human astronauts have never had, due to communication delays. Christopher Intagliata reports. | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 years ago

An Arizona Utility Is Betting Big on Energy Storage

The shift underscores declining storage costs, but questions remain on whether the move will bring down emissions | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 years ago

The Entertainer

In praise of Raymond Smullyan: logician, magician, mathematician, puzzlist and philosopher | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 years ago

Did Crawling Critters Leave These Cracks? The Answer Could Rewrite Evolutionary History

Researchers say they found evidence life began moving 2.1 billion years ago, but that contentious conclusion is far from certain | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 years ago

Grandma's Influence is Good for Grandkids

Grandmothers can enhance the survival of grandchildren. That is, unless grandma’s too old or lives too far away. Karen Hopkin reports. | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 years ago

Skeptics Are Being Recruited for "Adversarial" Review of Climate Science

A proposed presidential committee would scrutinize research showing climate change is a national security risk | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 years ago

6 Possible Scientific Reasons for Ghosts

Many people believe in ghosts, but could there be scientific explanations for some of our paranormal experiences? | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 years ago

The Ocean Is Running Out of Breath, Scientists Warn

Widespread and sometimes drastic marine oxygen declines are stressing sensitive species—a trend that will continue with climate change | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 years ago

Should Robots Have License to Kill

Artificial intelligence experts, ethicists and diplomats debated autonomous weapons. Christopher Intagliata reports. | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 years ago

Is a More Generous Society Possible?

Generosity helps communities cope with risks and disasters; new research untangles the factors involved | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 years ago

Four New DNA Letters Double Life's Alphabet

Synthetic DNA seems to behave like the natural variety, suggesting that a broader swathe of chemicals could support life than the four that evolved on Earth | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 5 years ago