A Frozen Super-Earth May Orbit Barnard's Star

At just six light years away, the candidate planet would be the second-closest world known beyond our solar system—and a prime target for future studies | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 6 years ago

Renewable Energy Is Surging, But Not Fast Enough to Stop Warming

Wind and solar costs have plummeted, but global energy demands will continue to rise | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 6 years ago

Wind Turbines Can Act Like Apex Predators

Wind farms can cause a cascade of ecological effects, but are still needed to provided cleaner energy supplies | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 6 years ago

How to Make a Robot Use Theory of Mind

Researchers give AI the ability to simulate the anticipated needs and actions of others | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 6 years ago

Science News Briefs From All Over

A few very brief reports about international science and technology from Alaska to Indonesia, including one on offshore dairy farming from the Netherlands. | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 6 years ago

Major Campaign Aims to Unravel Exactly What Is in Wildfire Smoke

Airplanes and a planned burn of forest area will help identify the thousands of chemicals in smoke plumes | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 6 years ago

How to Give Better Advice

Research reveals the common mistakes we make when trying to help | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 6 years ago

Climate Change May Curtail Shorebirds' Need to Fly North

Arctic predators have been eating twice as many shorebird eggs, threatening populations and potentially migration itself | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 6 years ago

Blue Wave in Midwest Could Resurrect Climate Compact

A 2007 agreement aimed to reduce regional emissions, then political winds shifted | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 6 years ago

This Scientist Chases Wildfires to Better Predict Fire Behavior

To know what a wildfire might do next, researchers need to know how an inferno interacts with the atmosphere | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 6 years ago

Bats Beat Dolphins in the Battle over Who Has the Best Sonar

But the dolphins are no slouches either | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 6 years ago

Solving Microplastic Pollution Means Reducing, Recycling--And Fundamental Rethinking

New practices, and new chemistries, are needed to end the scourge | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 6 years ago

Babies And Chimps Share A Laugh

Adult humans laugh primarily on the exhale, but human babies laugh on the inhale and the exhale—as do chimps. Christopher Intagliata reports. | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 6 years ago

Can You Have Too Much "Good" (HDL) Cholesterol?

A new study suggests that too much “good” cholesterol may be just as bad as too little. Dr. Sanaz Majd joins Nutrition Diva to sort out what this new research means for our heart health and risks | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 6 years ago

How History Forgot the Woman Who Defined Autism

Grunya Sukhareva characterized autism nearly two decades before Austrian doctors Leo Kanner and Hans Asperger | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 6 years ago

Hurricane-Damaged Air Force Base Has an Opportunity to Rebuild for Resilience

Experts see the recovery effort as a test case for how the U.S. military prepares for climate change | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 6 years ago

Proofs and Guarantees

We can prove things in math, but does that mean they’re true? | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 6 years ago

Neuroscientists Make a Case against Solitary Confinement

Prolonged social isolation can do severe, long-lasting damage to the brain  | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 6 years ago

Live from Berlin: Falling Walls Conference 2018

Which are the next walls to fall in science and society? | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 6 years ago

Singing Fish Reveal Underwater Battles in the Amazon

Researchers recorded piranha 'honks' and catfish 'screeches' in the Peruvian Amazon, which might illuminate fish activity in murky jungle waters. Christopher Intagliata reports. | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 6 years ago

To Every Pathogen There Is a Season

Infectious Diseases affect us like clockwork, although it’s not clear why | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 6 years ago

What a Democratic House Means for Health and Medicine

The Democrats campaigned on protecting coverage for people with pre-existing conditions and lowering prescription drug prices | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 6 years ago

Index Ranks U.S. Cities Based on Climate Risk and Readiness

The evaluation aims to help authorities better plan and prepare for the impacts of climate change | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 6 years ago

Deep-Brain Recordings May Show Where Unhappiness Lives

New recordings of electrical activity in the brain help reveal the underpinnings of bad moods | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 6 years ago

The Science of Falling Walls

Berlin conference spotlights world-shaping science | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 6 years ago

How Dad's Stresses Get Passed Along to Offspring

Mouse studies show tiny intercellular pods convey to sperm a legacy of a father’s hard knocks in life | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 6 years ago

Social Construct of Race Imposes Biology

Anthropologist Jennifer Raff argues that race is culturally created, but has biological consequences. | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 6 years ago

Supermassive Black Holes Collide in Galactic Merger Grand Finales

Astronomers have observed new details of black-hole growth previously hidden by obscuring clouds of gas and dust | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 6 years ago

South Africa's Invasive Species Guzzle Water and Hurt the Economy

The country’s pioneering first report on its biological invaders paints a dire picture for resources and biodiversity | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 6 years ago

Voters Reject Several Climate-Related Ballot Initiatives

Washington’s effort to impose a carbon tax was one of the climate proposals defeated at the polls | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 6 years ago

Why "Getting Away" in Nature Is Good for Your Mental Health

Savvy Psychologist Dr. Ellen Hendriksen dives into why our minds love to go green | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 6 years ago

You Really Can Learn in Your Sleep

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@scientificamerican.com | 6 years ago

How Marijuana Use During Pregnancy Could Harm a Developing Baby's Brain

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@scientificamerican.com | 6 years ago

How Cooperating Microbes Shaped Life on Earth

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@scientificamerican.com | 6 years ago

Holy Cow! Astronomers Agog at Mysterious New Supernova

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@scientificamerican.com | 6 years ago

"Ghost Gear" Haunts the Oceans in a Growing Threat

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@scientificamerican.com | 6 years ago

How Did Insect Metamorphosis Evolve?

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@scientificamerican.com | 6 years ago

Pandas Swoon to Particular Croons

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@scientificamerican.com | 6 years ago

Election Day 2018 Takes Absentee Ballots to the Extreme in Space

Even on the International Space Station, American astronauts manage to vote | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 6 years ago

If Elected, Democratic Governors Could Adopt California's Car Rules

Illinois and New Mexico are among the states that could defy the Trump administration with stricter tailpipe emissions standards | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 6 years ago

Illicit Nuclear Bomb Tests Get Pinned Down

Illicit nuclear detonations are anything but secret | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 6 years ago

The Search for the Most Distant Galaxies in the Universe

Astronomers have found some of the most distant galaxies in the universe, opening a window on a previously unknown period of cosmic history | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 6 years ago

Will NASA's Next Mission to Venus Be a Blimp?

Airships or solar-powered airplanes may be next in line for a return to Earth’s “evil twin” | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 6 years ago

Liberals Are from Mars, Conservatives Are from Venus

Political attitudes reflect cognitive styles that are rooted in differing cultures | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 6 years ago

Our Top 10 Stories on the Science of Leadership, Partisanship and Voting

The midterm elections will test whether science can transcend politics in the U.S. | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 6 years ago

A Ramp Contraption May Have Been Used to Build Egypt's Great Pyramid

The finding could help answer a longstanding question of how massive stone blocks were hauled into place | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 6 years ago

Transforming Robot Changes Shape at Will

Researchers have created a 'modular' robot which can analyze its environment and reconfigure itself to overcome obstacles and achieve tasks. This video was reproduced with permission and was first published on October 31, 2018. It is a  Nature Video  production. | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 6 years ago

A New Supercomputer Is the World's Fastest Brain-Mimicking Machine

The computer has one million processors and 1,200 interconnected circuit boards | Continue reading


@scientificamerican.com | 6 years ago