It all depends on what you mean by “invented” | Continue reading
Researchers have identified a new tree species in Cameroon, but it only grew in a landscape that has now been destroyed by agriculture | Continue reading
The deeply interconnected web of IQ and societal outcomes | Continue reading
If you use terms such as “cloud,” “smart” or “Internet of Things,” you’re fooling yourself and everyone else | Continue reading
Physicist Lawrence Krauss, who disparages philosophy, acted like a bad philosopher in a recent debate. | Continue reading
But climate affects weather | Continue reading
Fires are raging from British Columbia to California, and the administration’s shortsighted climate policies will make things worse | Continue reading
Nearly a century after its founding, physicists and philosophers still don’t know—but they’re working on it | Continue reading
Inside the p-adic numbers that make Peter Scholze's work tick | Continue reading
Hugh Everett, creator of this radical idea during a drunken debate more than 60 years ago, died before he could see his theory gain widespread popularity | Continue reading
In celebration of the mountain and river that helped launch the modern environmental movement | Continue reading
If we’re limited to existing technology, the task would be daunting, to say the least | Continue reading
This famous dinosaur wasn't very skilled in the water, after all | Continue reading
Have we seen the last days of Fissure 8? Or is it merely sleeping. | Continue reading
Kilauea's gone quiet, but is this really the end of the Lower East Rift Zone eruption? | Continue reading
Temporary reminders of the invisible technology in our daily lives | Continue reading
The great philosopher, renowned for his ferocious attacks on scientific and political dogmatism, could be quite dogmatic | Continue reading
A recent critique of an article in Neuropharmacology was unfair, say they study's authors | Continue reading
A poll says lots of Millennials evidently do—and it’s not entirely clear why | Continue reading
Why optimizing the world for efficiency, productivity and happiness is bad for humanity | Continue reading
In July 1929 a frail, elderly woman quietly processed acorns on the floor of the Yosemite Valley. Her weather worn face appeared thin, yet firm like crumpled paper. | Continue reading
Embracing shared identity, community and a chance to pursue excellence in teaching | Continue reading
Combining art and STEM can provide a relaxing outlet or a worthy challenge | Continue reading
A look back at one of Scientific American ’s most prolific illustrators and the racial injustice he endured | Continue reading
Our discipline is a dialogue with nature, not a monologue, as some theorists would prefer to believe | Continue reading
If I could, I’d bring politicians who doubt the reality of human-caused global change to spend a few days on the Juneau Icefield | Continue reading
A new study changes our understanding of how ancient forest collapse changed the course of life on Earth | Continue reading
Be careful what you wish for, the universe can look alive when it's not | Continue reading
This is what NASA's Parker Solar Probe plans to fly through | Continue reading
Researchers are still trying to figure out why | Continue reading
A magnificent exhibition of original M. C. Escher prints available to the public at Industry City in Brooklyn, N.Y. If you live in NYC, you have no excuse but to go. If you don't, make an excuse and come and see it! | Continue reading
We scientists need help to communicate in a post-truth world | Continue reading
We wander about the unknown terrains of life, complacent about what we know and oblivious to what we miss | Continue reading
Without the insights rendered by philosophy, our scientific explorations of the physical world would be, if not blind, then dangerously nearsighted | Continue reading
A new study estimates how much vegetation was needed to keep giant dinosaurs fed | Continue reading
An answer to why we’ve not been visited from the future? | Continue reading
The popular idea that avoiding losses is a bigger motivator than achieving gains is not supported by the evidence | Continue reading
Just about 20 years ago, I abandoned a career as a physical chemist to become a philosopher science. For most of those 20 years, people (especially scientists) have been asking me what the heck the philosophy of science is, and whether scientists have any need of it. | Continue reading
The popular idea that avoiding losses is a bigger motivator than achieving gains is not supported by the evidence | Continue reading
From childhood forts to grown-up life hacks | Continue reading
What's your dark core score? | Continue reading
By putting tariffs on these materials, vital for energy and defense technology, the White House would be shooting the U.S. in the foot | Continue reading
The reflections that emerged from my time away work helped reshape my relationship to my profession as a scientist | Continue reading
…there’s space for action between “everything is fine” and “the Apocalypse is upon us” | Continue reading
Volcanoes: A Beginner's Guide by Rosaly Lopes | Continue reading
This is a snapshot of who we are right at this moment | Continue reading
Overall, badly. Instead of the 25,000-50,000 that should be living in the wild, we're urged to "celebrate" a miserable 5000 with annoying frequency. | Continue reading
The visionary physicist, whose ideas remain influential, sought spiritual as well as scientific illumination | Continue reading