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Author Archives: scientific american
How Abortion Medications Differ from ‘Plan B’ and Other Emergency Contraceptives
Drugs such as mifepristone and misoprostol end a pregnancy, whereas the ‘morning-after’ pill works by preventing one
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Evidence Shouldn’t Be Optional
This Supreme Court often ignores science when handing down decisions, and it affects far too many lives
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Feathers May Have Helped Dinosaurs Survive Their First Apocalypse
Geologic evidence for a freezing arctic suggests dinosaurs could have weathered an epoch-ending volcanic winter
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Supreme Court Decision Hinders EPA but Leaves Avenues Open for Climate Regulation
The agency can still impose stronger limits on other air pollutants that coal plants produce, which could also reduce greenhouse gas emissions
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Regulating Power Plants Is a Health Issue
Doctors must get more involved in the public health crises that climate change will bring
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50, 100 & 150 Years Ago: July 2022
Count women as workers; cement from sewage
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An Implantable Ice Pack Tries to Relieve Pain without Opioids
The dissolving device precisely targets individual nerves
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Dinosaur Diets May Help Explain Dramatic Diversity
Some species were constrained by their food sources, while others ranged widely
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Why Do Astronomers Seek the Most Distant Galaxies?
By finding and studying the universe’s oldest objects, we can reveal hidden fundamental chapters of cosmic history
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Mathematicians Are Trying to ‘Hear’ Shapes–And Reach Higher Dimensions
An intriguing question about drums kicked off decades of inquiry
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Bigger Floods Endanger Millions Living in Extreme Poverty
The vast majority people exposed to both threats live in India and sub-Saharan Africa
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A Remote Controlled Carnivorous Plant?
Researchers design an artificial neuron that can trigger closure of a Venus flytrap.
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The Supreme Court’s Latest Decision Is a Blow to Stopping Climate Change
By deciding in favor of fossil-fuel interests and limited regulatory authority, the Court has hampered the EPA’s ability to mitigate power-plant carbon pollution
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What You Need to Know About Monkeypox
An infectious disease expert answers questions about how the virus spreads, what its symptoms are, and how to get testing and treatment
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Electronic Skin Lets Humans Feel What Robots Do–And Vice Versa
An integration of soft materials, sensors and flexible electronics is bringing robotic “skin” closer than ever to reality
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A Person Got COVID from a Cat in First Confirmed Case
Scientists in Thailand have established that a tabby passed SARS-CoV-2 to a veterinary surgeon—although such cases of cat-to-human transmission are probably rare
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How Snakes Breathe while Crushing Prey
Boa constrictors wearing blood pressure cuffs and tiny masks reveal the answer to a biological puzzle
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We Asked GPT-3 to Write an Academic Paper about Itself.–Then We Tried to Get It Published
An artificially intelligent first author presents many ethical questions—and could upend the publishing process
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U.S. Retreats from Pledge to End Gas Investments
The energy crisis caused by Russia’s war in Ukraine is testing Western leaders’ promises to phase out natural gas financing abroad
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Abortion Restrictions Could Cause an Ob-Gyn Brain Drain
With Roe v. Wade overturned, banning abortion in many states could lead to a large number of ob-gyns avoiding practicing there or failing to receive crucial medical training
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Who Is Liable when AI Kills?
We need to change rules and institutions while still promoting innovation to protect people from faulty AI
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How Indigenous Groups Are Using 3-D Technology to Preserve Ancient Practices
To safeguard fragile cultural objects, some groups are replicating them with digital models
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NASA’s Tiny CAPSTONE CubeSat Launches on Pioneering Moon Mission
The spacecraft will arrive in lunar orbit in mid-November to help prepare for a future moon-orbiting outpost
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Renewable Energy Is Surging, But Trouble Looms
The International Energy Agency projects that spending on renewables in 2022 will exceed the record $440 billion invested last year
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Gunshot Survivors and Trauma Surgeons Welcome the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act
After a chaotic week in which gun safety measures were struck down by the Supreme Court and enacted by Biden, the time to act is now
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This AI Tool Could Predict the Next Coronavirus Variant
The model, which uses machine learning to track the fitness of different viral strains, accurately predicted the rise of Omicron’s BA.2 subvariant and the Alpha variant
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Mathematicians Are Trying to ‘Hear’ Shapes
An intriguing question about drums kicked off decades of inquiry
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New Abortion Laws Could Make Prenatal Genetic Screening Harder to Do
States that outlaw abortions after a certain number of weeks could make it difficult or impossible to terminate a pregnancy because of a serious genetic disorder
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U.S. Jump-Starts Effort to Curb Residential CO2 Emissions
The project will retrofit older homes and apartment buildings to be more energy efficient
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Global Warming Causes Fewer Tropical Cyclones
But those that do form have a greater chance of becoming intense storms
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We Need to Make ‘Electrifying Everything’ Easier
Incentives and remodeling need to be more straightforward and equitable if we expect people to convert their homes away from fossil fuels
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Kids’ Vaccines at Last and Challenges in Making New Drugs: COVID, Quickly, Episode 33
On this episode of the COVID, Quickly podcast, we discuss some parents breathing a collective sigh of relief and the paradox of how effective vaccines can make it harder to…
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How Connected Cars Can Map Urban Heat Islands
Crowdsourced vehicle data trace the contours of dangerous city temperatures
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What Air Pollution in South Korea Can Teach the World about Misinformation
Tracking how misinformation campaigns begin and amplify can give scientists tools to combat them
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Subverting Climate Science in the Classroom
Oil and gas representatives influence the standards for courses and textbooks, from kindergarten to 12th grade
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How Parents’ Trauma Leaves Biological Traces in Children
Adverse experiences can change future generations through epigenetic pathways
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Roe v. Wade Was Overturned. Here’s how Your Phone Could Be Used to Spy on You.
From figuring out how often you go to the bathroom to potentially being used to prosecute you, your trusty smartphone might not be so trusty in a post-Roe world.
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Deadly Heat Wave’s Lesson: ‘This Is the Future We All Face’
After last year’s heat crisis, Pacific Northwest emergency managers, doctors and even transit systems are using lessons learned to prepare for this summer
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Why Was Afghanistan’s Magnitude 5.9 Earthquake So Devastating?
Famed seismologist Lucy Jones explains how building methods and quake dynamics interact—and what to do about the problem
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How Abortion Misinformation and Disinformation Spread Online
With reproductive rights being dismantled, social media companies need to stop propagating lies
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Primary Care Providers Can Help Safeguard Abortion
As abortion access becomes more limited in the U.S., primary care providers can and should provide these services to people who need them
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How AI Facial Recognition Is Helping Conserve Pumas
Researchers tricked out conventional camera traps to snap headshots of Puma concolor, revealing a better way to track the elusive species.
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Spray-On, Rinse-Off Food ‘Wrapper’ Can Cut Plastic Packaging
The coating deters microorganisms to fight both food waste and foodborne illness
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How the Higgs Boson Ruined Peter Higgs’s Life
A new biography of the physicist and the particle he predicted reveals his disdain for the spotlight
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Research on Gun Violence Has Been Thwarted: It’s Now More Urgent Than Ever
We need to make firearms safer, and to do that, we need more robust research funding
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Prescribed Burns Are More Dangerous because of Climate Change
But the technique must remain in the firefighting toolbox, a new U.S. Forest Service report says
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Poliovirus Detected in London Sewage, U.K. Officials Warn
The detected strain can sometimes cause severe disease in people who are not vaccinated against polio
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Sequencing Cat Genomes Could Help Breed Healthier Kitties
A study of more than 11,000 felines reveals the benefits of genetic testing before breeding
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We Can’t Let Monkeypox Turn into a Repeat of COVID
Will governments apply lessons learned from COVID to this latest viral outbreak?
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