Recommendations from the editors of Scientific American
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Tag Archives: The Sciences
Readers Respond to the April 2021 Issue
Letters to the editor from the April 2021 issue of Scientific American
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Poem: ‘Elizabeth Cabot Agassiz (1822–1907)’
Science in meter and verse
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One Head, 1,000 Rear Ends: The Tale of a Deeply Weird Worm
Ramisyllis multicaudata is an animal that seems to have adopted the lifestyle of a fungus
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O UFOs, Where Art Thou?
Five reasons why sorting all of this out is so scientifically challenging
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To Understand UAPs, We Need Megapixel Imagery
If any of them represent advanced technology, high-res photos might tell us whether they’re metaphorically labeled “Made in China” or “Made on Exoplanet X”
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50, 100 & 150 Years Ago: August 2021
Tasty radio; early fake leather
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The Human Framework for Alien Life
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Why So Many Young People Hate STEM Courses
Take it from someone who almost gave up on her dream of being a scientist
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China’s Space Station Is Preparing to Host 1,000 Science Experiments
The spaceborne studies will cover diverse topics, from dark matter and gravitational waves to the growth of cancer and pathogenic bacteria
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Caffeine Boosts Bees’ Focus and Helps Them Learn
By associating caffeinated sugar-water and a target scent, researchers teach bumblebees to stay on task
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Avi Loeb’s Galileo Project Will Search for Evidence of Alien Visitation
With nearly $2 million in private funding, the controversial new initiative is targeting unidentified phenomena in Earth’s skies and beyond
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Learning to Live in Steven Weinberg’s Pointless Universe
The late physicist’s most infamous statement still beguiles scientists and vexes believers
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NASA Investigates Renaming James Webb Space Telescope after Anti-LGBT+ Claims
Some astronomers argue the space agency’s next flagship observatory will memorialize discrimination. Others are waiting for more evidence
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Announcing a New Plan for Solving the Mystery of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena
The newly organized Galileo Project will use a three-pronged approach to replace unreliable eyewitness reports with reproducible scientific observations
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Why an Asteroid Strike Is Like a Pandemic
Both are low-probability but catastrophic events—and both can be mitigated if we act early enough
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Quantum Mechanics, Plato’s Cave and the Blind Piranha
Can we ever really know the world?
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InSight Lander Makes Best-Yet Maps of Martian Depths
The NASA mission used seismic waves from marsquakes to perform a core-to-crust survey of the planet’s subsurface
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For Good Science, You Need Engaged Citizens
They strengthen the institutions that ensure a strong democracy, leading to rational decisions
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These Dinosaurs Had a Complicated Air Conditioner in Their Skull
Cooling 5,000-pound, armor-plated giants was no small feat.
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Massive Machines Are Bringing Giant Exoplanets Down to Earth
Scientists are using football-field-sized lasers, warehouse-sized electromagnets and other immense facilities to reveal the deep secrets of planetary interiors
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Moths Have an Acoustic Invisibility Cloak to Stay under Bats’ Radar
New research finds they fly around on noise-cancelling wings
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Hardy Microbes Hint at Possibilities for Extraterrestrial Life
Studies of extreme ecosystems on Earth can guide the search for Martian life and may reveal the fundamental limits of biology
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Jeff Bezos Launches into Space on Blue Origin’s First Astronaut Flight
The billionaire and three others take a suborbital trip onboard the craft New Shepard
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Behold the ‘Borg’: Massive DNA Structures Perplex Scientists
Researchers say they have discovered unique and exciting DNA strands in the mud; others are not sure of their novelty
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Play Is Serious Business for Elephants
Young dogs, apes and other animals develop skills needed to survive and reproduce
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Animal Play Is Delightfully Meaningful
Brown dwarfs, stuttering, quantum chemistry, and more
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Jeff Bezos and Blue Origin Are Finally Flying to Space
After nearly twenty years pursuing a lifelong dream of spaceflight, the world’s wealthiest person is at last ready for lift off
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The Idea That Trees Talk to Cooperate Is Misleading
It’s a romantic notion, but pretending they’re like humans could actually harm the cause of conservation
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Poem: ‘Lesson from the West African Lungfish (Protopterus annectens)’
Science in meter and verse
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New Approach Could Boost the Search for Life in Otherworldly Oceans
“Ecological biosignatures” hold promise for revealing alien organisms that may dwell within icy moons such as Jupiter’s Europa and Saturn’s Enceladus
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Spiders on Tiny Treadmills Give Scientists the Side Eye
Jumping spiders see more in their periphery than previously known
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China Is Pulling Ahead in Global Quantum Race, New Studies Suggest
The competition between the U.S. and China over development of quantum technology has implications for both the future of science and the two countries’ political relations
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‘Inflammation Clock’ Can Reveal Body’s Biological Age
Using machine learning, researchers created a tool that might help doctors improve people’s healthy lifespan
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New Space Radiation Limits Needed for NASA Astronauts, Report Says
Although meant to minimize risks to human health, the proposed new limits would still be exceeded by any conceivable near-future crewed voyage to Mars
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What You Know about Trump’s Assault on Science Was Just the Tip of the Iceberg
Help us reveal the rest
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The Case for Antiracism
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Star Trek’s Warp Drive Leads to New Physics
Researchers are taking a closer look at this science-fiction staple—and bringing the idea a little closer to reality
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How to Tell if Extraterrestrial Visitors Are Friend or Foe
They’ll most likely be robotic, guided by AI—so we’ll need our own AI to figure it out
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Virgin Galactic Launches Richard Branson to Space in 1st Fully Crewed Flight of VSS Unity
SpaceShipTwo make a successful, crewed suborbital test flight to 282,000 feet (86 kilometers) above Earth’s surface
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Virgin Galactic Launches Richard Branson to Space in First Fully Crewed Flight of VSS Unity
SpaceShipTwo make a successful, crewed suborbital test flight to 282,000 feet (86 kilometers) above Earth’s surface
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Wolves Raised by Humans Can’t Understand People like Dogs Can
Dog puppies are 30 times more interested in unknown humans than young wolves, confirming an evolutionary hypothesis
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Plasma Particle Accelerators Could Find New Physics
The next big collider will likely rely on novel technology
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A New Era of Designer Babies May Be Based on Overhyped Science
Genetic testing with IVF is being marketed as a means to choose a healthy embryo, despite questions about the soundness of the technology
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Exploring Black Sci-Fi, Learning through Color, the Cost of Cooling, and Other New Books
Recommendations from the editors of Scientific American
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Galileo and the Pope Who Loved Cicadas
The legendary scientist used the insects’ songs as a metaphor for his theories about the universe. It didn’t go well
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Galileo and the Pope Fell Out over a Story about a Cicada
The legendary scientist used the insects’ songs as a metaphor for his theories about the universe. It didn’t go well
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Highest-Energy Particles Yet Arrive from Ancient Crab Nebula
Astronomers have observed record-breaking photons that strain classical theories of acceleration
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If You Say ‘Science Is Right,’ You’re Wrong
It can’t supply absolute truths about the world, but it brings us steadily closer
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Fields Medals Are Concentrated in Mathematical ‘Families’
Elite mathematicians tend to pass their prestige down to advisees
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