Scientific American

A black-and-white photo showing a group of five people holding signs with phrases such as “Stop Acid Rain,” “Acid Rain Kills” and “Our Lakes Are Crying.” They are standing in front of a larger banner.

Earth DayApril 22, 2026

Whatever happened to the ozone hole, acid rain and DDT?

The environmental crises of the past often seem to disappear—have problems like acid rain and smog been solved?

Andrea Thompson

While most cameras were looking up at the 2012 peak of the Lyrid meteor shower, astronaut Don Pettit aboard the International Space Station trained his video camera on Earth below. Footage from that night is now revealing breathtaking images of Earth at night with meteors burning up in the atmosphere.

AstronomyApril 20, 2026

The Lyrid meteor shower is peaking now

Claire Cameron

A crescent-lit Earth peeking out over a dark lunar surface like a half-obscured sunrise.

Earth DayApril 22, 2026

Earth Day in the Artemis era: Can NASA’s moon missions spur a new environmental movement?

Meghan Bartels

Four people sitting on tall chairs with a large spacecraft visible in the glass wall window behind them.

AstronomyApril 22, 2026

NASA’s Roman Space Telescope will begin its revolutionary mission in September

Dan Vergano

An illustrated robot holds out a luminescent orb with a Sudoku number grid inside

GamesApril 22, 2026

Today’s Hard Sudoku

May Issue: Your Heart in Flames. Read Now!

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., US secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), during a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies hearing in Washington, DC, US, on Tuesday, April 21, 2026.

Public HealthApril 22, 2026

RFK, Jr. set to overhaul key committee that issues disease screening recommendations

Tanya Lewis

An illustration of a protoplanetary disk around a young star

Planetary ScienceApril 22, 2026

The solar system’s first solids formed in a rush

Javier Barbuzano

A man holds cigarettes and vapes

SmokingApril 22, 2026

A smoking ban for people born after 2008 may be on the cusp of becoming law in the U.K. Here’s what to know

Adam Kovac

Close up drops of water on rice field in the morning.

PlantsApril 22, 2026

Plants can ‘hear’ rain coming, spurring them into action

K. R. Callaway

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May 2026 Issue

A conceptual illustration of a heart in flames.

Heart disease

The hidden cause of heart disease is inflammation

Melinda Wenner Moyer

A researcher wearing white gloves seals a quartz tube to form the ampoule shape (left); A close up of five quartz tubes (right).

Quantum Physics

How strange new ‘altermagnets’ could rewrite physics

Bob Henderson

Illustration of the scene of the aftermath of an asteroid strike with dinosaurs dying and advanced birds taking wing.

Evolution

How birds survived the dinosaurs’ doomsday

Steve Brusatte

A dimensional spacecraft inside a cutout of a suitcase against a blue background.

Spacecraft

Space hotels are coming soon

Jonathan O'Callaghan

A dimensional perfume bottle inside a cutout of a chemistry glassware flask against a pink background.

Chemistry

Inside the labs where chemists engineer luxury perfumes

April Long

A dimensional watch inside a cutout of a toothed gear against a green background.

Engineering

How a lost 1812 wristwatch sparked a 200-year race in precision engineering

Jeanna Bryner

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Games

A robot hand reaches toward bubbles with letters in them

Spellements

Create as many words as you can!

Illustration of a hand and multiple numbers against a purple background.

Math Puzzles

Stretch your math muscles with these puzzles.

A robot hand unleashes a swirl of puzzle pieces, crosswords, and circles with numbers and letters

All Games

Science inspired games, puzzles and quizzes

Special Edition

A number of suns floating with Red Blood cells

Health

Can sunlight cure disease?

Rowan Jacobsen

Pile of peanuts

Public Health

Can peanut allergies be cured?

Maryn McKenna

Illustration of a Vitamin D pill bottle with yellow balloons flying out of it, then being popped by a pin in a hand.

Public Health

How much vitamin D do you need to stay healthy?

Christie Aschwanden

Illustration of a row of human figures (minimialist in style—just outlines, even stick figures), each in a different rainbow color, with a row of vaccines (eg needle plus vial) above the row of humans.

Medicine

Personalized mRNA vaccines will revolutionize cancer treatment—if funding cuts don’t doom them

Rowan Moore Gerety

Illustration of a face, with an enlarged nasal cavity. Inside the nasal cavity are three health care professionals with nasal spray bottles and colorful patterns

Pharmaceuticals

New nasal vaccines offer better protection from COVID and flu—no needle needed

Stephani Sutherland

Illustration of a doctor in a white lab coat, using a bow and arrow.

Pharmaceuticals

These cancers were beyond treatment—but might not be anymore

Jyoti Madhusoodanan

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Podcasts

Conceptual image showing a woman placing a bandange of a large globe against a blue background

Amid climate doom, here’s an Earth Day reminder about spectacular environmental wins

Rachel Feltman, Sushmita Pathak, Alex Sugiura

An image of a hippo with its mouth open coming out of the water.

The EnvironmentApril 20, 2026

‘Cocaine hippos,’ faster aging with HIV and the hidden dangers of inflammation

Rachel Feltman, Andrea Gawrylewski, Fonda Mwangi, Alex Sugiura

Illustration of a Eurasian Jay perched in a tree with an acorn in its beak

Evolutionary BiologyApril 17, 2026

The dinosaurs at your window: How birds survived the asteroid that killed all other dinosaurs

Kendra Pierre-Louis, Sushmita Pathak, Alex Sugiura, Naeem Amarsy

Illustration showing Pokémon trading cards spread out face down on a flat surface

CultureApril 15, 2026

The fans who went from collecting Pokémon to studying bugs and fossils

Kendra Pierre-Louis, Sushmita Pathak, Alex Sugiura

An image of the nearside of the moon

Space ExplorationApril 13, 2026

Artemis proves NASA can return to the moon. Now comes the hard question: Why?

Kendra Pierre-Louis, Claire Cameron, Lee Billings, Emma Gometz, Joseph Howlett, Fonda Mwangi, Alex Sugiura, Kylie Murphy, Sushmita Pathak

Discussions

Where do you stand on the use of peptides for health and wellness?

10View the Discussion

Do you think it's a good idea to be able to unlock memories from the past?

5View the Discussion

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Popular Stories

Society & PolicyApril 21, 2026

FBI investigating possible links between deaths and disappearances of at least 10 scientists

This announcement from the FBI came after President Donald Trump highlighted the recent deaths of several scientists and government workers who may have had access to sensitive information

Claire Cameron

Cropped image of a row of three colorful sunburst charts.

AutismMarch 17, 2026

Here’s what the autism spectrum really looks like

The autism spectrum is big, vibrant and complicated, a new graphic of 39 traits shows

Allison Parshall, Amanda Montañez

Two astronauts in white space suits hold an American flag on the surface of the moon, with the crescent of Earth shown in the distance.

Space ExplorationApril 20, 2026

NASA’s 2028 moonshot may be delayed because of lack of space suits, watchdog report warns

NASA needs new space suits to land astronauts on the moon by 2028, but development is behind and in danger of slipping further, according to a report from the agency’s Office of Inspector General

Claire Cameron

Two children playfully pushing and laughing together on a sofa in a bright home interior

EpidemiologyApril 21, 2026

Why firstborns may be more likely than secondborns to be autistic or to have allergies

A comprehensive study found differences in numerous health conditions in firstborn children versus those born second

Sara Novak

an illustration of salmon seen on its back as it splashes around in the water, a fisher visible in the background of forested outdoor scene

PollutionApril 20, 2026

Here’s what happens when you give salmon cocaine

It turns out that salmon exposed to cocaine through water pollution do a lot of swimming—which may not be a good thing

Gennaro Tomma

A close-up of a smartphone screen displaying the text 'Anthropic Project Glasswing' and 'Securing critical software for the AI era' over a geometric pattern, set against a blurred orange and black background.

Artificial IntelligenceApril 17, 2026

What is Mythos, Anthropic’s unreleased AI model, and how worried should we be?

The company says Mythos is too dangerous to release publicly. Cybersecurity experts agree the model's capabilities matter, but not all of them are buying the most alarming claims

Chris Stokel-Walker

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