Scientific American

Dogs spontaneously aid struggling humans the way young children do—whereas cats wait until they stand to benefit

The new movie Disclosure Day is all about a big, alien secret. But SETI researchers behind the updated postdetection protocol say they aren’t in the business of secrets

Researchers have created the first high-resolution global map of the extent of one of Earth’s largest—and least visible—living networks

Extremely curved spacetime can warp cause and effect, creating channels for backward communication

A step-by-step guide to the “Doginburgh Inventory,” a new pawedness test developed by dog behavior researchers

Mathematicians have considered how to watch every corner of a space—but soccer adds moving players, blocked views and constant action

NASA’s X-59 research aircraft reached its target speed and altitude for the first time on Friday

Start your morning with today’s Spellements. Create as many words as you can from our daily selection of letters—including one tied to recent science news. Play now.

The fossilized remains of more than 450 whales have amassed along a 750-mile-long stretch of the Indian Ocean floor

Dermatologists and skincare aficionados are excited for the U.S. to finally get a new, more protective sunscreen filter after more than 20 years of regulatory roadblocks. Here’s how bemotrizinol works

A study finding that even one drink a day causes health risks was deliberately sidelined by the Trump administration, a former federal public health official alleges

Angine de Poitrine don't abide by the usual rules of Western music, using their own custom-built guitar to strike notes that shouldn't exist

Famed AI wins in Go let human players rethink their moves in a whole new way

Melting permafrost is releasing carbon into the atmosphere, but scientists may have underestimated just how bad the situation may be, a new analysis finds

The ability to run “mental marathons” is a skill children can learn through simple, but dedicated, practice

The magnitude 7.8 earthquake that hit the Philippines happened at a subduction zone. Such places are capable of producing the largest earthquakes possible

The 24 alien books the Scientific American staff love, from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy to Contact and beyond

Reusable rockets and Starlink made Elon Musk’s company dominant in spaceflight. Its record valuation leans on making Starship flights routine and orbital AI data centers real

SpaceX’s IPO—the largest in history—has out-of-this-world implications for AI, space commerce and extraterrestrial exploration

Meteor camera networks can reveal the hidden history of the solar system, and you can assist from your own backyard

A linguist lays out what communicating with aliens could actually involve—and what that tells us about human language

In a first, the American College of Obstetricians & Gynecologists released its own vaccine schedule

Salt, with its ability to seal liquid in, is uniquely suited to storing the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve

Weight lifting and other forms of resistance training can increase bone density, lower diabetes risk and boost mental health

This tiny robot might look like a high-tech hamster ball, but it could hasten lunar exploration

New results challenge AI’s promise for solving how fluids swirl—and suggest a more human path forward

When asteroids slam into Earth, they can create hydrothermal vent systems

The Tianwen-2 spacecraft is slowly closing in on the near-Earth asteroid Kamo‘oalewa, on a mission that would bring China’s first asteroid samples back to Earth in 2027

An experiment with 2,520 participants backs Richard Feynman’s answer to every diner’s dilemma: Do I want to try something new?

Controlling a small group of “noisy” sheep holds hints for computer algorithms

This experimental plane, which reached supersonic speeds yesterday, is designed to travel faster than the speed of sound without creating bothersome sonic booms

As millions of soccer fans pack FIFA World Cup venues, public health scientists created a wastewater monitoring network to forecast potential disease threats—from measles to Ebola

Scientists have been expecting El Niño to set in for quite a while now—and it’s finally official

The second batch of “First Proof” problems is meant to evaluate AI’s usefulness for research-level math. The best model got six or seven of the 10 questions basically right

FIFA is building temporary natural-grass fields meant to play consistently across 16 stadiums in three countries

Children living in areas with low socioeconomic opportunities have more tired and stressed brains, a new study finds

Eight years after a Chinese scientist's report of gene-edited babies shocked the world, U.S. scientists reported editing embryos not meant for pregnancies using a more precise technique

Cold fronts colliding with warm, humid air from the Gulf of Mexico could cause dangerous weather conditions, forecasters say

The maker of Claude wants AI labs, including itself, to prepare for a coordinated slowdown if models begin building their own successors