Scientific American

Conceptual art illustrating the state of American science. A large hand removes bricks from a Jenga-style tower supporting individuals and a microscope.

Social SciencesJune 16, 2026

U.S. science is in chaos

How did we get here?

Adam Rogers

Cover of the July/August issue of Scientific American, featuring a colorful collage of people around the branding of The Young American Scientists, against an orange background.

CultureJune 16, 2026

Science’s rising stars

David M. Ewalt

Detail of a chart with dots and error range bars. A U.S. label is associated with a pair of dots that show a drop in value.

EducationJune 16, 2026

See how academic freedom is changing around the world

Jen Christiansen

Illustration of an individual in a lab coat with a beaker containing a glowing liquid. The individual is ascending a DNA structure staircase. Using the glowing beaker as a guiding light, past newspaper clippings on a wall.

History of ScienceJune 16, 2026

When science is under siege, history offers a playbook

Deborah Blum

GamesJune 16, 2026

Today’s 6x6 KenKen

KenKen Puzzle Co.

The Young American Scientists Event—Register Now

A model of a brain wrapped in a tangle of glowing lights.

Mental HealthJune 16, 2026

Could the keto diet help treat anorexia, schizophrenia and depression?

Allison Parshall

Artificial IntelligenceJune 16, 2026

The U.S. restricted Anthropic’s powerful Fable model. Cybersecurity experts say that could backfire

Chris Stokel-Walker

Line charts show possible trajectories of Bundibugyo Virus Disease cases in the Democratic Republic of Congo based on numbers of suspected and confirmed deaths. Lines show case numbers from April 24 to May 27, 2026, under fast, moderate, and slow growth scenarios and assuming case fatality rates of 26, 33 or 40 percent.

EpidemiologyJune 16, 2026

Just how big is the new Ebola outbreak?

Tanya Lewis

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

MathematicsJune 16, 2026

Math Puzzle: Go to great lengths

Heinrich Hemme

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July/August 2026 Issue

Conceptual art illustrating the state of American science. A large hand removes bricks from a Jenga-style tower supporting individuals and a microscope.

Social Sciences

U.S. science is in chaos

Adam Rogers

Collage style illustration by Max-o-matic showing different areas of science, government buildings, data samples and maps.

Science Education

On our radar

Megha Satyanarayana

Close-up portrait photograph of J. Craig Venter, image provided by K.C. Alfred/San Diego Union-Tribune/Getty Images.

Biology

Craig Venter

Jeanna Bryner

Collage style illustration by Max-o-matic showing different areas of science.

Space & Physics

My childhood in science

Alan Lightman

Illustration of an individual in a lab coat with a beaker containing a glowing liquid. The individual is ascending a DNA structure staircase. Using the glowing beaker as a guiding light, past newspaper clippings on a wall.

History of Science

When science is under siege, history offers a playbook

Deborah Blum

Portrait photograph of Atul Gawande provided by Priyanka Parashar/Mint/Getty Images.

Public Health

Atul Gawande

Tara Haelle

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The Young American Scientists

Portrait photograph of Adam Bowman, Chee-Huat Linus Eng, Jenny Bergner, Kaiyi Jiang, Christina V. Theodoris, Lvmin Zhang, Steven Chavez and Dmitrii Kochkov.

How we chose the 2026 Young American Scientists

Ari Sen

Stylized illustration by Olga Aleksandrova depicting scientists looks at world maps, photos of cities and stamps. Aiming to underscore the appeal of jobs outside of the United States.

Society & PolicyJune 16, 2026

Dozens of countries are trying to lure U.S. scientists abroad—and it’s working

Sarah Scoles

Vera C. Rubin Observatory in the foreground, against a rose-gold sky.

The SciencesJune 16, 2026

Inside U.S. labs at a moment of fear—and unexpected promise

Rebecca Boyle

Collage style illustration by Max-o-matic showing different areas of science.

CultureJune 16, 2026

What people get wrong about scientists

Dava Sobel

Explore Collection

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

An illustration of a galaxy.

Astronomy

The new story of the Milky Way’s surprisingly turbulent past

Ann Finkbeiner

Doark amorphous shape

Dark Matter

Dark matter might lurk in its own shadow world

Kathryn Zurek

Illustration of a woman at a desk and her dog living in a spacecraft.

Space Exploration

Why we'll never live in space

Sarah Scoles

Illustration of a black hole in a geometric-like universe

Black Holes

The puzzle of the first black holes

Priyamvada Natarajan

Illustration of a dragon-like creature coming to life out of a long roll of paper

Astrophysics

What if we never find dark matter?

Tracy R. Slatyer, Tim M. P. Tait

Conceptual image of the timeline of the cosmos

Cosmology

Astronomers’ epic quest to witness the cosmic dawn

Rebecca Boyle

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Podcasts

Portrait photograph of Erini Lambrides taken by Jeffery DelViscio

How Erini Lambrides went from seeking theater stardom to studying the stars at NASA

Rachel Feltman, Sushmita Pathak, Alex Sugiura

The director and cast of the movie Disclosure Day pose in front of a banner with the name of the movie for a promotional event

LanguageJune 12, 2026

Disclosure Day raises a big question: How do you talk to aliens?

Rachel Feltman, Sushmita Pathak, Brianne Kane, Alex Sugiura

An image of workers installing turf on the World Cup pitch at Los Angeles Stadium

SportsJune 10, 2026

Inside the high-stakes effort to bring natural grass to World Cup stadiums

Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Alex Sugiura

An image of an aerial view of FIFA World Cup 2026 match ball installation in Vancouver

Public HealthJune 8, 2026

World Cup kicks off amid outbreak tracking as Mars mission ends and AI fights heat up

Rachel Feltman, Lauren J. Young, Andrea Gawrylewski, Fonda Mwangi, Alex Sugiura

Wooden blocks with letters spell PCOS against a blurry white background

ReproductionJune 5, 2026

Inside the multiyear effort to rename PCOS

Rachel Feltman, Sushmita Pathak, Alex Sugiura

Discussions

Take me to your reader: Scientific American staff recommend their favorite alien books, but what’s your favorite?

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How are you participating in the summer reading challenge?

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Optic nerve fibres in red.

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World-first: therapy to make cells young again given to a person

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CognitionJune 10, 2026

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EarthJune 11, 2026

See the hidden fungal network so big it could stretch to Proxima Centauri and back

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DogsJune 10, 2026

How to tell if your dog is left-pawed or right-pawed, according to science

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MathematicsJune 15, 2026

Russia seeks mathematician’s extradition

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