Scientific American

Researchers are finally learning the mechanism behind one of the most prescribed medicines in the U.S., primarily used to treat or prevent type 2 diabetes

Music and math often come together in ways we don’t expect

Giants have featured in stories for millennia, but the reason why they don’t exist helps explain the natural world

From eclipse awe to vaccine debate, earthquake recovery and coffee’s benefits

For decades, an influential theory blamed the Rapanui for their own downfall—a story made famous by Jared Diamond’s book Collapse. New evidence tells a different tale

Two new missions are revealing how robotic repair and assembly could become routine on the final frontier

China plans to send container ships along Russia’s northern coast, reviving environmental concerns about the fragile polar region

This study was originally published in 2024 and was criticized as being misleading by other scientists at the time

Explore the Tetris paradox in this math puzzle

El Niño years typically mean warmer ocean temperatures and less wind shear in some parts of the Pacific—and that means more potential for hurricanes

Betelgeuse, the sky’s most famous red supergiant, is well studied but poorly understood

SpaceX and other companies want to put millions of satellites into space. Could orbit run out of room?

Researchers have nailed down an elusive quantity called baryon number, which may be responsible for the cosmic mismatch between matter and antimatter

Two American companies are pursuing rival manufacturing strategies for these long-promised cells in an industry China dominates

Letters to the editors for the April 2026 issue of Scientific American

A new study shows that each neuron can do multiple computations at once thanks to hundreds of sprawling branches

Here are four reasons solar energy has seen a meteoric rise in recent years

The conservative think tank’s report claims that high-intensity and elite sports training has lasting effects on menstrual cycles and fertility

The start-up’s grant to the Nuclear Threat Initiative will fund an international information sharing system designed to flag biosecurity threats from AI

The U.S. is spending millions to try to control feral hogs, but are those efforts in vain?

Science in meter and verse

First glimpsed as “little red dots” in deep-space images from the James Webb Space Telescope, these giant, gas-shrouded black holes are full of surprises

Golden Dome’s most audacious element would require a vast constellation of weapons that does not yet exist. Defense companies are already lining up to build it

Zipline’s tethered delivery system lowers packages from the sky. Now it has to show that people want the service

This study has been touted by Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont as proof of the benefits of a universal, single-payer health care system, but the research hasn’t been peer-reviewed

A heavenly read; a 25-foot eye; a case of double personality

We are rightfully told to eat more fiber. But our depleted gut microbiomes may not benefit from superhigh levels

In a retrospective study, people taking estrogen-only hormone therapy for menopause were less likely to see signs of dementia

Play this crossword inspired by the September 2026 issue of Scientific American

Companies are making big bets on technology to solve lingering challenges in the clean-energy rollout. Here are four of the most ambitious projects

Follow all the latest updates about the August 12 eclipse with Scientific American

The backlash raises a bigger question for science communicators: Where should AI fit into their work?

After 49 years in space, NASA’s Voyagers are running low on power—but an audacious move should extend the tenures of the two spacecraft

There’s a $1-million prize for proving the Riemann hypothesis. Claude couldn’t pull that off, but it made significant progress on a related problem

This technique could lead to new treatments for antibiotic-resistant bugs, but some scientists say the technology could be misused

This new cache of material includes footage of a U.S. military plane’s infrared display recorded during an exercise over the Gulf of Oman in 2021

The vagus nerve is the autonomic nervous system’s highway, connecting every major organ

The last common ancestor of all living things may not have been alive at all

This storm, a rarity for this part of the Pacific, is expected to bring heavy rains, strong wind and possibly “life-threatening flooding” to Hawaii this weekend

Doctors used to warn coffee drinkers. Now research reassures them

We asked a simple question: What’s in kids’ squishy toys? Finding an answer was surprisingly complicated

OpenAI released 10 AI-generated results over the weekend. Some mathematicians are unhappy with their approach

New guidelines say testing sperm for DNA damage could help explain recurrent pregnancy losses

This flu shot, mFlusiva, was shown in a clinical trial to be up to 27 percent more effective than a standard flu jab

One in 7,000 people carry this gene mutation

This state, which has seen more than 200 twisters this year, could beat Texas’s all-time record of 244 tornadoes in 12 months

A mathematician may have solved a 250-year-old question about whether every polygon contains a path home