Scientific American

The trend of attorneys getting caught citing AI-hallucinated cases points to a broader problem: instead of checking AI’s work, people keep trusting it

Over the course of 13 expeditions and other efforts between mid-2025 and mid-2026, scientists found hundreds of previously undiscovered creatures living under the waves

Our galaxy and its nearest large companion, Andromeda, may be headed for a collision on a cosmic scale. What happens then?

This teensy creature was discovered along a deep-sea mountain

In an effort to reduce prices at the pump, an EPA wavier allows the sale of fuel with 15 percent ethanol content

Our universe appears flat—but this observation still leaves plenty of options for its true shape. In fact, our cosmos could resemble a donut

A chatbot’s result for the 80-year-old “unit distance” conjecture is the first AI proof that would likely be published in math’s top journal if humans had done it alone

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.

Scientists are working to solve a mystery of Earth’s molten outer core, which lies more than 2,000 kilometers beneath our feet

Bundibugyo virus is an uncommon species of Ebola-causing virus that has been linked to only two other known outbreaks

Friday’s test flight marks a major milestone for SpaceX as the company gears up to go public and to participate in NASA’s Artemis III mission in 2027

This eerily simple math says our days are numbered—and nobody can agree why it’s wrong

A massive digitization project has nearly doubled the known extent of the first continent-scale road network

An astrophotographer teamed up with Artemis II commander Reid Wiseman to create these stunning new images of the lunar surface

Experts question this study’s design and its recommendations—and point out that you probably get more exercise than you think

Will computers based on quantum physics really change the world?

Smart-panel start-up Span wants to turn spare household electricity into AI computing power. How far it can scale and what effect that would have on the residential grid remain unsettled

Gold doesn’t tarnish like similar metals do. A new paper says that the key is the intricate “herringbone” pattern of its atoms.

How an experiment involving a made-up skin condition exposes the risks of increasingly popular AI medical advice

This launch, when it comes, will mark the 12th flight test of Starship and the first demonstration of its V3 design. A new attempt could come as soon as Friday

A deadly Ebola outbreak in parts of Africa is raising international alarm. Still, experts stress that the chance of a pandemic is low

Constructed by ancient Egyptians, the Great Pyramid has survived multiple earthquakes through the ages—now researchers think they know why

These critters were carrying the Sin Nombre variant of hantavirus, which can be spread from rodents to humans but not from one person to another

This company says its pulsed plasma machine will deliver electricity to the grid by 2029. Some physicists warn that its promises are outrunning what the technology has proved

An out-of-this-world weather report from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope reveals how clouds move across a giant planet hundreds of light-years from Earth

SpaceX is now targeting the evening of May 21 to launch the latest and largest version of its Starship megarocket for the first time

Denver’s hockey team is studded with stars, but training and playing the game some 5,000 feet above sea level may give their athletic performance a boost over that of their rivals

A growing body of research suggests cannabis poses risks to the developing brain

The long-tailed pygmy rice rat is the primary host for Andes virus, the type of hantavirus responsible for sickening passengers on the MV Hondius cruise ship

The sudden resolution of a well-known conjecture highlights the growing adoption of AI as an assistant in high-level mathematics

Researchers discovered the copy of the 1,300-year-old poem lurking inside a historical text in an Italian library

Friday’s flight could be the most pivotal test of the Starship megarocket

At least six Americans are believed to have been exposed to the Ebola virus, and one person who appears to have contracted the virus has been evacuated to Germany