Scientific American

A solution to part of the Cohen-Lenstra conjecture helps resolve a long-standing mystery about quadratic forms

One in 7,000 people carry this gene mutation

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

Musk outlined his vision to investors after SpaceX posted a $542-million loss from its space launch sector in its first quarter as a public company

The Arctic is heating faster than the rest of the planet. New data illustrate how dire that is

An active ingredient in magic mushrooms, psilocybin has shown early promise for treating eating disorders

A rare fossil find shows a tooth embedded an ichthyosaur’s vertebra, where it was likely left when a giant pliosaurid chomped down on this dolphin-resembling reptile

Put your science knowledge to the test with this week’s news quiz. Play now.

Strange whirlpools of plasma seen in the sharpest images ever captured of our star help explain the deep origins of Earth-threatening space weather and more

Charles Darwin predicted in 1875 that some members of the Saxifraga genus could be carnivorous—now scientists have finally proven him right

A U.K. safety evaluation found agents powered by Anthropic and OpenAI took unauthorized actions online, exposing a growing problem of control

Wormholes are one way that physicists have imagined traveling into the past. But if something gets there, is it physically possible to change anything?

While “protein maxxing” is all the rage, reducing your protein intake could add years to your life

This artificial intelligence system largely accomplished the task it was built to solve, and researchers outside DeepMind have already been carrying its work forward

Astronomers’ simulations predict what this lunar impact—and its aftermath—will look like

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

Folding a piece of paper makes it thicker. How many folds would it take to reach the moon—and beyond?

This marks only the second extinct ice age amphibian found in North America—and it gives researchers vital information about the ancient climate

Smoking in movies and TV is up, and “cigfluencers” have become a thing, but lags in data make it unclear if the vibe shift has any reality to it

Smoking rates remain low, but experts say social media, stress and shifting attitudes could be fueling a cigarette revival

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention hasn’t had a full-time leader in almost a year

As cases of a parasite-caused disease tied to shredded iceberg lettuce continue to climb, the nation’s top public health body is warning of a new foodborne illness

A million-dollar math mystery may someday be resolved in a physics lab. A new study brings this vision one step closer.

Mountain lions (also known as cougars or pumas) make roads safer by scaring deer and elk that can cause collisions with cars into more remote areas

A proof-of-principle experiment used concentrated sunlight to produce entangled photons

Fauci previously served as the chief medical officer to President Joe Biden and led the U.S. COVID pandemic response effort during the first Trump administration

Most of the world’s population carries at least a little Neanderthal DNA

Here’s everything you need to know about this eclipse, from the weather to the best viewing locations

It may be time to rethink our relationship with the sweet stuff

Some female daddy longlegs will perform fellatio, perhaps to avoid potential violence from males, while males of another species entice females with a secretion on their penises

A unique landform is vital for calibrating NASA’s satellites, but it’s likely sitting atop a vast deposit of this heavy metal, which is crucial for making munitions

The bright, red-orange stain on Antarctica’s ice-covered landscape may trace back to ancient oceans

This billionaire-backed fund is dedicating $200 million to preserve animals and even plants that are facing extinction around the world

These proposed changes have seen significant bipartisan pushback and have been criticized by scientists across disciplines

These deaths were reported by Michigan, which has seen more than 11,000 cases of cyclosporiasis emerge since late June

The Swedish engineer influencer has spent over a decade on YouTube growing a loyal audience of over 2.5 million followers, but for her, the journey was all about living a less typical life in science.

Scientists analyzing modern genomes may have found a long-lost branch of the human family tree

New work explains how avocado trees coordinate a complex reproductive strategy, switching every day between male and female

An outbreak of Cyclospora infections tied to produce spreads across multiple states as new research challenges the protein maxxing craze

Discovered by an amateur mathematician in 2022, this strange construct can tile an infinite surface without repeating. But can it be useful in the real world?

The extreme conditions of atomic bomb explosions create “uncontrolled microexperiments” that, in Hiroshima, forged a never-before-seen metallic alloy

Dry conditions and climate change are putting forests across the country at risk for disaster

Many of these structures date to around C.E. 100–300, during the time of the Aquiry civilization, and may have been used for ceremonial purposes

Physicists, mathematicians and philosophers have been exploring the possibility of going forward to the future or back to the past