Scientific American

Collage illustration showing the perils of funding in science and including portraits of two individuals mentioned in the article. Illustration by Max-o-matic and photographs by Emily Butler Photography and Getty Images.

Young American ScientistsJune 16, 2026

How to fix science

The federal funding system for scientific research in the U.S. is crumbling. Here’s how it can be rebuilt

Dan Vergano

A cluster of clouds over the Gulf Coast of Texas, with more scattered clouds visible across the Southeast.

Tropical Storm ArthurJune 17, 2026

The first Atlantic tropical storm of 2026 is here—and it used to be a Pacific cyclone

Andrea Thompson

Conceptual image of a human brain against a dark background

Young American ScientistsJune 15, 2026

Learning from unexpected results: This neuroscientist is redefining how the brain learns

Rachel Feltman, Sushmita Pathak, Alex Sugiura

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.

Young American ScientistsJune 16, 2026

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

Sarah Scoles

A robot hand reaches toward bubbles with letters in them

GamesJune 18, 2026

Today’s Spellements

Emma R. Hasson

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

MathematicsJune 17, 2026

Our brains underestimate Elon Musk’s wealth

Manon Bischoff

The skull of a nine- to 11-year-old girl who died and was buried along with plague victims at the Ust’Ida I burial ground.

DNAJune 17, 2026

Could this ancient burial site be the oldest lethal plague outbreak?

Jackie Flynn Mogensen

A close-up Hubble image of the galaxy DF9 is shown beneath a wider view of the surrounding NGC 1052 region.

AstrophysicsJune 17, 2026

Astronomers discover another galaxy seemingly devoid of dark matter

Sam Macdonald

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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

Conceptual image of a human brain against a dark background

NeuroscienceJune 15, 2026

Learning from unexpected results: This neuroscientist is redefining how the brain learns

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

Discussions

What role do you think government should play in science?

3View the Discussion

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

2View the Discussion

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Popular Stories

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

Optic nerve fibres in red.

CellsJune 13, 2026

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

The first participant has been treated in a landmark clinical trial of cellular reprogramming, which aims to rejuvenate aging cells

Heidi Ledford, Nature magazine

Portrait photo of a smiling, bearded man in a blue shirt.

MathematicsJune 15, 2026

Russia seeks mathematician’s extradition

Mikhail Verbitsky was detained at an Armenian airport last Thursday on charges of inciting terrorism

Joseph Howlett

Close-up of a housecat’s head gazing at the camera as the cat lies down.

CognitionJune 10, 2026

Science confirms: Cats help you only when there’s something in it for them

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

Anirban Mukhopadhyay

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

The great American brain drain could define science for a generation

Sarah Scoles

A view of Earth from space.

MathematicsJune 16, 2026

Math predicts humans could go extinct in about 17,000 years

Some mathematicians have predicted when humanity’s downfall might occur—though the circumstances are unspecified

Manon Bischoff

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