Egyptian Vats 5,600 Years Old Were For Beer Brewing
Archaeologists working in the ancient city of Hierakonpolis discovered five ceramic vats containing residues consistent with brewing beer.
Arts & Culture896 articles archived since 1845
A Revolution in the Creation of Scientific Workplaces
So-called "convergence" research brings many disciplines together to solve problems—and the right lab design can make that much quicker and easier
150 Years of the Journal Nature
Nature is arguably the world’s most prestigious scientific journal. Editor in chief Magdalena Skipper spoke with Scientific American ’s acting editor in chief Curtis Brainard about her journal as it celebrates its 150th anniversary...
Recommended Books, November 2019
The ecosystem of a crime scene, how undercover patients changed psychiatric care, and more
Can Secondhand Shopping Dent Fast Fashion’s Environmental Damage?
Reusing clothes saves on emissions and water use, but researchers have lingering questions on exactly how much it can contribute to making the apparel industry more sustainable
Science News Briefs from around the Globe
A few brief reports about international science and technology from Brazil to Hong Kong, including one about male elephants in India exhibiting unusual social behaviors.
We Owe Our Pumpkins to Pooping Megafauna
The pumpkin’s ancestor was an incredibly bitter, tennis-ball-sized squash—but it was apparently a common snack for mastodons. Christopher Intagliata reports.
NOVA’s Killer Floods Caused Me Unnecessary Pain and Suffering
What could have been an excellent documentary is marred by several glaring problems
One Man, Two Kinds of Creativity
Painter and mathematician Edward Belbruno inhabits both worlds with equal comfort
Engineering, Beauty and a Longing for the Infinite
A recent excursion to Italy made it clear to students and professors alike that these things are interrelated
How Harold Bloom, the Late Literary Critic, Helped Me Write The End of Science
Bloom’s book The Anxiety of Influence helped a science writer understand the plight of modern scientists trying to surpass their predecessors
Recommended Books, October 2019
50 things to see in the night sky, untold stories of mathematical Americans, and more
Comparing Beauty in Math and Art
People pair mathematical proofs with paintings and pieces of music similarly
Teeth Tell Black Death Genetic Tale
DNA from the teeth of medieval plague victims indicates the pathogen likely first arrived in eastern Europe before spreading across the continent.
On Philosophy, Death and the Sea
A young philosopher finds philosophy consoling because it is impossible...
Creativity and AI: The Next Step
Combining two types of machine intelligence could open new frontiers of art...
Tiny Paintings Draw Color from Microscopic Cracks
Scientists harness “structural color” to create images in plastic
Musical Note Perception Can Depend on Culture
Western ears consider a pitch at double the frequency of a lower pitch to be the same note, an octave higher. The Tsimane’, an indigenous people in the Bolivian Amazon basin, do not...
The Mathematical Language of Nature
Physics historian Graham Farmelo talks about his latest book, The Universe Speaks in Numbers: How Modern Math Reveals Nature's Deepest Secrets.
Pluralism: Beyond the One and Only Truth
Some big questions, such as how matter makes mind and what quantum mechanics means, may not have a single, definitive answer
