America on Dialysis
Kidney disease affects millions of Americans, but corporate capture of dialysis, along with disparities in treatment and transplant access, mean that not everyone's journey is the same...
Stories by Jeffery DelViscio
What Science Has Learned about the Coronavirus One Year On
About a year ago, SARS-CoV-2 (which wasn’t called that yet) was just beginning to emerge in a cluster of cases inside China. We know what has happened since then, but it bears repeating: there have been 69 million cases and more than 1.5 million deaths globally as of December 10, 2020, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center...
2020’s Top 10 Tech Innovations
Scientific American and the World Economic Forum sifted through more than 75 nominations for the most innovative and potentially game-changing technologies in 2020. The final top 10 span the fields of medicine, engineering, environmental sciences and chemistry. And to win the nod, the technologies must have the potential to spur progress in societies and economies by outperforming established ways of doing things...
Vaping Industry Echoes Big Tobacco’s Misleading Call for Science
To understand the battle over e-cigarettes, one must look to history—and big tobacco
Science Sound(E)scapes: Head Banging and Howling in the Amazon
Need a break from politics and the pandemic? You’re probably not in the Amazon rain forest right now, but we can take you there in audio. Today, in part three of our three-part audio sound escape, we ascend into the trees where howler monkeys and crimson-crested woodpeckers rule the airwaves...
Science Sound(E)scapes: Amazon Frog Choruses at Night
Need a break from politics and the pandemic? You’re probably not in the Amazon rain forest right now, but we can take you there in audio. Today, in part two of our three-part audio sound escape, we descend into a nighttime flood of frog music...
Science Sound(E)scapes: Amazon Pink River Dolphins
Need a break from politics and the pandemic? You’re probably not in the Amazon rain forest right now, but we can take you there in audio. Today, in part one of our three-part audio sound escape, we listen to dolphins hunting among the trees...
Watch a Robot AI Beat World-Class Curling Competitors
Artificial intelligence still needs to bridge the “sim-to-real” gap. Deep-learning techniques that are all the rage in AI log superlative performances in mastering cerebral games, including chess and Go, both of which can be played on a computer...
This ‘Small World’ Is Packed with Animated Beauty
Nikon’s Small World in Motion competition captures creatures and forces that are invisible to the naked eye.
Dark Frontiers: The Science of Black Holes
How massive can black holes become? How do astronomers typically observe them? How do they die? Scientific American presents a conversation about these mysterious cosmic phenomena with Yale University astrophysicist Priyamvada Natarajan...
A Nixon Deepfake, a 'Moon Disaster' Speech and an Information Ecosystem at Risk
A new video re-creates a history that never happened, showing the power of AI-generated media...
Why History Urges Caution on Coronavirus Immunity Testing
Being immune was once a status symbol—and another way to segregate and divide humanity
On its 30th Birthday, the Hubble Telescope has a simple wish for the world
Circling hundreds of miles above the surface of our big blue marble for 30 years, I’ve had a remarkable view of the universe. I am the Hubble Space Telescope, and I have a birthday wish for everyone out there listening while I watch the heavens...
The Science behind How Coronavirus Tests Work
Technologies such as PCR, serological assays and rapid diagnostics help us understand the spread of COVID-19. But how do they do so?
Are Smokers or Vapers More at Risk for COVID-19? Here’s What We know
Investigating the potential danger to those who use tobacco products or e-cigarettes calls for a look at the lungs
Inside the Race to Blast COVID-19 Off the Surfaces of New York City
As the Covid-19 pandemic overwhelms hospitals and shuts down American cities, it has also placed new demands on janitors and specialized cleaners. In New York City, it's Reuven Noyman's job to clean up after the coronavirus...
Larry Brilliant Helped to Eradicate Smallpox—and He Has Advice for COVID-19
The doctor’s firsthand experience with epidemics gives him a unique view of our current health crisis
The Clitoris: A Reveal Two Millennia in the Making
In the history of sexual anatomy, the clitoris has long been dismissed, demeaned and misunderstood. Here is a view of the clitoris you’ve probably never seen.
Will the New Coronavirus Keep Spreading or Not? You Have to Know One Little Number
Whenever there’s a new outbreak, scientists rush to calculate a number called R0, or R-naught
Will the New Coronavirus Keep Spreading or Not? You Have to Know One Little Number
Whenever there’s a new outbreak, scientists rush to calculate a number called R 0 , or R-naught. Why? It’s been a critical part of the scientific effort to understand just how transmissible the new virus is...
