Space & Physics
Halley's Comet Can Help Us Understand These Uncertain Times
The work of decoding the cosmic traveler has surprising relevance right now
Stories by Jeffery DelViscio
Public Health
COVID, Quickly, Episode 1: Vaccines, Variants and Diabetes
Today we begin a new podcast series: COVID, Quickly. Every two weeks, Scientific American ’s senior health editors Tanya Lewis and Josh Fischman catch you up on the essential developments in the pandemic: from vaccines to new variants and everything in between...
Culture
Climate Change Could Shred Guitars Known for Shredding
It is the wood that the rock greats have sworn by—swamp ash, in the form of their Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster guitars—for more than 70 years. If you have ever listened to rock, you have probably heard a solid-body swamp ash guitar...
Medicine
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...
Public Health
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...
Engineering
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...
Public Health
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
Environment
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...
Environment
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...
Environment
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...
Computing
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...
Biology
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.
Space & Physics
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...
Computing
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...
Public Health
Why History Urges Caution on Coronavirus Immunity Testing
Being immune was once a status symbol—and another way to segregate and divide humanity
Space & Physics
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...
Public Health
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?
Public Health
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
Medicine
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...
Medicine
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
