
50, 100 & 150 Years Ago: February 2023
Paranoid computer; Mount Everest not the highest
Mark Fischetti was a senior editor at Scientific American for nearly 20 years and covered sustainability issues, including climate, environment, energy, and more. He assigned and edited feature articles and news by journalists and scientists and also wrote in those formats. He was founding managing editor of two spin-off magazines: Scientific American Mind and Scientific American Earth 3.0. His 2001 article “Drowning New Orleans” predicted the widespread disaster that a storm like Hurricane Katrina would impose on the city. Fischetti has written as a freelancer for the New York Times, Sports Illustrated, Smithsonian and many other outlets. He co-authored the book Weaving the Web with Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web, which tells the real story of how the Web was created. He also co-authored The New Killer Diseases with microbiologist Elinor Levy. Fischetti has a physics degree and has twice served as Attaway Fellow in Civic Culture at Centenary College of Louisiana, which awarded him an honorary doctorate. In 2021 he received the American Geophysical Union’s Robert C. Cowen Award for Sustained Achievement in Science Journalism. He has appeared on NBC’s Meet the Press, CNN, the History Channel, NPR News and many radio stations.

50, 100 & 150 Years Ago: February 2023
Paranoid computer; Mount Everest not the highest

50, 100 & 150 Years Ago: January 2023
Hydrogen power; alcohol from moss

50, 100 & 150 Years Ago: December 2022
Psychic reward; desert sea

Weird Weather: How to Tell a Williwaw from a Haboob
You may have endured a frost quake, pogonip or Saskatchewan screamer without knowing it. Take our tour of weird weather terms to find out

50, 100 & 150 Years Ago: November 2022
Tattooed corneas; sunlight on Venus

50, 100 & 150 Years Ago: October 2022
No life on the moon; safe gas at home

50, 100 & 150 Years Ago: September 2022
Booster shots for smallpox, molten moonglow

High-Tech Seafloor Mapping Is Finding Surprising Structures Everywhere
Giant coral towers, vast reefs and other formations are captivating explorers

Discoveries from the Deep
Advances in robotics, sensing and genomics are accelerating findings of sophisticated life throughout the ocean depths

50, 100 & 150 Years Ago: August 2022
Creation as science; climbing Mount Everest

How the Ocean Sustains Complex Life
Detailed data about a host of physical and chemical forces are shaping a new view of the sea

50, 100 & 150 Years Ago: July 2022
Count women as workers; cement from sewage

50, 100 & 150 Years Ago: June 2022
Innovation and discovery as chronicled by Scientific American

50, 100 & 150 Years Ago: May 2022
Vesuvius erupts again; dragon bones

50, 100 & 150 Years Ago: April 2022
Wanted: lard oil and asbestos

50, 100 & 150 Years Ago: March 2022
Human aura is ultraviolet; stimulating holly tea

50, 100 & 150 Years Ago: February 2022
Laser television; mastodons in New York

50, 100 & 150 Years Ago: January 2022
Booster shots for smallpox, molten moonglow

50, 100 & 150 Years Ago: December 2021
How birds breathe, dehydrated meat

Should Booster Shots Be Required?
This Covid question played out long ago, in the fight against smallpox in 1872

50, 100 & 150 Years Ago: November 2021
Fish in Death Valley; the Edison test

There’s Still Time to Fix Climate—About 11 Years
Aggressive policies, enacted now, can extend the deadline and prevent the worst catastrophes

50, 100 & 150 Years Ago: October 2021
Jupiter Pioneers get ready; wireless moths

50, 100 & 150 Years Ago: September 2021
U.S. could go metric; vicious fish