
Virus Mutations Reveal How COVID-19 Really Spread
Globe-trotting humans were the culprits
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.

Virus Mutations Reveal How COVID-19 Really Spread
Globe-trotting humans were the culprits

Satellites in Low Orbits Are Taking over the Skies
Earth monitoring and high-speed Internet are driving demand

Pumping Charged Particles onto Airplane Surfaces Could Reduce Lightning Strikes
Tests reveal that an imbalance of charge buildup can trigger airplane lightning

Carbon Taxes Would Boost Jobs across the U.S.
Construction and manufacturing careers would rise nationwide

What’s Inside? Meat vs. Meatless Burgers
A look at ingredients and nutrition

Stopping the Coronavirus: Have We Learned the Lessons from SARS?
The parallel dos and don’ts for the two viruses are striking

Global Warming Is Not Part of Natural Climate Variability
A common argument among skeptics is put to rest

U.S. Power Supply Is Changing Significantly
And the shifts in energy sources may be sharper than you think

Don’t Believe the Hype: The Pumice Raft Won’t Save the Great Barrier Reef
The floating shelf of volcanic stone more than twice the size of Manhattan will nonetheless bring a fascinating array of life to the reef

Special Report: Future of the Arctic
Suddenly, nations are jockeying to control the seafloor and exploit resources in the rapidly thawing north

Nations Claim Large Overlapping Sections of Arctic Seafloor
The five coastal countries will have to rectify their science and their politics

Nations Get Busy Inside the Arctic Circle
As ice retreats, countries are expanding military seaports, exploiting shipping lanes and exploring for oil and gas

Viruses Thrive in the Arctic Ocean
A surprising study overturns a common assumption

The Great Ocean Divide
More than two million square kilometers are being carved up, leaving little for the rest of the world

A New Reality Up North
Climate change is dramatically altering life at the top of the world

Climate Solution: Use Carbon Dioxide to Generate Electricity
Sending atmospheric CO2 into underground methane hydrates could clean the air and create revenue

Massive Forest Restoration Could Greatly Slow Global Warming
The right trees, planted in the right locations, could store 205 gigatons of carbon dioxide

Safer Nuclear Reactors Are on the Way
Resilient fuels and innovative reactors could enable a resurgence of nuclear power

Social Media Bots Deceive E-cigarette Users
Social media bots promote unproved benefits of e-cigarettes

Follow the Water
Solving global water issues will greatly benefit food and energy, too

Government Attempts to Silence Science Are Revealed in Detail
A tracker reveals more than 300 government attempts to suppress knowledge

Scientific American Is the Source of More Than 1,000 New Terms
A famous dictionary cites the magazine for new words and new meanings of old words

Green Alternative to Border Wall Might Have Saved Texas
A U.S.-Mexico corridor of renewable energy and water could have prevented widespread emergencies

Warning Scale Unveiled for Dangerous Rivers in the Sky
Strings of ocean storms called atmospheric rivers flood California and other western coastlines, although sometimes they can be beneficial