Physics
Why Baseballs Are Flying in 2019
An analysis of the 2019 edition of the Major League baseball points to reasons why it's leaving ballparks at a record rate.
Stories by Steve Mirsky
Policy & Ethics
Jared Diamond’s New Book Upheaval Looks at Lessons to Be Found from Countries in Crisis
Fixing a problem first requires recognizing that it exists
The Body
Bone Up on What’s Inside You
Author and self-described fossil fanatic Brian Switek talks about his new book Skeleton Keys: The Secret Life of Bone.
Environment
Solving Our Plastic Problem
At Scientific American 's third Science on the Hill event, experts from academia and the private sector met at the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill to talk with Scientific American editor-in-chief Mariette DiChristina about solutions to our plethora-of-plastics problem...
Environment
A Biodegradable Label Doesn’t Make It So
At the third Scientific American “Science on the Hill” event, “Solving the Plastic Waste Problem”, one of the issues discussed by experts on Capitol Hill was biodegradability. ...
Physics
Remembering Murray Gell-Mann
Murray Gell-Mann, 1969 Nobel Laureate in Physics who identified the quark, died May 24th.
Math
Calculus Reveals the Universe—and Can Make a Tuna Melt Sandwich
A new book that can make you love calculus
Math
Secrets of the Universe Revealed!
Cornell University applied mathematics professor Steven Strogatz talks about his new book Infinite Powers: How Calculus Reveals the Secrets of the Universe.
Policy & Ethics
Kavli and Nobel Laureates Tackle Science’s Big Questions
Highlights from an hour-long panel of Kavli and Nobel prizewinners at the National Academy of Sciences
Evolution
Nobelist: Harness Evolution as a Problem-Solving Algorithm
Frances Arnold, the Caltech scientist who shared the 2018 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, says evolution can show us how to solve problems of sustainability.
If at First You Don’t Succeed
The benefits of failure
Policy & Ethics
A Loaded Gun Can Be Dangerous Even If Only a Dog Is Near the Trigger
Even man’s most loyal companion can’t be trusted around guns
Space
How the Black Hole Said Cheese
Scientific American 's chief features editor Seth Fletcher talks about his book Einstein's Shadow, an account of the long effort to image a black hole that recently came to fruition...
Climate
A Tree and Its People in a Warming Landscape
Conservation scientist Lauren Oakes discusses her book about Alaska ecology and sociology, In Search of the Canary Tree: The Story of a Scientist, a Cypress, and a Changing World...
Public Health
4/20 Traffic Accidents Claim Curbed
A deeper data dive calls into question a 2018 study that found a spike in fatal traffic accidents apparently related to marijuana consumption on this date.
Neuroscience
What Chickens Can Teach Hearing Researchers
At an April 9th event sponsored by the Kavli Foundation and produced by Scientific American that honored Nobel and Kavli Prize winners, neuroscientists James Hudspeth and Robert Fettiplace talked about the physiology of hearing and the possibility of restoring hearing loss...
Arts & Culture
Nobelist Says System of Science Offers Life Lessons
At an April 9th event sponsored by the Kavli Foundation and produced by Scientific American that honored Nobel and Kavli Prize winners, economist Paul Romer talked about how the social system of science offers hope for humanity and for how we can live with each other...
Weather
How Some U.S. Cities Saw 70 Degree F Temperature Swings between January and February
The polar vortex struck in January, giving Chicago a brief blast of Arctic weather
Arts & Culture
There's A Word For Today
English lacks some words that other languages pack with meaning.
Neuroscience
Tech's Brain Effect: It's Complicated
We don't yet know what the immersion in technology does to our brains, but one neuroscientist says the answer is likely to be that there's good, there's bad, and it's complex.
