Steve Mirsky was the winner of a Twist contest in 1962, for which he received three crayons and three pieces of construction paper. It remains his most prestigious award.
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.
There's A Word For Today
English lacks some words that other languages pack with meaning.
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
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.
Science Couple Phages Out Superbug
Medical researcher Steffanie Strathdee needed to save the life of her husband, researcher Tom Patterson, when he contracted one of the world's worst infections. She turned to phage therapy: using a virus to kill the bacteria.
Baseball Commish Talks Big Data
At a sports technology conference, baseball commissioner Rob Manfred addressed issues including an automated strike zone and advanced analytics.
Volunteers Jumped with or without a Parachute to Gauge Its Effectiveness
Someone finally did a study on the efficacy of parachutes
Vaccine Rejection: Truth and Consequences
Kent State epidemiologist Tara Smith talks about vaccines, recent preventable measles outbreaks and her 2017 journal article on vaccine rejection.
Teach Science Process over Findings
Seismologist and policy advisor Lucy Jones says science education needs to teach how science works more than just what it finds out.
Finally Over for Mars Rover
The rover Opportunity has called it quits after working for more than 14 years on Mars.
On the Origin of Darwin
On this 210th anniversary of Darwin's birth we hear evolution writer and historian Richard Milner perform a brief monologue as Charles Darwin, and former Scientific American editor in chief John Rennie and Darwin's great-great-grandson Matthew Chapman read excerpts from The Origin of Species.
Researchers Show How Not to Waste Waste
A number of studies about number two
Warming Arctic on Thin Ice
Scientific American collections editor Andrea Gawrylewski talks to managing editor Curtis Brainard about how warming in the Arctic affects us all. And glaciologist Elizabeth Case takes us out near Juneau to study and live on the shifting ice.
Ultima Thule and the Apes of Earth
As the New Horizons mission approached Ultima Thule, Rowan University paleontologist Kenneth Lacovara put our close-up study of the Kuiper Belt object into a deep-time perspective.
Ravenmaster Christopher Skaife Tells of His Relationships with the Tower of London’s Resident Birds
His job is for the avians
Meet the Real Ravenmaster
Christopher Skaife talks about his new book The Ravenmaster: My Life with the Ravens at the Tower of London, in front of a live audience at Caveat, “the speakeasy bar for intelligent nightlife" in Lower Manhattan.
Join Blue Planet II Live-Tweet
Starting December 16, ocean scientists will live-tweet the BBC documentary series Blue Planet II, available via Netflix.
Star Trek Biology Explored in the New Book Live Long and Evolve
One common activity on Star Trek was to boldly get busy
Mars Mission Makes Clean Landing
The sounds of the Mars InSight Mission control room during the tense minutes leading to the landing on the surface.
The Crusade against Dangerous Food, Part 2
Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Deborah Blum talks about her book The Poison Squad: One Chemist’s Single-Minded Crusade for Food Safety at the Turn of the 20th Century, Part 2.
The Crusade against Dangerous Food, Part 1
Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Deborah Blum talks about her book The Poison Squad: One Chemist’s Single-Minded Crusade for Food Safety at the Turn of the 20th Century, Part 1.
Social Construct of Race Imposes Biology
Anthropologist Jennifer Raff argues that race is culturally created, but has biological consequences.
First Benefit of Knowing Your Genome
The "low hanging fruit" of genome-related health care will be knowing which drugs are likely to treat you best, says science journalist Carl Zimmer.
Factors That Up the Chances an Exotic Pet Gets Released into the Wild
People dump their exotic animals for logical, if not good, reasons