Biodiversity

With all the attention to the Ebola virus and other pathogens floating around in bodily fluids and the air, we may not be aware that the dirt beneath our feet is home to thousands of bacteria and other microorganisms.

Researchers are racing to breed beneficial new traits into the dangerously homogeneous coffee crop before it succumbs to disease or other threats

Innovation and discovery as chronicled in past issues of Scientific American

Books and recommendations from Scientific American

Chaser, a Border Collie from South Carolina, knows the names of over 1,000 different objects. Does anyone find themselves looking at their tail-wagging friend and wondering, "Well, what do you know?" When it comes to whether dogs can understand words, Chaser—the subject of not one, but two scientific publications—can attest that the answer is: Yes.

Dolphins can sense magnetism, suggesting that they track Earth’s magnetic field to navigate through the water

Joshua Lambus is an award winning photographer and videographer based on the Big Island of Hawaii. He specialises in ‘blackwater’ diving, which involves travelling up to 8 kilometres off the shore of Hawaii, and diving into the ocean in the black of night, when thousands upon thousands of deep-sea species head to the surface to [...]

Discovering a new species isn't always as easy as saying “Look, there’s a new species!” In the case of a rare bird recently identified in Brazil, it took about 20 years for scientists to gather enough evidence to classify it as a new species.

Wine harbors probiotics that may have health benefits

"Left-handed" electrons have been found to destroy certain organic molecules faster than their mirror versions

Mike meet everyone, everyone meet Mike. No, no, don't wave. He can't see, you're just making this awkward. Also known as Miracle Mike, Mike the Headless Chicken was a plump, five-year-old cockerel when he was unceremoniously beheaded on 10 September 1945.

Robot octopuses can already walk, jet along and even grasp tools. But new advances have these machines swimming faster than ever. And thanks to the addition of soft, fleshy webs, they’re starting to look—and move—much more like the real thing, too.