Culture

Quantum science and AI research are big winners just a year after this U.S. funding giant slashed its Graduate Research Fellowship Program awards in half

By making people feel as if they inhabit a younger version of their own face, researchers can bring childhood memories into sharper focus

As Pokémon turns 30, we take a look at how the beloved Japanese kids’ franchise was inspired by—and has shaped—real-world science

The Pokémon franchise, including its recent game Pokémon Pokopia, is inspired by real animals and their ecology. It’s no surprise that so many scientists love to try and “catch ’em all”

Letters to the editors for the January 2026 issue of Scientific American

Sometimes innovation can be traced back to bizarre places: a muddy streambed, a volcanic ash field or even a hotel-company boardroom

You can track the start of spring and the phases of the moon—or you can turn to a formula by mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss

Letters to the editors for the December 2025 issue of Scientific American

Lurid headlines don’t give American children enough credit

In the Oscar-nominated film Bugonia, Emma Stone’s character is accused of being an alien. But would we know extraterrestrial life if we saw it on Earth?

How do scientists actually study beavers? How do beavers build dams? And what is “beaver butt juice”?

No bad luck here—just lots of fascinating math that explains why the 13th of a month so often falls on a Friday