Behavior
Dissecting the Bloodthirsty Bliss of Death Metal
Fans of this violent music report feelings of transcendence and positive emotions; psychologists want to learn why
Culture1107 articles archived since 1845
Your Halloween Geo Grab Bag
It's Halloween season, and I've been saving up all sorts of treats for you!
Beauty Does Not Equal Truth, in Physics or Elsewhere
Truth can be ugly, and beauty can lead us astray
Culture
Visualizing Science: Illustration and Beyond
Where does the illustrator end and the infographer begin? How does data visualization fit in? And what does science have to say about the design decisions we make?
Can Science Fiction Save the World?
James Gunn, the last surviving author of the genre’s Golden Age, believes it can help, anyway
Culture
Science News Briefs from around the Globe
A few very brief reports about science and technology from around the globe, including one from Mongolia on horse dentistry.
Biology
Revolutionary Microscopy Technique Nets Most Lucrative Prize in Science
The Breakthrough awards, each worth U.S. $3 million, honor advances in the life sciences, physics and mathematics
Climate Change
Trouble Brewing? Climate Change Closes In on Beer Drinkers
Increasing droughts and heat waves could have a devastating effect on barley stocks—and beer prices
Space & Physics
What Linguistics Can Tell Us about Talking to Aliens
Linguist Sheri Wells-Jensen explains the pitfalls in our assumptions about extraterrestrials
Culture
Readers Respond to the June 2018 Issue
Letters to the editor from the June 2018 issue of Scientific American
Medicine
Unleashing Immunity against Cancer: Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
James P. Allison and and Tasuku Honjo shared the Nobel Prize for their discovery of inhibition of negative immune regulation, the basis of new drugs against cancer.
Space & Physics
Where There's a Wills There's a Way to Explain the Home Run Rise
Astrophysicist and sports data scientist Meredith Wills talks about why a subtle change in Major League baseballs may be behind the jump in home runs after 2014.
A Pioneering Female Scientific Illustrator, Rediscovered
Orra White Hitchcock’s elegant 19th-century geologic drawings shine at the American Folk Art Museum
Culture
Pirates Needed Science, Too
On International Talk Like a Pirate Day, here's an eye-patch-witness account of how science helps in all peg-leg walks of life, even piracy
EARTH
Science News Briefs from Around the World
A few very brief reports about science and technology from around the globe.
Culture
The Environment’s New Clothes: Biodegradable Textiles Grown from Live Organisms
To combat the ill effects of “fast fashion,” designers look for more sustainable methods
Culture
Museum Digs Out a Future from Charred Scientific Ruins
Brazil’s tragic fire sends a wake-up call to neglected national museums worldwide
Biology
Here's Looking at Humanity, Kid
Senior Editor Gary Stix talks about the September special issue of Scientific American , devoted to the science of being human. And Brown University evolutionary biologist Ken Miller discusses human chromosome 2 and what it tells us about us...
Behavior
How to Build a Better Childhood
Design and architecture critic Alexandra Lange examines the material world we’ve created for children
A Brief History of How We Figured Out How Lava Happens: Melting the Earth
A very entertaining read on how we figured out how volcanoes actually work
