Culture

Some Japanese researchers feel that AI systems trained on foreign languages cannot grasp the intricacies of Japanese language and culture

Letters to the editors for the April 2023 issue of Scientific American

Ancient poop pathogens in Israel, Peru’s millennia-old El Niño preparations, a halt to Icelandic whale hunting, and much more in this month’s Quick Hits

A clinical health psychologist talks about Barbie’s influence on how women and girls view their body

Here’s what a historian who has studied J. Robert Oppenheimer for two decades has to say about the new Christopher Nolan film on the father of the atomic bomb.

A new history of the deep ocean, seeking truth through math, a space opera about self-identity, and more books out now

Tornados are moving east, OSIRIS-REx’s asteroid sample is coming to Earth soon, and there’s fresh treasure under the seafloor

Letters to the editors for the March 2023 issue of Scientific American

Unlikely pollinators in Brazil, climate-resilient coffee in Uganda, credible cryptozoology down under, and more in this month’s Quick Hits

Indigenous groups are developing data storage technology that gives users privacy and control. Could their work influence those fighting back against invasive apps?

How electrons move, multiple personalities form and hookworms spread among pet dogs