Culture1080 articles archived since 1845

King Tut’s Dagger Is Out of This World

New study shows that meteorites rather than terrestrial ore were the sources of Bronze-Age iron

Repetitive Sounds Are Music to the Brain

Repeating something can render that thing melodious—even the sound of a shovel being dragged across the pavement. Karen Hopkin reports.

STEM Gifts That Don't Come in Boxes or Need Batteries

Encouraging the budding scientist in your life doesn't have to mean getting your hands on the latest gadgets

Lab Work for X-Ray Stars and Movie Stars

Innovation and discovery as chronicled in Scientific American

Ancient Women Had Awesome Arms

For thousands of years, women in agricultural societies seem to have had arms stronger than members of modern rowing teams.  

The Life of Enrico Fermi, an Epic Birding Quest and Other New Science Books

Book recommendations from the editors of Scientific American

Hiding Clear Ideas behind Unclear Words

Sometimes it take a little bit of humor to see that clear ideas can get buried inside convoluted sentences

In Case You Missed It

Top news from around the world

Readers Respond to the August 2017 Issue

Letters to the editor from the August 2017 issue of Scientific American

Bumper Stickers Make Highways More Social

A social scientist studies how car stickers turn the roads into actual information highways.  

Getting a Little Lost on the Great Food Scavenger Hunt

Looking into the source of your holiday meal may lead to more questions than answers—and that can be a good thing

Why Don't People Return Their Shopping Carts?

Pulling up to a parking spot and finding a shopping cart there can be pretty frustrating. Why do people ignore the receptacle?

Ancient 1 Percenters Were Beast-Based

New World societies long ago likely had less income inequality than those in the Old World, and the difference might have been an oxen gap. Christopher Intagliata reports.

Have Scientists Found a Secret Chord for Happy Songs?

We can explain the meaning of lyrics by looking at their component words and grammatical structure. But how do we explain the meaning of music?

Math at the Met

Amid the museum’s 2 million works of art lie numerous mathematical curiosities

Put Space Cat on a Pedestal

A campaign calls for the creation of a statue to recognize Félicette, the first cat to be sent into space.  

Recognizing Ms. Frizzle's Own Magic

Still looking for ways to take chances, make mistakes and get messy 20 years later

Let’s Science That: A Tool for Solving Humanity’s Greatest Challenges

A Saudi Heroine, a Big Score and the First City on the Moon

The Martian author Andy Weir’s much-anticipated new novel Artemis takes place in and around an Earth colony overlooking the moon’s Sea of Tranquility