Culture

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

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

A wildfire rages against the Alberta tar sands, aliens induce existential crises for people (and cats), the hype and potential of MDMA, and more books out now

For academic research to be truly equitable, leadership, not just the scientists from underrepresented groups, must advocate for it

A new study reveals why handmade fermentation vessels called onggi stand the test of time

Under former president Jair Bolsonaro, scientific misinformation ran rampant through Brazil. And even with new leadership, it will be difficult to stop

Physicists attempt to weigh a vacuum and resolve the “worst theoretical prediction in the history of physics”

Letters to the editor for the January 2023 issue of Scientific American

Mistaken fossil identity in India, decrypted letters of an imprisoned Scottish queen, marsupials seeking marsupials Down Under, and more in this month’s Quick Hits

The first timekeeping devices were probably natural materials lost to the ages, but the ancient Egyptians were the first to leave records of their timekeeping methods

Boris Eldagsen submitted an artificial-intelligence-generated image to a photography contest as a “cheeky monkey” and sparked a debate about AI’s place in the art world

Letters to the editor for the December 2022 issue of Scientific American