Culture

Increasing droughts and heat waves could have a devastating effect on barley stocks—and beer prices

Linguist Sheri Wells-Jensen explains the pitfalls in our assumptions about extraterrestrials

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.

Letters to the editor from the June 2018 issue of Scientific American

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.

Orra White Hitchcock’s elegant 19th-century geologic drawings shine at the American Folk Art Museum

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

A few very brief reports about science and technology from around the globe.

To combat the ill effects of “fast fashion,” designers look for more sustainable methods 

Brazil’s tragic fire sends a wake-up call to neglected national museums worldwide

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.

Design and architecture critic Alexandra Lange examines the material world we’ve created for children