TechnologyDecember 19, 2014
Ramming a Submarine, 1914
Reported in Scientific American, This Week in World War I: December 19, 1914 Scientific American in 1914 sometimes used large, single-theme images for the issue cover.
History of Science
TechnologyDecember 17, 2014
First Airplane Flight Marks 111th Anniversary!
It was 111 years ago today that the world's first piloted, powered, controllable, heavier-than-air machine built and flown by Orville and Wilbur Wright took to the air.
The Young American Scientists Event—Register Now
The SciencesDecember 17, 2014
Beyond "The Pipeline": Reframing Science's Diversity Challenge
One of the most commonly used metaphors for describing the solution for growing and diversifying America's scientific talent pool is the "STEM pipeline." Major policy reports have called on the U.S.
EnvironmentDecember 12, 2014
Fact or Fiction?: Geoengineering Can Solve Global Warming
Neither blocking sunlight nor capturing carbon can stop climate change
HealthDecember 11, 2014
100 Years of Bubonic Plague
In the last century alone, researchers have described more than 1,000 cases of plague infections in the U.S.
Space & PhysicsDecember 10, 2014
Humans on Mars Soonish Says NASA Bigwig
John Grunsfeld, the former astronaut who now heads NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, thinks that traveling light could get people to Mars by the 2040s
The SciencesDecember 10, 2014
10 Original Gifts for Science and Art Geeks
It’s time again for me to offer up a few quirky gift ideas for the science enthusiasts in your life. I guarantee these will be the most original gifts under the tree!
Space & PhysicsDecember 9, 2014
Big Mirrors, High Hopes: Extremely Large Telescope Is A Go
In astronomy, bigger is almost always better. The size of a telescope’s aperture (or primary optical element) not only determines how many pesky little photons it can capture, but also the ultimate resolution of the image that can be formed.
Space & PhysicsDecember 9, 2014
Quasars, Black Holes and the Origins of Intercontinental Radio Astronomy
Not long ago I came across a piece in the Scientific American archives from the earliest days of very-long baseline radio interferometry, the technique employed by the Event Horizon Telescope.
The SciencesDecember 9, 2014
Will R&D Ever Get the Tax Break It Deserves?
The innovation industry faces an uncertain future, as long as the United States R&D Tax Credit remains a Congressional roller coaster ride.
EvolutionDecember 8, 2014
E.O. Wilson's Thrilling Prophecy of "Paradise" on Earth
Edward Wilson has earned the right to title his latest book The Meaning of Human Existence, which coming from almost any other author would sound laughably pretentious.
The SciencesDecember 6, 2014
25 Years After Montreal Massacre, Women in Science Still Face Threats
Twenty-five years ago today, on December 6, 1989, in Montreal, fourteen women were murdered for being women in what their murderer perceived to be a space that rightly belonged to men: Geneviève Bergeron (born 1968), civil engineering student Hélène Colgan (born 1966), mechanical engineering student Nathalie Croteau (born 1966), mechanical engineering student Barbara Daigneault (born [...]