Scientific American Magazine

To do their magic in the cell, proteins must fold into rigid shapes—or so standard wisdom says. But a more tangled story is beginning to emerge

Computers have great trouble deciphering voices that are speaking simultaneously. That may soon change

Brain scans and other types of neurological evidence are rarely a factor in trials today. Someday, however, they could transform judicial views of personal credibility and responsibility

Genetically modified crops, says agro-research czar Roger Beachy, receive an unjustified shellacking from environmentalists

Is the theory at the heart of modern cosmology deeply flawed?

Irrigation and mining are sucking the salt lake dry, but together Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority could save the sacred sea

Lethal from day one, the tentacled snake uses surprisingly sly tactics to capture fish

Earthquake detection systems can sound the alarm in the moments before a big tremor strikes—time enough to save lives

A new pattern of antibiotic resistance that is spreading around the globe may soon leave us defenseless against a frighteningly wide range of dangerous bacterial infections