Scientific American Magazine

Despite the lessons of the 2008 collapse, Wall Street is betting our future on flimsy science

Humans colonized the New World earlier than previously thought—a revelation that is forcing scientists to rethink long-standing ideas about these trailblazers

The volcano beneath this calm-looking lake has grown restive, inspiring a rare collaboration between Chinese and Korean scientists

Did space rocks seed Earth with life? To test that idea, a Russian probe is about to see whether microbes can survive a round-trip to Mars

Fracturing a deep shale layer one time to release natural gas might pose little risk to drinking-water supplies, but doing so repeatedly could be problematic

A new breed of genetically modified mosquitoes carries a gene that cripples its own offspring. They could crush native mosquito populations and block the spread of disease. And they are already in the air—though that's been a secret

Some philosophers today are doing more than thinking deeply. They are also conducting scientific experiments relating to the nature of free will and of good and evil

The Mars Phoenix mission revived hopes that the Red Planet may be habitable, preparing the way for a new rover to be launched this month

A five-step global plan could double food production by 2050 while greatly reducing environmental damage

As a disease detective at the NIH, William A. Gahl unravels the cause of illnesses that have stumped other doctors