Scientific American Magazine

Contemplative practices that extend back thousands of years show a multitude of benefits for both body and mind

For the first time, spacecraft will get an up-close look at comets, asteroids and dwarf planets from the distant Kuiper belt. These probes should reveal how the solar system came to be

For some cancer patients, viruses engineered to zero in on tumor cells work like a wonder drug. The task now is to build on this success

Novel materials, 3-D printers and a new way of thinking about design could yield objects capable of assembling themselves and changing shape or function on command

The growing popularity of rooftop solar power spurs a utility backlash

The homes that animals build are just as much a product of evolution as the creatures themselves

A human-powered helicopter could not fly, experts concluded. Then two young engineers proved them wrong and won a quarter of a million dollars in the process