We use cookies to provide you with a better onsite experience. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies in accordance with our Cookie Policy.
How soon humanity will have to move inland to escape rising seas depends
in great part on how quickly
West Antarctica's massive ice sheet shrinks. Scientists are finally
beginning to agree on what controls
the size of the sheet
and its rate of disintegration
By Robert A. Bindschadler and Charles R. Bentley
Order in Pollock's Chaos
Computer analysis is helping to explain the appeal of Jackson Pollock's paintings. The artist's famous drips and swirls create fractal patterns, similar to those formed in nature by trees, clouds and coastlines
By Richard P. Taylor
Space
The Brightest Explosions in the Universe
Every time a gamma-ray burst goes off, a black hole is born
By Neil Gehrels, Luigi Piro and Peter J. T. Leonard
The Enigma of Huntington's Disease
Nearly 10 years after scientists isolated the gene responsible for Huntington's, they are still searching for how it wreaks its devastation
By Elena Cattaneo, Dorotea Rigamonti and Chiara Zuccato
The Sciences
Food for Thought
Dietary change was a driving force in human evolution
By William R. Leonard
The Scientific American 50
Our first annual celebration of visionaries from the worlds of research, industry and politics whose recent accomplishments point toward a brighter technological future for everyone