Policy
50, 100 & 150 Years Ago: August 2021
Tasty radio; early fake leather
Latest Stories
Biology
Play Is Serious Business for Elephants
Young dogs, apes and other animals develop skills needed to survive and reproduce
Public Health
How a Remote Indigenous Community Fought the Pandemic
Thanks to a response based on local culture and values, India’s Nicobar islanders haven’t had a single infection during the nation’s horrific second wave
Pollution
Electric School Buses Reduce Pollution, but New Infrastructure Deal Slashed Funding
Advocates worry that reduced funds will not go to the communities most in need
Public Health
COVID, Quickly, Episode 12: Masking Up Again and Why People Refuse Shots
Today we bring you a new episode in our podcast series COVID, Quickly. Every two weeks, Scientific American ’s senior health editors Tanya Lewis and Josh Fischman catch you up on the essential developments in the pandemic: from vaccines to new variants and everything in between...
Energy
The ‘Hydrogen Olympics’ Lit a Torch for the Clean Fuel’s Future
An energy expert explains why Japan—along with much of the rest of the world—is committing to the clean-burning fuel
Epidemiology
Why Do Variants Such as Delta Become Dominant?
Mutations that make a virus more transmissible are only part of the equation
Climate Change
Act on Climate Emergency Now to Prevent Millions of Deaths, Study Shows
The human toll of carbon emissions will vastly magnify climate change’s economic costs
Climate Change
Infrastructure Deal Whittles Down Climate Spending
The bipartisan legislation includes less funding for public transit and electric vehicles
Computing
The Question Medical AI Can’t Answer
It’s unable to tell us why it came to a particular decision—and that’s crucial information
