'Oumuamua, Our First Interstellar Visitor, May Have Been a Comet After All
New research flags jets of water vapor—rather than alien technology—as the source of the mysterious object’s anomalous motions
Latest Stories
The Underappreciated Threat of Volcanic Tsunamis
Tsunamis caused by volcanoes are responsible for nearly a quarter of all deaths caused by eruptions, yet we have only now started to understand them.
Was Thomas Kuhn Evil?
Filmmaker Errol Morris, once Kuhn’s grad student, accuses him of being a bad philosopher and bad person.
Solar Jets Cause Standing Waves in Earth's Magnetic Field
When jets of charged particles from the sun hit our magnetosphere, some of the ensuing ripples travel toward the northern and southern poles and get reflected back. The resulting interference allows standing waves to form, like on a drumhead...
The Light Triad vs. Dark Triad of Personality
New research contrasts two very different profiles of human nature.
The Science of Innovation
Lessons from the physics of complexity can help organizations achieve breakthroughs
A Reason to Be Skeptical of the Workplace Wellness Industry
New study finds no changes in health care costs
Are We Measuring Research Success Wrong?
Universities tout how much they spend, but it’s no virtue if that spending is inefficient
Record Floods Could "Test the Limits" of Midwest Defenses
Rains and melting snow have caused rivers to breach levees from Minnesota to Missouri
![2.1-Billion-Year-Old Tracks May Be Giant Ancient "Slime Molds" [Video]](https://static.scientificamerican.com/blogs/cache/file/2A078C59-0E9E-4EFF-8B7641A36F0EEE57_agenda.jpg?w=275&h=154&fit=crop)
2.1-Billion-Year-Old Tracks May Be Giant Ancient "Slime Molds" [Video]
Whatever made these structures lived 1.4 billion years before the first animals
