Social Sciences

Linguist and sociophonetician Nicole Holliday analyzes the language used by candidates in the recent presidential and vice presidential debates

“Fake news”-style misinformation is only a fraction of what deceives voters. Fighting misinformation will require holding political elites and mainstream media accountable

Scientific American’s staff share their favorite sci-fi books, from beloved classics to overlooked gems and our modern favorites

The new interconnected breed of autocrats gains and retains power by deception, globally undermining democracies through their own institutions

Certain values carry more weight in spring and autumn than in summer and winter

In online forums the term “cuck” has become synonymous with “sucker” and “loser.” But this use distorts its history and meaning, creating a baseless moral panic that harms both women and science

Time lags between discoveries and awards show how the Nobel Prizes reward science

In a postapocalyptic world on the verge of its next crisis, history gets rewritten

Science in meter and verse

A delightful course on keeping (and cracking) secrets

Letters to the editors for the May 2024 issue of Scientific American

This month’s issue covers the reasons it’s so hard to go back to the moon, the science of empathy and new advances in treating sickle cell disease