Combating Misinformation Runs Deeper Than Swatting Away ‘Fake News’
“Fake news”-style misinformation is only a fraction of what deceives voters. Fighting misinformation will require holding political elites and mainstream media accountable
Science-Fiction Books Scientific American’s Staff Love
Scientific American’s staff share their favorite sci-fi books, from beloved classics to overlooked gems and our modern favorites
Meet the New Autocrats Who Dismantle Democracies from Within
The new interconnected breed of autocrats gains and retains power by deception, globally undermining democracies through their own institutions
Moral Judgments May Shift with the Seasons
Certain values carry more weight in spring and autumn than in summer and winter
Here’s What the ‘Manosphere’ Gets Wrong about Cuckoldry
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
Going Back to the Moon, Researching Chickadee Hybrids and Understanding Addiction
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
Hidden Patterns Show Nobel Prize Science Trends
Time lags between discoveries and awards show how the Nobel Prizes reward science
Book Review: Powerful Myths Shape a Postapocalyptic World
In a postapocalyptic world on the verge of its next crisis, history gets rewritten
Book Review: A Bold Profile of the James Webb Space Telescope
In Pillars of Creation, Richard Panek gets up close to the JWST
Poem: ‘D.N.A.’
Science in meter and verse
Book Review: Cryptography Is as Much an Art as a Science
A delightful course on keeping (and cracking) secrets
Readers Respond to the May 2024 Issue
Letters to the editors for the May 2024 issue of Scientific American