Social Sciences

Ancient Maya saw solar eclipses as a “broken sun” that was a sign of possible destruction

Ancient Egyptian mummies reveal what diseases afflicted people in the great civilization, as well as the protective role the Nile could play

Inspiration, creativity, discovery—all of these things start from a place of not knowing, and these researchers know how to navigate those uncertainties.​

It is imperative that we protect science education from “intelligent design” and other alternative “theories”

The COVID pandemic and the police murder of George Floyd polarized views on policing. Rather than abolishing policing or maintaining its status quo, we need to make it better and more focused

An assessment of hundreds of thousands of songs confirms that choruses and hooks have taken over—but simpler isn’t necessarily worse

Does the word "uncertainty" make you nervous? Would you say it kinda describes the state of the world these days? Enter Uncertain, a new limited podcast series from Scientific American that will change the way you think about that word.

The forced resignation of Harvard’s president provides a peek at the blueprint for the war against justice in the U.S., concludes a long-time observer of attacks on academia

Letters to the editors for the December 2023 issue of Scientific American

Writers, artists, photographers and researchers share the stories behind the stories

Scientific research needs to slow down, not speed up, to produce trustworthy results

Capital punishment must come to an end. It does not deter crime, is not humane and has no moral or medical basis