NASA’s New Chief Just Put a Fresh Twist on the Texas Space Shuttle Saga
NASA’s new boss Jared Isaacman hinted that he could break with Texas lawmakers’ push to move iconic space shuttle Discovery from the Smithsonian to Houston
Science Carries On. Here Are Our Top Topics for 2026
Whether space, health, technology or environment, here are the issues in science that the editors of Scientific American are focusing on for 2026
AI Slop Is Spurring Record Requests for Imaginary Journals
The International Committee of the Red Cross warned that artificial intelligence models are making up research papers, journals and archives
NASA Faces Its Future at Jared Isaacman’s Confirmation Hearing
Jared Isaacman—the presumptive next leader of NASA—answered questions about his plans for the future of U.S. space exploration on Wednesday
Halted NIH Clinical Trials List Reveals Slashed Treatments for Cancer, COVID and Minority Health
The National Institutes of Health has canceled funding for at least 383 clinical trials in the last year, affecting some 74,000 participants
Jeffrey Epstein E-mails Reveal Depth of Ties to High-Profile Scientists
A trove of e-mails from convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein was released by a congressional committee on Wednesday
NASA Administrator Nominee Would Shift Future of Space Exploration
Ahead of Jared Isaacman’s renomination for the position of NASA’s administrator, a dispute between him and its acting chief Sean Duffy spilled into the open, with potentially profound consequences for the U.S. space agency
Resuming U.S. Nuclear Tests Is Reckless and Dangerous, One Expert Says
“The only countries that will really learn more if [U.S. nuclear] testing resumes are Russia and, to a much greater extent, China,” says Jeffrey Lewis, an expert on the geopolitics of nuclear weaponry
U.S. Protesters Increasingly Reject Political Violence, ‘No Kings’ Survey Finds
Massive marches nationwide in the U.S. marked a turn against an increasing acceptance of political violence among protesters, report sociologists
CDC Cuts Threaten Public Health Nationwide, Fired Employees Say
A quarter of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention staff is gone after the Trump administration’s latest reductions in force and earlier layoffs
Immigration Has Shaped the Lives and Careers of 30 Percent of Recent Nobel Prize Scientists
Of the 202 Nobel laureates in physics, chemistry and physiology or medicine this century, fewer than 70 percent hail from the country in which they were awarded their prize. These graphics trace their journeys
U.S. Vaccine Guidance Is in Chaos, Fired CDC Director Tells Senators
Former CDC chief Susan Monarez testified that Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., had demanded she rubber-stamp recommendations from his remade vaccine panel