The Sciences

The European Space Agency telescope is allowing our Milky Way to be studied like never before

Even a small departure from randomness in your sample can skew the results

X-ray scans of ancient Egyptian cat, bird and snake mummies show details never seen before

Materials scientist and science writer Ainissa Ramirez talks about her latest book The Alchemy of Us: How Humans and Matter Transformed One Another.

Under the right circumstances, indiscriminate mating with both males and females can enhance animals’ evolutionary success

Evidence of the ancient humans was limited to a cave in Siberia. But now scientists have found genetic remains of the Denisovans in China. Christopher Intagliata reports. 

Join Scientific American for a conversation about the next steps in humanity’s reconnaissance of Mars. Featuring Casey Dreier, senior space policy adviser at the Planetary Society, and space and physics editor Lee Billings, this deep dive will begin with an overview of NASA’s upcoming Perseverance rover—slated to land on Mars in February 2021 to search for signs of past and present life and to gather samples for future return to Earth.

Dreier and Billings will also discuss the “post-Perseverance” future in which space agencies and private companies may pursue major shifts in Mars exploration strategies and how those plans could forever change our understanding of—and relationship with—the Red Planet.

The ambitious mission is the first effort since 1976 to bring lunar material back to Earth

The hanging structure crashed through Arecibo’s dish after major cable failures

Science in meter and verse

Lasers slow molecules for a glimpse of the quantum world—and a strange heating is uncovered

Castles in the air are not for habitation