The Sciences

SpaceShipTwo make a successful, crewed suborbital test flight to 282,000 feet (86 kilometers) above Earth’s surface

Dog puppies are 30 times more interested in unknown humans than young wolves, confirming an evolutionary hypothesis

They’ll most likely be robotic and guided by AI—so we’ll need our own AI to figure them out

The legendary scientist used the insects’ songs as a metaphor for his theories about the universe. It didn’t go well

Funders and peer reviewers are contributing to systemic racism through their biases about members of these populations

As museums reopen let’s introduce ourselves, and our children, to the original Black ancestors of all human beings

Favoring science over war would demonstrate our suitability to join a galactic club of civilizations

Signs of technology might point to life in the universe, but we have to ask what really gives rise to technology in the first place

A new technique could reveal coral reefs’ vulnerabilities and regenerative potential

A new star map reveals more than 2,000 stars, some with their own planets, that have a direct view of our planetary presence

Letters to the editor from the March 2021 issue of Scientific American