Science News

Most people know weed gets you high—but do you know how THC actually does it?

The Trump administration is freezing, delaying and revoking funding for dementia research, setting back discoveries of potential future treatments

Researchers discover a new color outside the range of human color vision, but you have to laser your retinas to see it

Liberty Energy, founded by Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, reports falling profits, and the industry cites tariffs as a driver

The National Science Foundation, which funds key science and engineering research, is the latest U.S. agency to be disrupted by Elon Musk’s DOGE

New evidence shows plant leaves absorb airborne microplastics, a previously overlooked route for the particles to enter crops that has implications for ecology and human health

Scientists discovered two genes involved in hyperemesis gravidarum, a condition that can cause extreme nausea and vomiting during pregnancy. Now they're looking into treatments

Amid harsh cuts, the Trump administration has proposed canceling the nearly ready-to-launch Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope

ORCs—odd radio circles—are one of the weirdest recent discoveries in the heavens above

Hear takeaways from 35 years at Scientific American from Gary Stix, our recently retired mind and brain editor.

Dimethyl sulfide is in the news after NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope may have detected relatively high levels of it in the atmosphere of an exoplanet called K2-18 b

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope detected an intriguing compound in the atmosphere of the exoplanet K2-18 b, but scientists are divided about what the chemical means

I was fired from my job as a scientist at the only federal agency dedicated to the science of workplace safety. The Trump administration’s cuts put the U.S. workforce in danger

New European Union regulations will require products that last longer and are easier to recycle

In general, crowds like to form lanes to get across—until too many people go in too many different directions

Autism rates are rising, but RFK, Jr., is wrong about the reasons. Here’s what the science says

Similar to other professions, science has organizations that represent scientists and the research they do. Too many are staying silent as Trump dismantles research

A long-lost slab of Earth’s crust may be pulling away the bottom of the oldest part of North America, scientists say

President Trump’s efforts to dismantle climate policies won’t stop renewables from rising or fossil fuels from slowing, according to outlooks from the U.S. Energy Information Administration and BloombergNEF

Leaked budget documents indicate that key NASA and NOAA research projects, such as crucial climate research and the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, are at risk of being defunded in 2026

The world-famous mathematician Alan Turing found a possible mechanism for iconic animal patterns thanks to differential equations

Rather than resurrect extinct species, cloning technology could save those at risk of dying out, like the red wolf, but only with solid conservation efforts and habitat protections

Spillover from the politicization of the COVID pandemic has eroded vaccine confidence, but everyday people can play a role in building it back up

Discarded authors Sarah Gabbott and Jan Zalasiewicz, observers of the geological past, look into the future

Hypochlorous acid has a lot of buzz in the beauty industry, but this nontoxic disinfectant has many possible uses.

A colossal squid was filmed for the first time in its natural habitat near the South Sandwich Islands during a recent expedition, and it turned out to be a baby

The Trump administration has frozen billions in funding to the world’s richest university after Harvard refused to acquiesce to its demands

Smartphone and computer use hasn’t put today’s older adults at increased risk of cognitive decline

Republicans asked Congress’s watchdog to scrutinize offshore wind power’s effect on commercial fishing, marine navigation and wildlife, but the resulting report undermines anti-wind-power talking points

The decades-long struggle to find a permanent place to dispose of nuclear waste in the U.S. will continue, probably for many years to come

Hypochlorous acid is safe enough to spray in your eyes yet more effective than bleach. Why isn’t it everywhere?

The owners of a controversial mining license have begun extracting valuable metals from the ocean floor

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

Letters to the editors for the January 2025 issue of Scientific American

Climate change is everywhere. Moving to a new place because it seems less affected is a fool’s errand

Scientists are studying why some species live so much longer than others

Build a special set of dice in this math puzzle

The May issue of Scientific American takes you on a deep-sea mining mission, explores dark comets and examines an invisible threat to the food we eat

A group of comets with unexplained movements presents a quandary

Long thought to be loners, male African elephants turn out to have surprisingly rich social lives

Play this crossword inspired by the May 2025 issue of Scientific American

Old-time graffiti; balloon deaths

Mathematicians describe the most beautiful and beguiling forms and surfaces they know

Scientists are racing to stop a tiny mite that could devastate the pollinators and agriculture

Snoring indicates oxygen reduction, but a variety of treatments can restore healthy airflow

Science in meter and verse

The rates of fatal crashes and crime are both lower on public transportation than on roadways

The U.S. leads the world in fusion energy research. It can’t squander that lead like it did with microchips

China is blocking exports of these vital minerals. What makes them so special?

A breakthrough in Hilbert’s sixth problem is a major step in grounding physics in math