Scientific American Content: Global

What archaeology reveals about the rise of all-powerful rulers

Sun, 06 Sep 2026 12:00:00 +0000

Autocracy wasn’t inevitable in early civilizations. But when riches were there to monopolize, strongmen and inequalities emerged

These smart bricks know what object they make up

Sun, 06 Sep 2026 11:00:00 +0000

Collectively intelligent bricks figure out if they’re in a boat, chair or guitar

New brain scan tool could help treat Huntington’s disease, a devastating genetic condition

Sat, 05 Sep 2026 11:00:00 +0000

Huntington’s disease is an inherited condition that gradually robs people of their ability to move, speak and even think clearly—there is no cure

Mathematicians discover the worst way to hang a painting

Sat, 05 Sep 2026 11:00:00 +0000

New solutions found to picture-hanging problems

Geometry Reveals the Tricks behind Gerrymandering

Fri, 04 Sep 2026 17:00:00 +0000

Some voting districts are tilted intentionally toward one party or another—a factor in the midterms. Geometry plays a critical role in gerrymandering

2026 Ig Nobels honor cockroach milk, interspecies kissing, taunting venomous snakes, and more

Fri, 04 Sep 2026 15:45:00 +0000

The silliest science awards of the year are here, but the Ig Nobels aren’t just funny business

Pentagon pauses controversial testosterone policy guidelines

Fri, 04 Sep 2026 15:05:00 +0000

Experts say there is not enough evidence to support broadly screening men for testosterone without any symptoms

What’s the tech behind the record-breaking RSA-260 crack?

Fri, 04 Sep 2026 13:00:00 +0000

A researcher’s social media post that revealed how to break part of a popular encryption protocol has gone viral. But did he really do it with just “good old paper and pencil”?

This star has the strangest sky in the galaxy

Fri, 04 Sep 2026 10:45:00 +0000

The newfound star S301 orbits the Milky Way’s supermassive black hole so closely that its view of the heavens gets twisted

What a novel about a dating app for dead bodies reveals about human connection

Fri, 04 Sep 2026 10:00:00 +0000

Author Sarah Pierce explores dating apps, loneliness and human connection through a novel about a corpse-matching algorithm

‘Unparalleled’ study finds psilocybin protects against nerve damage from chemotherapy

Thu, 03 Sep 2026 18:00:00 +0000

The findings, which were made in mice, may offer a new way to prevent a common chemotherapy side effect that can last well beyond treatment

The spacecraft BepiColombo is finally nearing Mercury after 8 years in space

Thu, 03 Sep 2026 14:30:00 +0000

In a critical maneuver on Thursday, the mission successfully deployed its two science orbiters—beginning the final phases of its arrival at Mercury

An endangered pygmy raccoon turned trash into toys—and taught her family how, too

Thu, 03 Sep 2026 10:45:00 +0000

The endangered animals displayed a first in raccoons and their kin

U.N. admits exceeding Paris Agreement’s 1.5-degree-C warming target is ‘unavoidable’

Wed, 02 Sep 2026 20:15:00 +0000

The world is set to blow past the Paris Agreement’s longtime threshold “within the next few years,” according to a new report

Scientists discover a mysterious wave shaped like a decagon in Saturn’s atmosphere

Wed, 02 Sep 2026 18:00:00 +0000

The strange structure appears to have formed recently, but nobody can explain exactly why

How the super El Niño could turbocharge warming in the Himalayas

Wed, 02 Sep 2026 18:00:00 +0000

After one of the worst natural disasters in the region’s history, attention is turning to the looming super El Niño

Top medical leaders urge Americans to get their flu and COVID shots in lieu of CDC vaccine campaign

Wed, 02 Sep 2026 15:15:00 +0000

The Trump administration has so far been silent on flu, COVID and RSV vaccine guidance for the coming season, even as these diseases kill thousands of people every year

The risk of high blood pressure in pregnancy is rising—and the damage can be life-changing

Wed, 02 Sep 2026 15:00:00 +0000

A recent CDC analysis says that, between 2016 and 2024, the rate of high blood pressure among pregnant women rose by 73 percent

GLP-1 weight-loss medication could slow aging and extend lifespan

Wed, 02 Sep 2026 15:00:00 +0000

Giving old mice semaglutide—commonly sold as Wegovy or Ozempic—extends their lifespan remarkably, a new study finds

Why this Canadian island appeared to disappear

Wed, 02 Sep 2026 14:00:00 +0000

A floating island in a Canadian reservoir moved more than 30 kilometers across the water—here’s why

Newly discovered ‘demon cave fish’ hid out in Alabama military installation for 40 years

Wed, 02 Sep 2026 10:45:00 +0000

Scientists named this oddball creature after the Demogorgon from Stranger Things

The hackers protecting America’s water supply

Wed, 02 Sep 2026 10:00:00 +0000

Cybersecurity experts are volunteering to keep America’s utilities safe from attacks

House passes stopgap bill that pauses changes to federal science grant-making process

Tue, 01 Sep 2026 20:45:00 +0000

The proposed changes, which would have given control of science funding to appointed bureaucrats, were criticized widely by the scientific community

Have we finally found dark matter?

Tue, 01 Sep 2026 14:00:00 +0000

The world’s biggest dark matter search saw a particle it cannot explain

Why the Grand Canyon flash flood was so devastating

Tue, 01 Sep 2026 12:30:00 +0000

Experts explain why a monsoon storm turned so deadly

Where is the Roman Telescope in space?

Tue, 01 Sep 2026 12:00:00 +0000

The Nancy Grace Roman Telescope is headed toward a Lagrange point, a critical position in outer space where gravitational forces behave in specific ways

Growth hormone peptides promise to stall aging—but does the science stack up?

Tue, 01 Sep 2026 11:00:00 +0000

Sermorelin, tesamorelin and other growth hormone peptides are being touted as antiaging elixirs, but what evidence is behind those claims?

Bonus crossword: Tints of life

Tue, 01 Sep 2026 10:00:00 +0000

Play a bonus science crossword that ties into even more stories from the September 2026 issue of Scientific American.

The brain, solved

Tue, 01 Sep 2026 10:00:00 +0000

The human brain has upward of 86 billion neurons, connected by some 100 trillion synapses

Nepal’s deadly debris avalanche is a warning for the rest of the world

Tue, 01 Sep 2026 05:49:00 +0000

Avalanches like the one that devastated parts of Nepal and Tibet are becoming more common thanks to climate change. Here’s where else is at risk

Mathematician discovers how to fold the smallest origami doughnut

Tue, 01 Sep 2026 04:00:00 +0000

How many times do you have to fold a piece of paper to make a doughnut? After decades, a mathematician has determined the most efficient technique

What’s next for NASA’s new Roman Space Telescope?

Mon, 31 Aug 2026 18:35:00 +0000

After a flawless launch, the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is on a mission to solve some of the universe’s biggest mysteries

The backlash against screens in schools is escalating

Mon, 31 Aug 2026 18:30:00 +0000

School districts are banning AI, states are limiting educational technology in classrooms, and Meta will set new “school mode” restrictions—here’s what to know

NASA launches Roman Space Telescope to explore dark energy and distant worlds

Mon, 31 Aug 2026 10:00:00 +0000

NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is on a mission to probe dark energy, hunt for distant worlds and transform our view of the universe

Dark matter experiment catches quietest neutrinos ever measured

Mon, 31 Aug 2026 09:00:00 +0000

In its hunt for dark matter, the XENONnT experiment has detected the rare, feeble glow of neutrinos smacking into electrons

Commercial paleontology: How much should a dinosaur cost?

Mon, 31 Aug 2026 04:00:00 +0000

Fossils are selling for tens of millions of dollars at auction. But why are the ancient creatures the hot new thing for the ultrarich?

NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Telescope launches to space

Sun, 30 Aug 2026 11:26:00 +0000

The Nancy Grace Roman Telescope will probe dark matter and dark energy, discover exoplanets and study stars

Why obsessing over self-improvement could be sabotaging your brain

Sun, 30 Aug 2026 10:00:00 +0000

Our obsession with ‘maxxing’ every aspect of our lives could actually be stressing us out

NASA’s Roman Space Telescope could find alien Earths—but not like you think

Sat, 29 Aug 2026 13:00:00 +0000

The Roman Space Telescope will spend more than a quarter of its time staring at the Milky Way’s bulge, a star-packed central region of our galaxy that may swarm with small, rocky exoplanets

Why your ability to cope with stress changes with time

Sat, 29 Aug 2026 10:00:00 +0000

Seasonal changes have more effects on your biology and behavior than you might realize

Where are all the aliens? A new book explores possible answers

Fri, 28 Aug 2026 19:00:00 +0000

Seven Rasmussen, an astrobiologist and author of the new book Cloudy with a Chance of Starships, gives readers a tour of the astonishing science behind modern searches for alien life

Top 10 Roman Space Telescope science breakthroughs

Fri, 28 Aug 2026 17:00:00 +0000

NASA’s Roman Space Telescope will open a whole new window on the cosmos. Here are 10 things it’s likely to show us

Alpha School’s AI teaching model is expanding. Does it work?

Fri, 28 Aug 2026 16:00:00 +0000

The fast-growing private-school network is handing much of instruction over to artificial intelligence. Researchers say the science is far from settled

See last night’s ‘blood moon’ eclipse from around the world

Fri, 28 Aug 2026 14:10:00 +0000

In a near-total lunar eclipse, the moon turned red-orange for viewers in North America, Europe and Africa

How the brain learns to read is an evolutionary mystery—a new study offers clues

Fri, 28 Aug 2026 11:00:00 +0000

Reading hasn't been around for long, evolutionary speaking. Instead, the brain recruits systems evolved for other purposes

How will NASA’s Roman Space Telescope see exoplanets?

Fri, 28 Aug 2026 10:45:00 +0000

NASA’s newest major observatory will include the most advanced planet-imaging tech ever flown in space. Here’s how it works

GTA has always raised anxieties over video games and violence—here’s what the science actually says

Fri, 28 Aug 2026 10:30:00 +0000

The evidence in favor of and against video games promoting aggressive behavior is murkier than you might think

How changes to Endangered Species Act regulations could hurt wildlife

Fri, 28 Aug 2026 10:00:00 +0000

Recent changes to the implementation of the Endangered Species Act could put wildlife at risk

Tropical Storm Dolly forms in the Atlantic

Thu, 27 Aug 2026 18:52:00 +0000

It’s a weird meteorological coincidence on the heels of Dolly Parton’s death

Climate change is supercharging El Niños, coral records show

Thu, 27 Aug 2026 18:00:00 +0000

Fossilized Galápagos corals show clear evidence that today’s El Niños are much stronger than those in the past