Scientific American Content: Global

How working memory could give rise to consciousness

Sat, 04 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Working memory is the information we need to access to complete the tasks we’re engaged in right now, and scientists think it may be closely entwined with consciousness

Ancient ‘hobbits’ feasted on Komodo dragons’ leftovers

Fri, 03 Jul 2026 18:00:00 +0000

The hominins may have gone on adventures, but they lacked key skills of modern humans

July 4 heat wave would've been 'virtually impossible' in 1776

Fri, 03 Jul 2026 11:30:00 +0000

People in the U.S. experience more, and more intense, heat waves than the Founding Fathers would have

Archaeologists uncover new history from the Battle of Bunker Hill, the first major battle of the American Revolution

Fri, 03 Jul 2026 11:00:00 +0000

New archaeology has uncovered everything from musket balls to wig curlers at the site of the Battle of Bunker Hill, the first major clash of the American Revolution

What will happen to the moon in the far future?

Fri, 03 Jul 2026 10:45:00 +0000

The moon is Earth’s constant companion. But will that always be the case?

The biological dogma that women don’t make new eggs after birth may be wrong

Fri, 03 Jul 2026 10:30:00 +0000

Female mammals have long thought to be born with all the eggs they would ever have, but new research is challenging that consensus

The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool’s algae problem has better solutions than hydrogen peroxide, experts say

Fri, 03 Jul 2026 10:00:00 +0000

Trying to kill algae with chemicals is a common response when community ponds or other water features go green, but a freshwater ecologist says there may be safer and more effective solutions

NASA needs volunteers to spend a year locked in a Mars simulation

Thu, 02 Jul 2026 19:00:00 +0000

The space agency has put out a call for its Moon & Mars Exploration Analog, which recreates the challenges of a long-duration space mission

Male marathoners might be twice as likely to ‘hit the wall’ as women—the reason why might surprise you

Thu, 02 Jul 2026 16:00:00 +0000

The way women use energy while running is fundamentally different from men

How to avoid heat illness and stay safe during the mega heat wave

Thu, 02 Jul 2026 14:30:00 +0000

A heat wave over the Fourth of July weekend could put millions at risk of heat-related illnesses. Here’s what to do to stay safe—and why you don’t just need to drink lots of water

Why digital government records are so hard to preserve

Thu, 02 Jul 2026 12:00:00 +0000

Chat apps, email, and cloud files have become the primary record of how power is exercised. Archivists are trying to preserve them before formats go dark or messages disappear without a trace

The White House goes all in on aliens with new UAP Science Advisory Council

Thu, 02 Jul 2026 11:30:00 +0000

This new group, which is led by Harvard professor Avi Loeb, aims to advise the Trump administration and the U.S. intelligence community, as well as to publish its findings in peer-reviewed journals

Ancient cave paintings can harbor human DNA for millennia, scientists find

Thu, 02 Jul 2026 05:00:00 +0000

The breakthrough could reveal previously hidden ancient human activity inside caves, acting as ‘genetic archives’

Global ocean temperatures are entering “uncharted territory,” climate scientists say

Wed, 01 Jul 2026 19:44:00 +0000

Sea surface temperatures in late June reached nearly 70 degrees Fahrenheit on average, shattering records

Earth is home to 20 million insect species—three times more than we thought

Wed, 01 Jul 2026 18:53:00 +0000

Some creative calculations using bug traps, epidemiology and trees suggest there are some 20 million unique insect species on Earth

The Rubin telescope just began the largest cosmic time-lapse in history

Wed, 01 Jul 2026 17:00:00 +0000

The Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile has started a 10-year survey of the changing night sky

This planet survived the death of its star—and kept its atmosphere

Wed, 01 Jul 2026 15:00:00 +0000

Astronomers have for the first time observed an atmosphere around a giant planet orbiting a white dwarf

Scientists just unveiled “cyborg” cockroaches that can breathe underwater for hours

Wed, 01 Jul 2026 14:14:00 +0000

The bionic bugs could be called up for aquatic search and rescue missions, according to the researchers

Supreme Court limits police searches of phone location data

Wed, 01 Jul 2026 14:00:00 +0000

A new decision rules that geofence warrants are Fourth Amendment searches, but it stops short of banning police access to revealing location histories

Why this 98-qubit quantum computer is a big deal

Wed, 01 Jul 2026 13:00:00 +0000

A new quantum computer sets a high watermark for accuracy. Are we on the verge of a big breakthrough?

Europe’s Future Circular Collider could revolutionize particle physics—if it’s ever built

Wed, 01 Jul 2026 12:00:00 +0000

After decades of debate, the scientific case is clear for Europe’s Future Circular Collider, a colossal successor to the Large Hadron Collider. But transforming this megaproject from vision to reality is far from guaranteed

NASA announces Astrobotic, Intuitive Machines and Firefly to build lunar landers for a future moon base

Tue, 30 Jun 2026 20:45:00 +0000

Three companies will receive a total of $600 million to executive four moon landings, laying the groundwork for a planned crewed outpost on the surface

New York City could see its hottest weather in more than a decade

Tue, 30 Jun 2026 19:21:00 +0000

Temperatures in New York’s Central Park haven’t surpassed 100 degrees Fahrenheit since 2012; but that may be about to change

AI finds hidden ECG signal that predicts sudden cardiac death risk

Tue, 30 Jun 2026 18:00:00 +0000

A new model flags people at high risk of sudden cardiac death from a routine ECG—and reveals a warning sign in the heart’s electrical activity

What is a Lagrangian used for in physics?

Tue, 30 Jun 2026 18:00:00 +0000

How Emmy Noether's theorem uses the Lagrangian to provide a formula for calculating the quantity of symmetries in a system—like the orbit of planets.

China’s LineShine supercomputer tops global rankings with almost 2 quintillion calculations per second

Tue, 30 Jun 2026 17:00:00 +0000

The speedy machine displaces the U.S.’s Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s El Capitan at the top of the TOP500 rankings of the world’s fastest supercomputers

London botanic gardens digitizes 7 million specimens

Tue, 30 Jun 2026 16:00:00 +0000

As Kew Botanic Gardens completes a scan of its collections, AI tools could help in the fight against biodiversity loss

Stunning new image of the Milky Way reveals its glittering heart

Tue, 30 Jun 2026 13:30:00 +0000

This brilliant new image, taken by Europe’s Euclid space telescope, offers a preview of the kind of imaging that will be possible with NASA’s upcoming Roman telescope

Chaotic pigeons are helping redefine what we know about learning

Tue, 30 Jun 2026 10:45:00 +0000

Pigeons seem to defy a century-old psychology law about how rewards and consequences help us learn

Why botulism keeps cropping up in infant formula

Tue, 30 Jun 2026 05:00:00 +0000

The toxin behind two outbreaks in seven months is hard to find—and just a handful of labs are equipped to look for it at all

Extreme heat is setting in for July 4. Here’s what to know

Mon, 29 Jun 2026 19:24:00 +0000

A prolonged, intense heat wave will make temperatures feel as hot as 115 degrees Fahrenheit in the eastern U.S. this week

How to spot an AI-generated face, according to science

Mon, 29 Jun 2026 19:00:00 +0000

Training people to pay attention to the right visual cues nearly doubled how accurately they could spot AI-generated faces

NASA prepares to launch an unprecedented mission to save a dying space telescope

Mon, 29 Jun 2026 15:00:00 +0000

Inside the quest to rescue NASA’s aging Swift observatory

Gene-editing startups are using CRISPR to treat diseases

Mon, 29 Jun 2026 15:00:00 +0000

A handful of start-up firms are testing therapies that target specific epigenetic markers to treat everything from high cholesterol to a rare muscular disorder

How to tell a comet from an asteroid and a meteor from a meteorite

Sun, 28 Jun 2026 10:00:00 +0000

A field guide to the space rocks you might see streaking across the night sky

How to protect Earth from a deadly asteroid impact

Sat, 27 Jun 2026 11:00:00 +0000

Our solar system is a celestial shooting gallery, chock-full of flying projectiles that one day could threaten Earth—so what can we do about it?

What's best for baking—butter or margarine? A food scientist explains

Sat, 27 Jun 2026 10:00:00 +0000

Key differences in the chemical structure of butter and margarine mean choosing one or the other has a big effect on your baking

Will humans one day talk to animals? This scientist is bringing us closer

Fri, 26 Jun 2026 20:00:00 +0000

Julie Elie has been studying zebra finch vocalizations for years. Now, she has won the Coller-Dolittle Prize for progress toward a world where humans can talk to animals

What happens at the edge of a black hole? Astronomers may be close to finding out

Fri, 26 Jun 2026 16:30:00 +0000

The discovery of a completely new type of gravitational wave could reveal what happens near a black hole’s event horizon

Ancient Roman scrolls destroyed by Mount Vesuvius digitally unrolled in full for first time

Fri, 26 Jun 2026 16:00:00 +0000

This Silicon Valley-backed venture is unraveling the mangled remains of scrolls ruined by the 79 C.E. eruption of Vesuvius that destroyed Herculaneum and Pompeii

Cosmic imposters show astronomers sometimes get things hilariously wrong

Fri, 26 Jun 2026 14:30:00 +0000

Sometimes we mistake one kind of object with another to disastrous effect

How Mbappe, Haaland and Messi use psychology to stay sharp at the World Cup

Fri, 26 Jun 2026 10:00:00 +0000

Sports psychology plays a major role on and off the pitch, helping players manage chaos and stay strategic

France just hit its hottest day ever recorded

Thu, 25 Jun 2026 14:35:00 +0000

Scorching temperatures across France rose to a record-breaking average 30 degrees on Wednesday

Fundamental principles of the universe called into question by two physicists

Thu, 25 Jun 2026 13:30:00 +0000

A new study claims that the universe isn’t entirely the same no matter where you look—a radical proposal

How quantum sensing could reveal hidden faults in thousands of U.S. bridges

Thu, 25 Jun 2026 13:00:00 +0000

Of the more than 624,000 highway bridges in the U.S., an estimated 220,000 need repairs. Quantum sensors could help engineers better safeguard these vital pieces of infrastructure

Weight loss drugs don't work for everyone—here’s why

Thu, 25 Jun 2026 10:00:00 +0000

Some people who take GLP-1 drugs such as semaglutide and tirzepatide see little to no changes to their weight. The reason why may be genetics

Top quantum computer expert claims Microsoft’s ‘topological qubit’ doesn’t hold up

Wed, 24 Jun 2026 15:00:00 +0000

The company has been touting its quantum technology for years, but some experts say these claims just don’t pass muster

Extreme heat is muddling animals’ brains—and even triggering aggression

Wed, 24 Jun 2026 11:00:00 +0000

As temperatures rise, some creatures pick fights while others struggle to learn

How underappreciated mathematician Emmy Noether helped prove physics' most fundamental theories

Tue, 23 Jun 2026 18:00:00 +0000

Noether's work helped prove the conservation of energy in physics, a key foundation for Einstein's theory of relativity

The first ticking ‘nuclear clocks’ are here

Tue, 23 Jun 2026 13:15:00 +0000

These radical new devices keep time using fluctuations in the energy states of an atom’s nucleus, rather than those of its electrons, which atomic clocks currently use to define the length of a second