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We're sorry, your browser is not supported. Please update to a modern browser to view this page. Learn More Skip to main content Subscribe Latest Issues Menu Scientific American Cart 0 Sign In Email *: Password *: Forgot password? Login Not yet registered? | Newsletters Search Subscribe Close Search Input Search Close Search Advanced Search Coronavirus The Sciences Mind Health Tech Sustainability Video Podcasts Opinion Publications Subscribe Current Issue Cart 0 Sign In Newsletters Featured Latest Popular Sign up for our free newsletters. Sign Up Mental Health Mental Health The Pandemic’s Next Effect: A Giant Wave of Disabling Grief COVID deaths are leaving millions bereaved. For some, the intense grief never recedes, making daily life almost impossible 9 hours ago — Katherine Harmon Courage Biology Biology Deadly Fungi Are the Newest Emerging Microbe Threat All Over the World These pathogens already kill 1.6 million people every year, and we have few defenses against them May 18, 2021 — Maryn McKenna Physics Physics First Nuclear Detonation Created ‘Impossible’ Quasicrystals Their structures were once controversial. Now researchers have discovered quasicrystals in the aftermath of a 1945 bomb test May 18, 2021 — Davide Castelvecchi and Nature magazine Cognition To the Brain, a Tool Is Just a Tool, Not a Hand Extension Recent findings have implications for the design of prostheses. Care for a third thumb, anyone? 1 hour ago — Gary Stix Mental Health Mental Health The Pandemic’s Next Effect: A Giant Wave of Disabling Grief COVID deaths are leaving millions bereaved. For some, the intense grief never recedes, making daily life almost impossible 9 hours ago — Katherine Harmon Courage Biology Biology Deadly Fungi Are the Newest Emerging Microbe Threat All Over the World These pathogens already kill 1.6 million people every year, and we have few defenses against them May 18, 2021 — Maryn McKenna Physics Physics First Nuclear Detonation Created ‘Impossible’ Quasicrystals Their structures were once controversial. Now researchers have discovered quasicrystals in the aftermath of a 1945 bomb test May 18, 2021 — Davide Castelvecchi and Nature magazine Automotive Automotive Biden Touts Electric Vehicles Amid Negotiations on Infrastructure Spending Congressional Republicans have balked at White House proposals to boost EV use May 19, 2021 — Adam Aton and E&E News Public Health Public Health How the Scientific American Staff Is Reacting to the CDC’s New Mask Guidance We asked our vaccinated colleagues whether they planned on keeping their masks on or not—and why 3 hours ago — THE EDITORS | Opinion Biology Biology See the Most Bizarre and Beautiful Animal Eyes on Earth Some of these peepers have eyepopping abilities 4 hours ago — Leslie Nemo Energy Energy Net-Zero Emissions by 2050 Are Possible, Landmark Report Says The International Energy Agency outlines the steps needed to overhaul energy systems to meet global warming goals May 18, 2021 — Benjamin Storrow and E&E News Climate Climate Climate Change Added $8 Billion to Hurricane Sandy’s Damage New research shows how much warming is costing society by exacerbating disasters May 18, 2021 — Andrea Thompson View All Stories Most Popular Biology First Genetically Modified Mosquitoes Released in U.S. Are Hatching Now As Aedes aegypti mosquitoes increase their range because of warming climate, genetic manipulation of the disease-carrying species could gain wider appeal May 14, 2021 — Donavyn Coffey Space We Are the Aliens On a geologic timescale, the emergence of the human “dataome” is like a sudden invasion by extraterrestrials or an asteroid impact that precipitates a mass extinction... May 13, 2021 — Caleb A. Scharf | Opinion Policy & Ethics When Scientific Orthodoxy Resembles Religious Dogma Those who refuse to consider an unconventional idea in science are disturbingly similar to those who refused to look through Galileo’s telescope May 17, 2021 — Avi Loeb | Opinion Space How Much Time Does Humanity Have Left? Statistics tell us that individuals are most likely to be somewhere around the middle part of their life. The same could be true of the human race... May 12, 2021 — Avi Loeb | Opinion Neuroscience New Brain Implant Turns Visualized Letters into Text The technology lets people with paralysis perform thought dictation at rates approaching the thumb speeds of texters May 12, 2021 — Bret Stetka Space China Lands Tianwen-1 Rover on Mars in a Major First for the Country Second only to the U.S. in a fully successful Mars landing, China is now set to explore the Utopia Planitia region of the Red Planet’s surface May 14, 2021 — Jonathan O'Callaghan Advertisement Advertisement Current Issue Jun 2021 Issue No 6 Volume CCCXXIV Jun 2021 The World's Northernmost Town Is Changing Dramatically Electrodes That Stimulate the Brain Reveal the Roots of Conscious Experience Are We Doing Enough to Protect Earth from Asteroids? A Sustainable Future Requires Us to Weave a Tapestry of Alternatives Deadly Fungi Are the Newest Emerging Microbe Threat All Over the World Get the issue Special Report The Black Lives Matter Movement Policy & Ethics What began as a call to action in response to police violence and anti-Black racism in the U.S. is now a global initiative to confront racial inequities in society, including environmental injustice, bias in academia and the public health threat of racism. February 2, 2021 Killings by Police Declined after Black Lives Matter Protests For Black and Brown Kidney Patients, There Are Higher Hurdles to Care Three Ways to Fix Toxic Policing Why Building a Diverse Company Is Good for Business View All Articles Editor's Picks Halley's Comet Can Teach Us a Lot About Uncertain Times The work of decoding the cosmic traveler has surprising relevance right now By Henry DaCosta, Mitch Myers and Jeffery DelViscio Videos Public Health Decoded: What Is a Virus, Exactly? These sometimes deadly packets of genetic information are more numerous in number than the stars in the cosmos May 12, 2021 Public Health Public Health Decoded: How Do Vaccines Actually Work? April 29, 2021 Environment Environment Nature Can Help Us Prepare for the Next Pandemic April 8, 2021 Space Space Experience Seven Minutes of Terror in New Perseverance Mars Rover Landing Video February 22, 2021 Public Health Public Health A Visual Guide to the New Coronavirus Variants February 11, 2021 Podcasts 60-Second Science Who Laps Whom on the Walking Track--Tyrannosaurus rex or You? Science Has a New Answer Full Transcript Download Download MP3 Artificial Light Keeps Mosquitoes Biting Late into the Night 60-Second Science - May 11, 2021 - By Emily Schwing 04:28 Full Transcript element -- Download COVID, Quickly, Episode 6: The Real Reason for India's Surge and Mask Liftoff 60-Second Science - May 7, 2021 - By Josh Fischman, Tanya Lewis and Jeffery DelViscio 05:51 Full Transcript element -- Download Male Lyrebirds Lie to Get Sex 60-Second Science - May 4, 2021 - By Karen Hopkin 05:03 Full Transcript element -- Download Lovebirds Adore Our Inefficient Air-Conditioning 60-Second Science - April 27, 2021 - By Jason G. Goldman 04:12 Full Transcript element -- Download More Podcasts Support Science Journalism Discover world-changing science. Explore our digital archive back to 1845, including articles by more than 150 Nobel Prize winners. Subscribe Now! 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