Scientific American.com

Insertion of genetic material from a virus into the genome of a vertebrate ancestor enabled the lightning-quick electrical impulses that give animals with backbones their smarts

A person-centric scientific conference demonstrates that gathering can counter the isolation of underrepresentation

The ocean’s twice-daily rise and fall is only the most obvious effect of tides—they slow Earth’s spin and shape stars and galaxies, too

The deadly virus was practically eliminated in the U.S., but now it’s infecting more people.

The bioengineered immune players called CAR T cells last longer and work better if pumped up with a large dose of a protein that makes them resemble stem cells

A new EPA rule will limit PFASs, or “forever chemicals,” in your drinking water for the first time. Here’s what that means for you

Experience may matter more than innate ability when it comes to a sense of direction

The U.S. needs to vastly increase taxpayer spending on direct carbon removal technology to meet President Biden’s climate goals, the Rhodium Group says

The crime issue, a focus of the 2024 presidential election, is sometimes rooted in the misplaced fears of people who live in some of the safest places

Chanda Prescod-Weinstein, a professional astronomer, talks about her own adventures in astrophotography—and offers tips and tricks for new amateur astronomers.

The European Court of Human Rights found that climate change is a human rights issue, providing a blueprint for Europeans to force their governments to tackle rising temperatures

The Nobel Prize-winning theorist’s prediction of the Higgs boson sparked a half-century quest of discovery that reshaped physics—and our understanding of the universe

A rectangular nine-volt battery is basically just a bunch of smaller batteries in a trench coat

In 1958 Betty Friedan wrote an article that changed science journalism—and her career

In a new nature documentary about matriarchal species, the males are mostly absent

An online underwater livestream lets worldwide volunteers ring a “fish doorbell” to help fish fulfill their reproductive missions

We think that what we see represents stone-cold reality. Science has found out how wrong we can be.

Even among hundreds of people, experiencing an eclipse is a joyous solitude

The urban-rural mortality rate gap in the U.S. is increasing, especially among young women and Native Americans. Limited access to health care could help explain why

The nonprofit Astronomers Without Borders is collecting gently used eclipse glasses through Warby Parker and other sites to enable people to see future eclipses