Astronomy

Psilocybin appears to alter brain networks linked to repetitive negative thoughts, which may explain how the drug helps to treat some mental health conditions

Psilocybin appears to alter brain networks linked to repetitive negative thoughts, which may explain how the drug helps to treat some mental health conditions

Can we turn to the past to learn more about how interactions between plants and pollinators changed during climate change?

Astronomers may have solved the mystery of how hypervelocity white dwarfs rocket out of the Milky Way at breakneck speeds.

A tiny engine comprised of a glass bead zapped with electric fields behaves as if it is operating 2000 times hotter than the sun

A tiny engine comprised of a glass bead zapped with electric fields behaves as if it is operating 2000 times hotter than the sun

Week in images: 25-29 August 2025

Discover our week through the lens

Genetic and anatomical data reveal how the human pelvis acquired its unique shape, enabling our ancestors to walk on two legs

As humans expand into space, how we'll continue to expand the species remains an important question.

There's more to being a Vulcan than prosthetic ears and playing it straight.

The near-Earth asteroid's microscopic surface tells a detailed story.

A survey of Scientific American’s century of quantum coverage helps explain the enduring popularity of strange physics

A star 3,000 light years away pulled off the ultimate disappearing act, dimming by 97% for eight months before mysteriously returning to full brightness. This unexpected vanishing trick has finally been solved by astronomers who discovered a massive dust disk and a hidden companion star orchestrating one of the rarest eclipsing events ever observed, a one in a million phenomenon that won't happen again until 2068.

Stars with eight or more stellar masses are termed high-mass stars. There are questions around how these stars can become so massive, since as they form they lose mass through stellar winds and radiation. New research shows that elongated streams of gas that feed these stars explains their high masses.

For the first time, astrophysicists have spotted a supernova right before it explodes. This is a rare glimpse inside a massive star before it meets its doom. The star was stripped down to its core, and the observations confirm theories that show stars have onion-like layers.

Weather apps regularly differ in their predictions for the same location – why is it so hard to predict local forecasts, and where can we get the best weather information?

Weather apps regularly differ in their predictions for the same location – why is it so hard to predict local forecasts, and where can we get the best weather information?

AI can transfer strange qualities through seemingly unrelated training—from a love of owls to something more dangerous

Superluminal velocities are common but illusory

Hurricane forecasts have made huge leaps since Katrina hit 20 years ago, but that progress is threatened by Trump administration cuts to research