Scientific American.com

Wiggling Sperm Power a New Male Fertility Test
A physics-based sperm-screening technique could offer a more accurate at-home test for people trying to conceive
West Texas Measles Cases Threaten Elimination Status in the U.S. Here’s Why That Matters
High vaccination rates eliminated measles in the U.S. An outbreak that began in West Texas is threatening to overturn that status.
What Are AI Chatbot Companions Doing to Our Mental Health?
AI chatbot companions may not be real, but the feelings users form for them are. Some scientists worry about long-term dependency
Hurricanes, Wildfires and Other Disasters Displaced a Record 46 Million People Last Year
In 2024 disasters displaced a record number of people both globally and in the U.S. About 11 million U.S. residents had to relocate to another part of the country because of hurricanes, floods and wildfires
How to Build a ‘Black Hole Bomb’
Astronomical amounts of energy could be extracted from black holes—to build a gigantic bomb, for example. Experts have now implemented this principle in the laboratory
How Trump’s National Weather Service Cuts Could Cost Lives
Weather experts warn that staff cuts at the National Weather Service that have been made by the Trump administration are a danger to public safety as tornadoes, hurricanes and heat loom this spring and summer
California Told Companies to Label Toxic Chemicals. Instead They’re Quietly Dropping Them
Businesses are making moves to avoid consumer warning labels, and the effects reach far beyond California
Babesiosis, a Tick-Borne Disease That Resembles Malaria, Is on the Rise
The tick that causes Lyme disease can also spread babesiosis—and researchers fear doctors in the mid-Atlantic don’t know about it
Ways To Cope When Your Child Gets A Life-Altering Diagnosis
Parents often struggle with the news that their child has a major health issue. Learning how to manage new routines and expectations is key to everyone’s happiness
U.K. Funds Geoengineering Experiments as Global Controversy Grows
Critics say U.K. investment in research on climate-cooling interventions, such as refreezing sea ice and brightening clouds, distracts from the need to cut planet-warming emissions
Breeding for ‘Cuteness’ Is Making Dogs and Cats Look More Alike
Pugs, Persian cats, and other smushed-face cats and dogs are more similar to one another than they are to the wild animals they evolved from
Knitting’s Complex Shapes Explained in New Physics Model
A new mathematical model helps to advance the centuries-old art of knitting
Kosmos-482 Falls, Cuttlefish Wave, and the Wealthy Warm the Climate
A spacecraft is set to fall from the skies, 28 U.S. cities slowly sink, and a new study pinpoints how the overindulgence of the wealthy contributes to massive warming.
Large Hadron Collider Physicists Turn Lead into Gold—For a Fraction of a Second
Scientists at Europe’s famous particle collider briefly created gold ions from lead in a modern twist on the alchemical goal
Climate Change Will Cause a Lifetime of Extreme Heat for Today’s Children
Young people today will be exposed to a number of heat waves that no one would have experienced before the burning of fossil fuels started raising global temperatures
Stronger Solar Activity Cycles May Be in the Sun’s Forecast
The sun has produced stunning auroras on Earth in recent years as solar activity has peaked—but expect more in coming years
Trump Aims to Cut Hospital Disaster Preparedness Program
The Hospital Preparedness Program helps hospitals and emergency managers save lives in wildfires, tornadoes, pandemics and other mass-casualty events. The Trump administration has proposed cutting it
Do We Really Know Less about the Deep Sea Than the Moon or Mars?
A new review of ocean data suggests that more than 99.999 percent of the global deep seafloor has never been seen by humans. But what does that really mean?
Linguists Find Proof of Sweeping Language Pattern Once Deemed a ‘Hoax’
Inuit languages really do have many words for snow, linguists found—and other languages have conceptual specialties, too, potentially revealing what a culture values
The Strange and Surprising History of the Once-Rejected Zero
Conceptual problems, ideology clashes and xenophobia prevented the concept of zero from catching on for a long time. Today all mathematics is based on it