Scientific American.com

The U.S. secretary of health and human services told USA Today that he believed the flu jab was a “potential culprit” for his spasmodic dysphonia that he could not “rule out”

Scientists are using technology developed to study earthquakes to address an out-of-this-world risk

Treponema pallidum, a microorganism that can cause a deadly sexually transmitted disease in humans, may have a far more ancient lineage than scientists once thought

A new study found that women in Finland who had a lot of kids—or none—aged faster than those with one or a few kids. But the findings don’t necessarily translate to today’s parents

A new estimate suggests land sources eject 600 quadrillion pieces of microplastic into the atmosphere every year

At a press conference, former ISS commander Mike Fincke said Crew-11’s evacuation of the space station left him feeling more confident about human space exploration

Bats use echolocation to get around, but it wasn’t clear how these creatures managed to navigate dense environments—until now

Towering Prototaxites ruled Earth before trees—and they may have been a form of life entirely new to science

A fresh look at the Helix Nebula captures new details of the cycle of stellar life and death

Beating the previous record for the oldest known cave artwork by at least 15,000 years, a hand stencil in an Indonesian cave might shed light on when early humans migrated to Australia

The U.S. space agency will quit funding several independent science advisory groups this year

Deer antler rubs and hoof scrapes change how parts of the forest reflect short-wavelength light, perhaps leaving a glowing signal

A European spacecraft caught rare footage of three successive prominences popping off the sun

A dive into how scientists are trying to understand what consciousness is and where it comes from

Children born to mothers who were exposed to smoke in southern California showed increased rates of autism, although the reason why is unclear

Cases of respiratory syncytial virus are increasing, but vaccines and antibody shots can keep young children out of the hospital

Humans are using more water than Earth can support, with many water sources already damaged beyond repair, a report from the United Nations found

The Epstein files revive questions of whether the disgraced financier sought to merely cultivate famous scientists, or to shape science itself

The U.S. has held its measles-free status for more than 25 years. Experts say unrelenting outbreaks in the past year may change that

In rethinking whether AI is sentient, we are asking bigger questions about cognition, human-machine interaction and even our own consciousness