"The large-scale homogeneity of the universe makes it very difficult to believe that the structure of the universe is determined by anything so peripheral as some complicated molecular structure on a minor planet orbiting a very average star in the outer suburbs of a fairly typical galaxy."

— Steven Hawking

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Updated: 20 hours 55 min ago

Denmark Let Amateurs Dig for Treasure—And It Paid Off

Tue, 06/17/2025 - 9:00am

The Danish government deputized private detectorists to unearth artifacts buried in farm fields. Their finds are revealing the country’s past in extraordinary detail

Categories: Astronomy

Poem: ‘Prayer to Fireflies’

Tue, 06/17/2025 - 9:00am

Science in meter and verse

Categories: Astronomy

The Fast Fashion Backlash Is Fueling a Sustainability Revolution

Tue, 06/17/2025 - 9:00am

Trade impulse clothing purchases for botanical dyes, upcycled apparel, creative mending, flexible sizing, and more

Categories: Astronomy

July/August 2025: Science History from 50, 100 and 150 Years Ago

Tue, 06/17/2025 - 9:00am

Toxic cigars; dueling with a swordfish

Categories: Astronomy

Readers Respond to the March 2025 Issue

Tue, 06/17/2025 - 9:00am

Letters to the editors for the March 2025 issue of Scientific American

Categories: Astronomy

Why Testosterone Therapy Could Harm Some Men, though It Could Help Others

Tue, 06/17/2025 - 9:00am

To boost mood and manliness, men are spending lots of money on the hormone testosterone—yet they may see trouble instead of benefits

Categories: Astronomy

American Education Demands a Fact-Based Curriculum, Not Religious Ideology

Tue, 06/17/2025 - 9:00am

One hundred years after the Scopes trial, religious ideologues are still trying to supplant evidence-based curricula with myths, to the detriment of a well-informed society

Categories: Astronomy

What Is Your Cat Trying to Say? These AI Tools Aim to Decipher Meows

Tue, 06/17/2025 - 8:00am

AI is shedding new light on the 12,000-year conversation between cats and their humans, suggesting that house cats wield a far richer vocabulary than once thought

Categories: Astronomy

How Drone Swarms Work—From Iran’s Shahed Attack to Ukraine’s Operation Spiderweb

Mon, 06/16/2025 - 4:40pm

Iranian Shahed drones, Ukrainian quadcopters and the U.S.’s Golden Horde program reveal three paths to massed autonomy, and each rewrites the rules of air defense

Categories: Astronomy

What I Wish Parents Knew about Social Media

Mon, 06/16/2025 - 2:00pm

I study social media for a living. Here’s what parents need to know so that kids can use it safely and productively

Categories: Astronomy

Extreme Heat Is the Biggest Threat to Insurers and Businesses

Mon, 06/16/2025 - 12:00pm

Deadly temperatures put great stress not just on human life but also on the economy, infrastructure, agriculture and health care

Categories: Astronomy

Who Is on RFK, Jr.’s New Vaccine Panel—And What Will They Do?

Mon, 06/16/2025 - 10:15am

Critics fear that U.S. Department of Health and Human Services chief RFK, Jr., known for his antivaccine views, has picked a crucial CDC committee that will be a “disaster for public health”

Categories: Astronomy

Your Brain Is Glowing, and Scientists Can’t Figure Out Why

Mon, 06/16/2025 - 9:45am

Researchers have measured the brain’s faint glow for the first time, hinting at a potential role of “biophotons” in cognition

Categories: Astronomy

Truly Intelligent AI Could Play by the Rules, No Matter How Strange

Mon, 06/16/2025 - 7:30am

To build safe but powerful AI models, start by testing their ability to play games on the fly

Categories: Astronomy

Mathematicians Hunting Prime Numbers Discover Infinite New Pattern for Finding Them

Mon, 06/16/2025 - 6:30am

Using a notion called integer partitions, mathematicians have discovered a new way to detect prime numbers while also connecting two areas of math in an unexpected way

Categories: Astronomy

See Vera C. Rubin Observatory’s First Images Live with These Watch Parties

Mon, 06/16/2025 - 6:00am

The first images of the cosmos taken by the world’s largest digital camera onboard the Vera C. Rubin Observatory are about to be released to the public. Here’s how to watch the action live

Categories: Astronomy

RFK, Jr., Fires CDC Vaccine Panel Experts, Ocean Acidification Hits Dangerous Levels, and Pangolins Face Hunting Threat

Mon, 06/16/2025 - 6:00am

Major changes hit a key CDC vaccine advisory panel, ocean acidification crosses a critical threshold, and new research reveals an unexpected threat to pangolins.

Categories: Astronomy

Could Iran Have Been Close to Making a Nuclear Weapon? Uranium Enrichment Explained

Fri, 06/13/2025 - 2:20pm

When Israeli aircraft recently struck a uranium-enrichment complex in the nation, Iran could have been days away from achieving “breakout,” the ability to quickly turn “yellowcake” uranium into bomb-grade fuel, with its new high-speed centrifuges

Categories: Astronomy

Five Climate Issues to Watch When Trump Goes to Canada

Fri, 06/13/2025 - 11:00am

President Trump will attend the G7 summit on Sunday in a nation he threatened to annex. He will also be an outlier on climate issues

Categories: Astronomy

Air-Conditioning Can Help the Power Grid instead of Overloading It

Fri, 06/13/2025 - 10:00am

Switching on air-conditioning during extreme heat doesn’t have to make us feel guilty—it can actually boost power grid reliability and help bring more renewable energy online

Categories: Astronomy