"When beggars die, there are no comets seen;
The heavens themselves blaze forth the death of princes."

— William Shakespeare
Julius Cæsar

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Scientific American is the essential guide to the most awe-inspiring advances in science and technology, explaining how they change our understanding of the world and shape our lives.
Updated: 23 hours 31 min ago

Astronomers See Planet Formation ‘Time Zero’ in an Alien Solar System

Wed, 07/16/2025 - 11:45am

Observations of a baby star may show the earliest stages of planet formation that astronomers have ever seen

Categories: Astronomy

The Large Hadron Collider Discovers Antimatter Behaving Oddly in New Class of Particles

Wed, 07/16/2025 - 11:00am

The LHCb experiment has observed a new difference between matter and antimatter in particles called baryons

Categories: Astronomy

The Link between Weather and Migraines Explained by a Neurologist

Wed, 07/16/2025 - 8:00am

A neurologist explains why weather changes from heat waves to thunderstorms might bring on painful headaches

Categories: Astronomy

China Powers AI Boom with Undersea Data Centers

Wed, 07/16/2025 - 6:30am

China is pulling ahead of the rest of the world in sinking data centers that power AI into the ocean as an alternate way to keep them cool

Categories: Astronomy

Cosmic Explorer, Laser Breakthroughs and the Next Generation of Gravitational-Wave Research

Wed, 07/16/2025 - 6:00am

After 10 years of gravitational-wave research, the LIGO Lab team at MIT is getting ready for the next generation of detectors.

Categories: Astronomy

Aging Rates Vary by Country. Politics Might Be Why

Tue, 07/15/2025 - 4:30pm

Social inequality and the decay of democratic institutions are linked to accelerated aging, but education seems to slow the process

Categories: Astronomy

AI Weather Forecasts Missed the Texas Floods, and Trump NOAA Cuts Will Stymie Research

Tue, 07/15/2025 - 2:15pm

The Trump administration wants to reduce the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s budget by $2.2 billion, eliminating research that might help advance AI weather models

Categories: Astronomy

Monster Black Hole Merger Is Most Massive Ever Seen

Tue, 07/15/2025 - 1:00pm

A U.S. gravitational wave detector spotted a collision between fast-spinning “forbidden” black holes that challenge physics models

Categories: Astronomy

Pneumonic Plague Infections in Modern Times Show the Black Death Isn’t Dead

Tue, 07/15/2025 - 12:45pm

A person in Arizona recently died of pneumonic plague—a rare and severe form of the disease. An expert explains how the bacteria that spurred the Black Death centuries ago continues to claim lives

Categories: Astronomy

Bird Flu Is Killing Wildlife, and Experts Fear the Ecological Toll

Tue, 07/15/2025 - 9:00am

Bird flu fears have focused on the poultry and dairy industries and human health. But wild animals are threatened, too—at scales no one fully understands

Categories: Astronomy

Could Bird Flu Spread between Humans? Here’s What It Would Take

Tue, 07/15/2025 - 9:00am

The H5N1 avian flu is circulating in cows and other mammals. Whether it will make a permanent leap to humans is another question

Categories: Astronomy

Science Crossword: On the Fly

Tue, 07/15/2025 - 9:00am

Your favorite word game with a twist of science

Categories: Astronomy

Bird Flu Is out of the News but Still Circulating

Tue, 07/15/2025 - 9:00am

Bird flu was nearly everywhere in the U.S.—in chickens, cows, pet cats and even humans. Cases have gone down, but experts warn that it hasn’t disappeared

Categories: Astronomy

How Influenza Reassortment May Make Bird Flu More Dangerous

Tue, 07/15/2025 - 9:00am

Influenza viruses like bird flu can mix and match their genomes, and this has played a role in at least three of the last four flu pandemics

Categories: Astronomy

Doctors Discover New Blood Type—And Only One Person Has It

Tue, 07/15/2025 - 7:00am

Newly discovered “Gwada-negative” is the rarest of 48 known blood groups

Categories: Astronomy

Earth’s Poles Have Shifted because of Water Dams

Tue, 07/15/2025 - 6:30am

When large masses of water are moved from one place to another, this changes the shape of Earth and leads to a phenomenon called true polar wander

Categories: Astronomy

Texas Failed to Spend Federal Aid for Flood Disaster Protection

Mon, 07/14/2025 - 4:30pm

Many states, including Texas, have not used billions of dollars from FEMA intended to reduce damage from flooding and other disasters

Categories: Astronomy

Science-Backed Ways to Deal with Stress

Mon, 07/14/2025 - 10:00am

Better assessment of stress and tailored approaches to combat it could give clinicians the tools they need to fend off lasting damage to health

Categories: Astronomy

Vibrio Bacteria in Beach Water Can Make You Seriously Ill

Mon, 07/14/2025 - 9:00am

Illnesses from stealthy pathogens known as Vibrio are advancing northward along numerous coasts, potentially ruining your summer vacation

Categories: Astronomy

DeepMind’s AlphaGenome Uses AI to Decipher Noncoding DNA for Research, Personalized Medicine

Mon, 07/14/2025 - 7:00am

This AI system can analyze up to one million DNA letters at once, predicting how tiny changes in noncoding regions trigger everything from cancer to rare genetic disorders—and potentially revolutionizing personalized medicine

Categories: Astronomy