"For the sage, time is only of significance in that within it the steps of becoming can unfold in clearest sequence."

— I Ching

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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: 17 hours 53 min ago

Did the U.S. Really Destroy Iran’s Nuclear Program?

Tue, 06/24/2025 - 12:00pm

Nuclear policy specialist David Albright explains how his organization is monitoring for damage to nuclear sites following U.S. and Israeli strikes

Categories: Astronomy

Dark Matter ‘Droplets’ Could Solve Multiple Cosmic Mysteries

Tue, 06/24/2025 - 11:00am

Inspired by superconductivity, a strange new theory that seeks to explain dark matter might explain dark energy, too

Categories: Astronomy

To Make Better Choices, Understand How Your Brain Processes Values

Tue, 06/24/2025 - 9:00am

The brain weighs factors based on their importance to oneself and one’s social world as part of a complex calculation that shapes behavior

Categories: Astronomy

The Hidden Game Theory of Sherlock Holmes

Tue, 06/24/2025 - 8:00am

In the early 20th century, a mathematician and economist sought the optimal strategy for Holmes to escape Moriarty’s pursuit

Categories: Astronomy

NASA’s Psyche Spacecraft, Exploring Solar System Origins, Is Back on Track after Thrusters Lost Power

Mon, 06/23/2025 - 5:30pm

This explorer spacecraft is heading to a rare asteroid with a naked metal core. It could hold clues to how Earth began

Categories: Astronomy

AI and Data Centers Could Cut More Climate-Change-Causing Emissions Than They Create

Mon, 06/23/2025 - 2:00pm

Power-hungry AI and associated data centers could make the grid cleaner, eventually cutting more climate-change-causing emissions than they produce

Categories: Astronomy

Orcas’ Social Skin-Care Routine Uses Kelp as a Tool

Mon, 06/23/2025 - 11:00am

Massaging one another with kelp could help orcas keep their skin healthy

Categories: Astronomy

How H5N1 Went from an Illness in Wild Birds to a Global Pandemic Threat

Mon, 06/23/2025 - 6:00am

The first hints that a new strain of avian illness is emerging could be found on this beach on Delaware Bay, where migrating birds flock. Here’s what virus detectives who return there every year know right now.

Categories: Astronomy

Rubin Observatory’s First Images Just Unveiled the Universe as We’ve Never Seen It Before

Mon, 06/23/2025 - 12:01am

Astronomy fans can zoom in practically forever into the stunning first images from the Vera C. Rubin Observatory

Categories: Astronomy

Elon Musk Launches the Robotaxi—Can Tesla’s Cybercab Share the Road with America’s Myth of the Highway?

Sun, 06/22/2025 - 3:00pm

For more than a century, cars have meant freedom, escape and self-reinvention to Americans. Now Tesla’s forthcoming Cybercab makes us ask whether we can have the romance of the open road without actually driving it

Categories: Astronomy

First Near-Complete Denisovan Skull Reveals What This Ancient Human Cousin Looked Like

Fri, 06/20/2025 - 4:00pm

A Denisovan skull has been identified for the first time. The find was based on proteins and calcified dental plaque

Categories: Astronomy

Hurricane Hunter Flights Improve Hurricane Forecasts, But Trump Budget Cuts Could Threaten Them

Fri, 06/20/2025 - 2:00pm

NOAA’s Hurricane Hunter airplane missions significantly increase the accuracy of hurricane forecasts, but President Trump’s proposed budget cuts jeopardize the data-gathering efforts and other forecasting tools

Categories: Astronomy

How Does a Gravitational Slingshot Work?

Fri, 06/20/2025 - 6:45am

Spacecraft can get a significant boost by stealing energy from planets

Categories: Astronomy

What Is Testosterone Replacement Therapy, and Is It Safe?

Fri, 06/20/2025 - 6:00am

As more men turn to testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) for energy, mood and muscle, experts warn the risks are still not fully understood.

Categories: Astronomy

Here’s How Plastic Bag Bans Are Keeping Trash off Shorelines

Thu, 06/19/2025 - 2:00pm

Data from beach cleanups show that banning or taxing single-use plastic bags makes a difference in ecosystems

Categories: Astronomy

Humpback Whales Are Blowing ‘Bubble Rings’ at Boats. Are They Trying to Communicate?

Thu, 06/19/2025 - 1:30pm

Researchers bring a SETI approach to the question of what—if anything—humpbacks’ underwater smoke rings might be trying to “say”

Categories: Astronomy

Gaia, Europe’s Galactic Cartographer, Is Gone But Not Forgotten

Thu, 06/19/2025 - 1:15pm

Gaia, Europe’s Milky Way–mapping spacecraft, shut down earlier this year. It was arguably the most important—and most overlooked—astronomy project of the 21st century

Categories: Astronomy

SpaceX’s Starship Explodes in Texas During Preflight Testing

Thu, 06/19/2025 - 12:30pm

The latest catastrophic explosion of a Starship upper stage is a significant setback for SpaceX

Categories: Astronomy

The Weather Expert Who Answered the $64,000 Question

Thu, 06/19/2025 - 11:00am

As the first trained Black TV meteorologist, June Bacon-Bercey always worked to help women and people of color to follow in her footsteps

Categories: Astronomy

Supreme Court Skrmetti Decision Permits Ban on Gender-Affirming Care for Children

Wed, 06/18/2025 - 3:00pm

The Supreme Court has decided to uphold a state ban on gender-affirming care for minors in U.S. v. Skrmetti

Categories: Astronomy