Scientific American.com

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

Spacecraft can get a significant boost by stealing energy from planets

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

American military engineers designed the GBU-57/B bomb to devastate deeply buried bunkers without radioactive fallout. It’s the only nonnuclear weapon that can reach Iran’s hardest target

Health specialists were put on leave, and a report on how to protect 20 million workers from wildfire smoke has stalled