Once you can accept the Universe as matter expanding into nothing that is something, wearing stripes with plaid comes easy.

— Albert Einstein

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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: 15 hours 51 min ago

How Microplastics Get into Our Food

Thu, 03/27/2025 - 6:45am

Kitchen items—sponges, blenders, kettles—are abundant sources of microplastics that we all consume

Categories: Astronomy

HHS’s Long COVID Office Is Closing. What Will This Mean for Future Research and Treatments?

Wed, 03/26/2025 - 6:35pm

The Office for Long COVID Research and Practice was instrumental in coordinating the U.S. government’s initiatives to treat, diagnose and prevent the mysterious postviral condition that affects millions of people today

Categories: Astronomy

Why These Tropical Trees Love a Lightning Strike

Wed, 03/26/2025 - 2:55pm

One species of tropical tree seems not only to survive lightning strikes but also to thrive because of them

Categories: Astronomy

Trump Cuts Threaten Universities, Could Lead to ‘Lost Generation’ of Scientists

Wed, 03/26/2025 - 2:45pm

Some conservative lawmakers are quietly urging the president to restore research funding as cuts threaten academic institutions in their states

Categories: Astronomy

Mini-Satellite Sends Encrypted Quantum Message a Record-Breaking Distance

Wed, 03/26/2025 - 1:00pm

Scientists in China have transmitted encrypted images a record 12,900 kilometers, paving the way for quantum messaging anywhere on Earth

Categories: Astronomy

Top Math Prize Recipient Wedded Algebra and Calculus to Found a New Field

Wed, 03/26/2025 - 12:30pm

Masaki Kashiwara, this year’s Abel Prize winner, co-founded a new field of mathematics called algebraic analysis

Categories: Astronomy

Courts Are Rejecting Politicized Attacks on Care for Trans Kids

Wed, 03/26/2025 - 11:30am

Gender-affirming care attacked by right-wing groups is being reaffirmed by medical reviews and in the courtroom

Categories: Astronomy

How ‘Qudits’ Could Boost Quantum Computing

Wed, 03/26/2025 - 10:00am

“Qudits,” the multi-dimensional cousins of qubits, could make quantum computers more efficient and less prone to error

Categories: Astronomy

How to Tame Impatience

Wed, 03/26/2025 - 8:00am

Impatience is an emotion we can all learn to tame

Categories: Astronomy

‘Artificial Nap’ Could Provide Benefits of Sleep—Without Sleeping

Wed, 03/26/2025 - 6:45am

Desynchronizing a monkey’s brain with electricity caused a performance boost

Categories: Astronomy

Why Calling a Plant ‘Invasive’ Oversimplifies the Problem

Wed, 03/26/2025 - 6:00am

Botanist Mason Heberling challenges how we think about invasive species and our role in their spread.

Categories: Astronomy

Scientists Record First Known Shark Sounds

Tue, 03/25/2025 - 7:00pm

Clicklike noises made by a small species of shark represent the first instance of a shark actively producing sound

Categories: Astronomy

23andMe Bankruptcy Leaves Troves of Genetic Data at Risk

Tue, 03/25/2025 - 4:10pm

The bankruptcy of 23andMe highlights a lack of protections for genetic privacy in the U.S.

Categories: Astronomy

Supersymmetry’s Long Fall from Grace

Tue, 03/25/2025 - 12:00pm

Supersymmetry, long considered the golden child of theoretical physics, has officially lost its luster at the world’s reigning particle accelerator

Categories: Astronomy

Babies Do Make Memories—So Why Can't We Remember Them as Adults?

Tue, 03/25/2025 - 11:30am

MRI scans show that the brains of infants and toddlers can encode memories, even if we don’t remember them as adults

Categories: Astronomy

The U.S. Government’s Top UFO Scientist Has an Open Mind about Alien Visitation

Tue, 03/25/2025 - 9:30am

Have you seen something inexplicable in the sky? Jon Kosloski, director of the U.S. Department of Defense’s All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office, wants to hear from you

Categories: Astronomy

Postpartum Depression May One Day Be Identified by a Blood Test before a Person Gives Birth

Tue, 03/25/2025 - 9:00am

Too few people get diagnosed and treated for postpartum depression. But a blood test could change that

Categories: Astronomy

As Measles Cases Surge, Scientists Explain Why Vaccination Is Critical

Tue, 03/25/2025 - 8:00am

Measles is not a disease to take lightly—but it is also very preventable with vaccines

Categories: Astronomy

When Scientists Don’t Correct Errors, Misinformation and Deadly Consequences Can Follow

Tue, 03/25/2025 - 7:30am

Uncorrected errors in science and the unconscionable reluctance to correct them erodes trust in science, throws away taxpayer money, harms the public’s health and can kill innocent people

Categories: Astronomy

Nuclear Fusion Requires Certain Fuel, and Researchers Have Found a Greener Way to Make It

Tue, 03/25/2025 - 7:00am

Researchers have found an environmentally safer way to extract the lithium 6 needed to create fuel for nuclear fusion reactors. The new approach doesn’t require toxic mercury, as conventional methods do

Categories: Astronomy