"Man will never reach the moon regardless of all future scientific advances."

— Dr. Lee De Forest

Scientific American.com

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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.
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A Male Birth Control Pill Moves to the Next Clinical Trial Stage

Wed, 08/13/2025 - 6:00am

A new hormone-free birth control pill that reversibly stops sperm production has passed its first safety trial in humans, offering hope for more reversible contraceptive options.

Categories: Astronomy

Why ‘Use Your Words’ Can Be Good for Kids’ Health

Tue, 08/12/2025 - 3:00pm

Studies show that writing or expressing what we are feeling can help adults mentally and physically. Kids are no different

Categories: Astronomy

Trump Order Would Give Political Appointees Power over Science Funding Decisions

Tue, 08/12/2025 - 1:30pm

Researchers are alarmed that an expansive executive order issued by President Donald Trump might upend a long-standing tradition of peer-review for grants

Categories: Astronomy

What Is the Luhn Algorithm? The Math Behind Credit Card Transactions

Tue, 08/12/2025 - 11:30am

Find out how this simple algorithm from the 1960s catches your typos

Categories: Astronomy

Cosmic Tornado from Star’s Birth Whirls in Dazzling JWST Image

Tue, 08/12/2025 - 6:45am

This telescope has revealed the whipped-up dust from the birth of a star—and a shining background galaxy—more clearly than ever before

Categories: Astronomy

Should You Worry the New Chikungunya Virus Outbreak in China Could Reach the U.S.?

Mon, 08/11/2025 - 6:00pm

Experts say the painful infection, spread to people from mosquitoes, can get to many countries if it finds the right hosts

Categories: Astronomy

The Perseid Meteor Shower Is Peaking. Here’s How to Watch

Mon, 08/11/2025 - 12:20pm

The Perseids are the best annual meteor shower, but this year’s show will be dimmed by a bright gibbous moon

Categories: Astronomy

Deep-Sea Desalination Pulls Fresh Water from the Depths

Mon, 08/11/2025 - 10:30am

Companies are experimenting with deep-sea tech to produce cheaper fresh water

Categories: Astronomy

Wordology: Terms from the Archive

Mon, 08/11/2025 - 9:00am

Explore the words of science past from Scientific American

Categories: Astronomy

How This AI Breakthrough with Pure Mathematics and Reinforcement Learning Could Help Predict Future Crises

Mon, 08/11/2025 - 7:00am

An artificial intelligence breakthrough uses reinforcement learning to tackle the Andrews-Curtis conjecture, solving long-standing counterexamples and hinting at tools for forecasting stock crashes, diseases and climate disasters

Categories: Astronomy

Pessimistic Dogs Are Better at Smelling Cancer—And Other Keys to Disease-Sniffing Success

Mon, 08/11/2025 - 6:45am

New research is revealing how disease-smelling dogs can excel

Categories: Astronomy

Rogue Worlds May Not Be So Lonely After All, NASA’s Europa Mission Advances, and RFK, Jr., Pulls mRNA Vaccine Funds

Mon, 08/11/2025 - 6:00am

From planets roaming space to major shifts in health funding, catch up with this week’s news roundup.

Categories: Astronomy

Did Disease Defeat Napoleon?

Sun, 08/10/2025 - 8:00am

Napoleon’s campaign against the Russian Empire was one of the most costly wars in history. Many soldiers died of diseases. Some of these illnesses are only now being identified

Categories: Astronomy

AI-Designed Hydrogel Inspired by Nature Creates Ultra-Strong Underwater Adhesive

Fri, 08/08/2025 - 4:00pm

Today this material can seal pipes and brave the ocean. But someday it could be used in surgery or underwater repairs

Categories: Astronomy

Physicists Divided on What Quantum Mechanics Says about Reality

Fri, 08/08/2025 - 8:00am

A survey of more than 1,000 physicists finds deep disagreements in what quantum theories mean in the real world

Categories: Astronomy

This Mushroom’s Incredibly Bitter Taste Is New to Science

Fri, 08/08/2025 - 7:00am

The first analysis of mushroom bitterness reveals ultrapotent compounds

Categories: Astronomy

What Are Light Echoes, and Why Do They Matter?

Fri, 08/08/2025 - 6:45am

Bizarre phenomena called light echoes create strange, shifting shapes seen in some telescopic images and help astronomers chart the heavens above

Categories: Astronomy

Congressman Eric Sorensen on Defending Climate Science, Depoliticizing Weather and Bringing Scientific Rigor to Capitol Hill

Fri, 08/08/2025 - 6:00am

Representative Eric Sorensen of Illinois shares how his meteorology roots drive his fight to protect climate science and push back against political interference.

Categories: Astronomy

JWST Spots Possible Alien Planet at Alpha Centauri

Thu, 08/07/2025 - 11:00am

In some of its most ambitious work yet, the James Webb Space Telescope looked to spot a planet in a potentially habitable orbit around Alpha Centauri A, the nearest sunlike star to our solar system

Categories: Astronomy

Students Find Hidden Fibonacci Sequence in Classic Probability Puzzle

Thu, 08/07/2025 - 10:00am

Though the Fibonacci sequence shows up everywhere in nature, these young mathematicians were surprised to find it in the answer to a variation of the pick-up sticks problem⁠—a nearly two-century-old form of puzzle

Categories: Astronomy