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From China to Brazil to Germany, huge numbers of people are addicted to shopping, driven in part by companies that use gaming strategies

Elon Musk and Donald Trump have announced ambitious plans to send a mission to Mars in 2026 and 2028. It’s not going to happen

Three studies show that a mouse will try to rouse an unconscious companion

Health secretary RFK, Jr. has repeatedly suggested that farmers should let bird flu spread through flocks. Experts explain why that’s a dangerous idea

A new map of cosmic expansion suggests that dark energy evolves over time, hinting that the universe doesn’t work the way we thought it did

With limited access to mental health care, people looking for answers about ADHD are turning to TikTok, where information is frequently misleading or inaccurate

A plan by EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin to fire scientists could disrupt environmental rules focused on clean air and water long after President Donald Trump leaves office

Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost commercial lander has gone dark on the moon as planned, but not before sending back spectacular views of the lunar sunset

Life as an “innie” in the show Severance would likely involve severe trauma and mental stress, psychological research suggests

Tariffs on Mexico and Canada won’t stop the demand for addictive drugs

Astronomers are racing to protect the dark skies as private companies seek to place large advertisements in Earth orbit

A tiny, woolly flower found hiding in Texas’s Big Bend National Park shows the intriguing strangeness of sunflowers

A colonoscopy can save your life, but misinformation keeps many people from getting one. A gastroenterologist sets the record straight.

NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams had been “stuck” at the International Space Station since June 6, 2024, after Boeing’s Starliner, the vehicle they rode to get there, ran into multiple hardware problems

The final results from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope offer the sharpest, most sensitive view of the early cosmos that anyone has ever seen

RFK, Jr. fought mercury pollution for years, but he is now in an administration that wants to make it easier for industries to dump it into the air and water

Mysterious gamma rays; snake-eating snake

Four small, newly discovered worlds are less than six light-years away from Earth, and their discovery reinforces a cautionary tale from planet hunting’s prehistory

Several medications now calm painful inflammation in the intestines. Diets free of ultraprocessed foods also help

In the April issue of SciAm, follow a man’s journey to a diagnosis, learn about exciting new schizophrenia treatments, and more