Scientific American.com

Reducing noise improves health, JWST’s galaxies change astronomy, and there’s new hope for people with prostate cancer

A novel about the tensions between nature and modernity, animal social networks, and more books out now

Scientific expertise is typically limited and specific. When evaluating scientific claims, look to the relevant experts

A high-tech pair of gloves can help make learning instruments and other hands-on activities easier

Reducing the need for car travel is better for health, the environment and public safety

Contact with nature improves physical and mental health, but greenery is not easily reached by all

Making schools more welcoming for all can make for a fair and just society

What makes a word survive or go extinct?

A rice-grain-size fish screams louder than a jackhammer—and we have a lot to learn from its minuscule brain

In a new book, the wisdom of plants is a balm for our changing planet

Writers, artists, photographers and researchers share the stories behind the stories

Fossil and living birds reveal the dazzling biology of feathers

Artificial DNA sorts images like a neural network does

New research examines the molecular machinery behind a beetle’s strange biological cycle

Letters to the editors for the January 2024 issue of Scientific American

Certain brain layers specialize in particular waves—which might aid understanding of neuropsychiatric disorders

Science in meter and verse

Social context shapes how fiddler crabs communicate by vibrating the ground underneath their burrows

As the Event Horizon Telescope pursues ambitious upgrades, the project’s latest results reveal the magnetic fields around our galaxy’s supermassive black hole

The emerging science of laying guilt through public messaging can help safeguard the planet and improve health behaviors