Scientific American staff and sleep experts share advice on how to get better sleep in the stressful days leading up to the U.S. presidential election—and those that come after

A science photo book probes the colors we can see—and even “forbidden” colors we can’t

No, but the direction of our hair whorls could teach us about human development

Put your own spin on a zoetrope with homemade drawings—or carve one into a pumpkin

Election polls are increasingly vulnerable to huge mistakes

A strange supernova remnant first appeared as a “guest star” seen in 1181 by sky watchers in China and Japan

The 2024 presidential election will have enormous consequences for the climate, and the health and future of children

When chemist Dora Richardson’s employer decided to terminate the breast cancer research on the drug Tamoxifen in the early 1970s, she and her colleagues continued the work in secret.

Humans and pigs could both serve as mixing vessels for a bird flu–seasonal flu hybrid, posing a risk of wider spread

Torrential rain, made worse by climate change, has lashed Spain, with Valencia bearing the brunt of the floodwaters

The outcome of the 2024 U.S. presidential election could reshape policies from health care at home to nuclear proliferation abroad

At dusk and dawn, the sky dances with three phases of in-between light

Pesky leaks on the International Space Station aren’t the most serious issue facing U.S. human spaceflight

A heart attack unleashes immune cells that stimulate neurons in the brain, leading to restorative slumber

Long before it orbited Earth, the Hubble Space Telescope starred in a famous Superman comic

The discovery of a new prime number highlights the rising price of mathematical gold

People are really stressed about the U.S. presidential election. A psychiatrist offers several self-help methods to reduce feelings of despair

Analysis of a strain of the virus circulating in Central Africa shows genetic mutations indicative of sustained human-to-human spread

Efficient machines, paper ballots and human checks make the U.S. voting system robust

A galaxy cluster bends light from seven background galaxies around it, letting astronomers peer into space and time

The outcome of the 2024 U.S. presidential election could set the climate agenda, reshape public education and shift the dynamics of global science collaboration.

What was once fair under the law may become unfair when science changes. The law must react to uphold due process

Thousands of homes in Navajo and other tribal lands don’t have access to electricity. A $200-million federal funding effort aims to fix that problem with solar power and other clean energy

Famous people who die at age 27, such as Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix and Amy Winehouse, get even more famous because of the mythology surrounding that number—an example of how modern folklore emerges

Culture may play a role in how birds build collectively in the Kalahari Desert

Several downballot races in the 2024 presidential election will carry implications for climate policy far beyond state lines

In medieval times, astrology was considered a serious science, a branch of astronomy. Curator Larisa Grollemond of the Getty Museum, walks us through the medieval zodiac and how someone’s sign decided their day-to-day life.

“Going viral” appears to be more than just a catchphrase when it comes to the rampant spread of misinformation

President-elect Trump vowed to promote fossil fuels, weaken pollution regulations and reverse Biden administration climate efforts

Understanding the psychology of ambiguous loss can help people struggling with grief and depression in the wake of the 2024 election results

This year won’t just be the hottest on record—it could be the first to surpass 1.5 degrees Celsius. The Paris climate accord aims to keep warming below that level when looking over multiple years

It is difficult to disentangle Russian and Chinese scientists from international science cooperation. That is a good thing

Is your kid in trouble? Blaming their friends is ill advised

A few dozen ChatGPT queries cost a bottle’s worth of water. Tech firms should consider simpler solutions, such as harvesting rainwater, to meet AI’s needs

The new Trump administration is likely to reduce subsidies for Affordable Care Act insurance plans and roll back Medicaid coverage. Public health authorities worry that antivaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., will be empowered

Focusing on size in health care might be doing more harm than good.

A mysterious electromagnetic mechanism may be more important than the firing of neurons in our brain to explain our awareness

The Martian new year arrives with the Red Planet’s vernal equinox. Explaining why requires a deep dive into celestial mechanics and Earth’s calendrical history

Outside groups often offer their solutions for climate adaptation in Africa. But the best people to manage the climate crisis are the people in those communities themselves. For climate adaptation to succeed in Africa, let communities and local leaders show the way

The new president-elect can go beyond just pulling out of the Paris Agreement. But it may be more difficult to roll back clean energy policies

The 3.2-million-year-old human ancestor known as Lucy rose to fame through an incredible combination of circumstances

Two years of experimentation taught a Nashville guitarist not every musical myth makes sense

Droughts in 48 of 50 U.S. states, evidence of microplastics mucking up wastewater recycling and the science of a baseball mud bath in this week’s news roundup.

A Biden administration proposal that would require employers to provide cooling measures under extreme heat conditions may be scuttled by the incoming Trump administration

The unexpected discovery of a geometric phase shows how math and physics are tightly intertwined

Jonny Kim—a former Navy SEAL and ER doctor—is now a NASA astronaut who will soon launch to the International Space Station as flight engineer for the crew of Expedition 72/73

A fee created to push oil and gas companies to plug methane leaks could be axed by the incoming Trump administration, hampering efforts to curb the potent greenhouse gas

Today’s cannabis plant is highly cultivated and incredibly potent. Treating it like a commodity, and not a testable, regulated medicine, is hurting people

A team at Columbia University School of Engineering and Applied Science has developed a technique to enhance chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy in solid tumors. The technique involves engineering E. coli bacteria, that naturally tend to accumulate in the immune privileged core of solid tumors. The bacteria have been engineered to interact with […]

Arriving in two boxes reminiscent of Apple product packaging – one for the chest piece (the part that contacts the body), and another for the detachable earpiece (tubes + ear tips) – the CORE 500 is clearly an upgrade from the Eko DUO stethoscope. Similar to its predecessor, the CORE 500 can be used with […]