Venus, often called Earth's twin, is in fact a planet of extremes. Beneath its thick carbon dioxide atmosphere are crushing surface temperatures and dense clouds of sulfuric acid. While the planet's main cloud layer sits between 47 and 70 kilometers above the surface,
An Adelaide University study has revealed that per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) found in tap water, at levels currently considered safe, affected the development of embryos, causing irreversible damage that may be passed on to future generations. The researchers
What do bats do at night when they're not hunting? Using tiny GPS trackers, Leiden researchers discovered that pond bats spend a substantial portion of the night resting—often outdoors. This surprising insight could change the way we protect them. "To rest or to roam:
In a tank on the bottom floor of a University of Chicago research laboratory, scientists summon "The Blob" into existence by firing water jets to create an artfully choreographed series of rings.
A new study has shown that whale calls are reduced by as much as 50% in response to seismic surveys, which are commonly used to find oil and gas reserves. Researchers are worried that such surveys could impact vulnerable marine species, which rely on sound for communication,
The University of Phoenix Career Institute has released its sixth annual Career Optimism Index, a recurring national workforce research study of 5,000 U.S. working adults and 1,000 employers fielded January 21–February 6, 2026.
A study of more than 10 million siblings suggests that firstborns are more likely to be autistic and have allergies, while conditions like migraine and shingles tend to affect their younger sibling
Tasmania's logged forests burn significantly more severely in a bushfire than old growth, University of Tasmania scientists have found in a study that provides the strongest evidence yet on a question with real consequences for how the state manages its forests. The research
Using NASA's Chandra X-ray space telescope, astronomers have performed high-resolution X-ray spectroscopic observations of a bright low-mass X-ray binary known as GX 340+0. Results of the observational campaign, published April 3 on the arXiv pre-print server, shed more light
Human urine—often flushed away without thought—could be key to making agriculture and wastewater treatment more sustainable and energy efficient, according to new research from the University of Surrey. Although urine only makes up around 1% of wastewater, it contains the
In a new study, researchers introduce the dual threat model of antisemitism, which highlights the central role of perceived Jewish power in fueling antisemitism, and they discuss its implications for interventions aimed at curbing antisemitism.
Like a naughty pet Labrador, the Australian lungfish has little restraint when it comes to food. "We had 360 sqm of aquatic plants growing inside enclosures; but, once the fences were removed, lungfish and other aquatic animals feasted on the plants, and most of the vegetation
The Pokémon franchise, including its recent game Pokémon Pokopia , is inspired by real animals and their ecology. It’s no surprise that so many scientists love to try and “catch ’em all”
Sometimes innovation can be traced back to bizarre places: a muddy streambed, a volcanic ash field or even a hotel-company boardroom
Modern luxury watches can be traced back to one of Napoleon Bonaparte’s younger sisters
Biologists are racing to save America’s freshwater mussels—the water-filtering keystone species that once filled the country’s rivers and streams—from extinction
Play this crossword inspired by the May 2026 issue of Scientific American
Letters to the editors for the January 2026 issue of Scientific American
Science in meter and verse
Immune system overreactions may be the true culprit of cardiac illness—and lifesaving drugs can calm them down
Synchronous fireflies; Grand Canyon fossil footprints
Scientists have designed a new kind of paradoxical shape
The Diffie-Hellman key exchange secures everything from your text messages to government secrets
With the rise of private orbital habitats, vacations in space are becoming a real possibility for the ultrawealthy
How the discovery of altermagnets could change physics and computing
As rich ore gets harder to find, the mining industry is using subatomic particles to map rock deep underground
At Givaudan and IFF, chemists build—and safeguard—new aroma molecules tightly linked to emotion and memory
Binoculars and other far-range optics span a gamut of price points. Here’s what separates top-tier from entry-level
The SciFy program tests whether adversaries’ most outlandish scientific claims add up or fall apart
Scientists finally understand why birds were the only dinosaurs to pull through the end-Cretaceous mass extinction
Creatine does help build muscle, but social media claims for methylene blue dye are way overblown
A multidisciplinary archaeological team has examined plague burials from a 17th-century monastery turned hospital in Basel, Switzerland, shedding light on how social status impacted plague mortality in Early Modern Europe. Their study, "All equal in the face of death? Life
The IBeA group of the EHU-University of the Basque Country is proposing new measures to safeguard the purity of extraterrestrial samples. Several contaminants, including traces of ink, originating in the preparation of subsamples, have been identified in Martian meteorites by
Using AI later in solving tough problems boosts critical thinking and memory, a study shows, highlighting trade-offs between speed and reasoning.
You probably have a member of your family that you're not related to by blood—a step-parent, an adopted cousin, your mom's best friend who you grew up calling your aunt. They're indisputably part of your family, but a DNA test wouldn't hint at your relationship. Archaeologists
For the first time, new theoretical models, published in Astronomy & Astrophysics, connect the magnetism at the surface of long-dead stellar remnants (white dwarfs) with recent evidence of magnetism at the cores of their dying progenitors (red giants). The team, led by
The well-being of a supervisor is reflected through supervisor-subordinate relationships in employee motivation and performance, and consequently, in the company's competitiveness. In his doctoral research at the University of Vaasa, Project Researcher Jussi Tanskanen
Lipid research investigates the structure, function and metabolism of fats, covering their roles in industrial processes, the environment and health. Emerging research areas include nutrient regulation, cardiovascular health, lipidomics and biomarker discovery to understand,
An unusually mild winter followed by a wet spring made last year one of the worst in a decade for Pennsylvania soybean growers. It wasn't the soybeans that were the problem; it was the slugs. The pests survived the warm winter to lay a second round of eggs, and twice as many
Isolated on a Taiwanese fishing vessel, eight days from the nearest landmass, 22-year-old Indonesian fisherman Sugiama was found dead in his bunk in 2019. His death followed an 18-hour shift and an assault the night before, when he was hit across the head for not working fast
Rising living costs, energy insecurity, widening inequality, and escalating climate impacts are fueling discussions on fairness and justice in climate policy. Yet, assumptions in global emission scenarios that determine who benefits and who bears the costs are often only made
Tiny organisms on the ground—bacteria and fungi—have a "superpower" that allows them to reach up into the atmosphere and pull down the rain, according to a recent study.
In a new study published in Nature Communications, a team of chemists has unveiled a radically simple way to attach a highly sought-after "molecular handle," known as the dichloromethyl group, onto complex compounds. Instead of relying on the aggressive, heavy-metal or
Enzymes are nature's tiny powerhouses, helping with everything from digesting food to making it quicker and safer to produce medicines, food and renewable fuels. While they can enhance chemical reactions, their fragile nature makes it difficult to use them in typical industrial
In a paper just out in Nature Synthesis, researchers led by Prof. Timothy Noël of the University of Amsterdam's Van 't Hoff Institute for Molecular Sciences presented a breakthrough in autonomous laboratory systems for synthesis optimization. With an estimated cost of a mere
University of British Columbia researchers have developed a natural, biodegradable wash that removed up to 96% of pesticide residue from fruit and slowed browning and moisture loss. This could mean safer apples, grapes and other fruit that also stays fresh and crisp for days
Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) is opening the door for more researchers to conduct consumer studies than ever before. But that same accessibility may push the field toward increasingly generic results—and ultimately disconnected from real human behavior.
A research team has discovered an enhanced CRISPR gene-editing system that could enable targeted delivery inside the human body—a key step toward broader clinical use. Researchers identified a naturally occurring enzyme, Al3Cas12f, that is small enough to fit into
Cells can be thought of as cities, with factories, a transport system, and lots of building activity. An international team led by scientists at the University of Groningen studied cells growing under different conditions and measured the speed of molecule transport. They found
