Scientific American Content: Global

How math's 'hairy ball theorem' could explain bad hair days

Tue, 09 Jun 2026 18:00:00 +0000

An idea from topology explains why you can never get rid of your cowlicks—and, oddly enough, it’s critical in nuclear fusion

Americans’ trust in the CDC has plummeted since 2025, new poll finds

Tue, 09 Jun 2026 16:22:00 +0000

A mere 12 percent of Americans say they trust the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s recommendations “a great deal”

NASA reveals astronauts who will fly Artemis III, its next step toward a moon landing

Tue, 09 Jun 2026 16:00:00 +0000

NASA’s Artemis III crew includes three NASA astronauts and one European Space Agency astronaut

Inside the new Siri AI and the privacy paradox of Apple Intelligence

Tue, 09 Jun 2026 15:00:00 +0000

To run errands across apps, Apple’s upgraded assistant needs deep access to personal data that the company has walled off for years

Resistance training may boost longevity. But how much do you need?

Tue, 09 Jun 2026 13:34:00 +0000

Weight lifting and other forms of resistance training can increase bone density, lower diabetes risk and boost mental health

Rare meteorite might be a relic from a ‘lost world’

Tue, 09 Jun 2026 12:00:00 +0000

Hints of high-pressure chemistry within a rare meteorite suggest this fallen space rock comes from a planet gone wrong in the solar system’s early history

Genital herpes tests are notoriously unreliable, but better ones are in the works

Tue, 09 Jun 2026 11:00:00 +0000

The best blood test for herpes is only available at a single lab. What would it take for that to change?

Spotted lanternflies’ love of cities may be the secret to their invasion success

Tue, 09 Jun 2026 10:45:00 +0000

These eye-catching insects offer a prime opportunity for scientists to dig deep into invasion ecology and evolutionary biology

The asteroid that killed the dinosaurs may have sparked millions of years of hydrothermal life

Tue, 09 Jun 2026 09:00:00 +0000

When asteroids slam into Earth, they can create hydrothermal vent systems

‘Odd’ Gulf of Mexico earthquake rattles Florida and Cuba

Mon, 08 Jun 2026 20:00:00 +0000

This earthquake may be among the biggest in the Gulf of Mexico’s history

The Philippines earthquake is the largest this year, but it could’ve been bigger—here’s why

Mon, 08 Jun 2026 16:24:00 +0000

The magnitude 7.8 earthquake that hit the Philippines happened at a subduction zone. Such places are capable of producing the largest earthquakes possible

NASA’s astronauts will wear a Prada-designed onesie to keep cool on the moon

Mon, 08 Jun 2026 15:30:00 +0000

On Sunday Axiom Space and Prada unveiled the cooling inner garment that NASA’s Artemis astronauts will wear under their space suits on the moon

Increase in wildfire-driven ozone pollution linked to premature deaths across the U.S.

Mon, 08 Jun 2026 14:00:00 +0000

Smog from wildfires is getting worse across much of the U.S., according to a NASA-funded study

Why GLP-1 drugs might reduce cancer risk

Mon, 08 Jun 2026 11:00:00 +0000

A new wave of research links GLP-1 drugs to reduced cancer spread and better survival, and the mechanism may go beyond just weight loss

World Cup begins under health watch as new AI rules spark debate and ancient Rome’s road network expands

Mon, 08 Jun 2026 10:00:00 +0000

World Cup crowds spark outbreak tracking as AI tensions rise and ancient Rome’s roads get a stunning reboot

Can AI detect smuggled sea cucumbers?

Sun, 07 Jun 2026 23:05:00 +0000

In a new study, an AI tool identified images of seahorse, shark fin and sea cucumber samples in luggage

How math can help you decide what to order for dinner

Sun, 07 Jun 2026 12:00:00 +0000

An experiment with 2,520 participants backs Richard Feynman’s answer to every diner’s dilemma: do I want to try something new?

NASA’s X-59 plane goes supersonic for the first time

Sat, 06 Jun 2026 16:50:00 +0000

This experimental plane, which reached supersonic speeds yesterday, is designed to travel faster than the speed of sound without creating bothersome sonic booms

How prediction markets could forecast the future of science

Sat, 06 Jun 2026 12:00:00 +0000

Online prediction markets are taking bets on everything from climate change to quantum computing. But researchers question their accuracy

Aquanauts experience awe-inspiring ‘underview effect’

Sat, 06 Jun 2026 11:00:00 +0000

Like astronauts’ “overview effect,” a dramatic feeling of awe takes hold on extended seafloor stays

Anthropic warns AI may soon begin recursive self-improvement

Fri, 05 Jun 2026 18:00:00 +0000

The maker of Claude wants AI labs, including itself, to prepare for a coordinated slowdown if models begin building their own successors

Astronauts take shelter on the International Space Station because of air leaks

Fri, 05 Jun 2026 15:45:00 +0000

NASA ordered its astronauts to take refuge inside a docked SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft and to prepare for potential evacuation of the International Space Station. But the crew returned to normal operations shortly afterward

Report: FDA just launched a study on the abortion pill

Fri, 05 Jun 2026 14:50:00 +0000

The FDA’s ongoing review of mifepristone could skip over established science, health experts warn

Planets aplenty may lurk around supermassive black holes

Fri, 05 Jun 2026 10:45:00 +0000

Planets might exist in the least likely place you’d imagine—around the outskirts of supermassive black holes

How breast cancer screening can predict heart disease risk

Fri, 05 Jun 2026 10:45:00 +0000

AI analysis of mammograms could provide a “bonus finding” for heart disease

PCOS is now PMOS: What went behind renaming the common condition

Fri, 05 Jun 2026 10:00:00 +0000

A physician involved in the long push to change the name PCOS to PMOS takes us behind the scenes of this subtle yet consequential change

Trump invokes Defense Production Act to keep U.S. coal plants running

Thu, 04 Jun 2026 21:30:00 +0000

Coal is the most significant fossil fuel contributor to climate change

Remote work is making Americans lonelier and sadder, new study suggests

Thu, 04 Jun 2026 18:30:00 +0000

Remote and hybrid work can have benefits, but a study involving more than 588,000 people suggest they may take a serious mental toll

Bumblebees use tools to solve complex problems—despite not being trained to do so

Thu, 04 Jun 2026 18:00:00 +0000

Bumblebees appear to be capable of coming up with creative solutions to new problems to get a sugary reward—and their strategies include cheating

The Laetoli Footprints—the oldest hominin footprints ever found—are at risk of destruction

Thu, 04 Jun 2026 17:45:00 +0000

A new investigation alleges that official organizations in Tanzania have imperiled the country's artifacts and remains at four critical human heritage sites they were supposed to protect

A flesh-eating New World screwworm was just found in a Texas cow—here’s what to know

Thu, 04 Jun 2026 16:45:00 +0000

This marks the first case of the New World screwworm in U.S. livestock since the parasite was eliminated in the country in the 1960s

Astronomers just solved a 50-year-old mystery about the Milky Way’s black hole

Thu, 04 Jun 2026 15:00:00 +0000

A breeze is emanating from Sagittarius A* at the heart of our galaxy

Did we just see a primordial black hole at the Milky Way’s edge?

Thu, 04 Jun 2026 14:15:00 +0000

A blip of light in the outer reaches of the Milky Way might be a bizarre black hole born at the beginning of time itself—and the long-sought solution to the mystery of dark matter. Astronomers are calling it “Phoebe”

Humans conquered the planet 300 times faster than genetic evolution can explain

Thu, 04 Jun 2026 10:45:00 +0000

Culture is humanity’s secret for world domination. This calculation shows just how powerful it is

Search for alien technology on interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS comes up empty

Thu, 04 Jun 2026 10:00:00 +0000

Even though astronomers didn’t detect alien tech signals from a rare interstellar visitor, the results are worthwhile, they say

White House reclassifies federal epidemiologists and other scientists from civil servants to ‘at-will’ hires

Thu, 04 Jun 2026 01:00:00 +0000

The long-anticipated “Schedule F” order strips job protections meant to safeguard federal employees from political interference

Scientists just built a powerful AI computer worm that learns as it spreads

Wed, 03 Jun 2026 16:49:00 +0000

This prototype could help the world prepare for AI malware threats, according to the researchers who made it

Landmark pancreatic cancer treatment paves way for targeting other tricky tumors

Wed, 03 Jun 2026 15:10:00 +0000

Unprecedented results against a stubbornly hard-to-treat cancer are boosting optimism that other challenging tumors will be next

NASA’s Mars mission MAVEN is lost forever

Wed, 03 Jun 2026 14:02:00 +0000

MAVEN was the first successful mission designed to study the atmosphere of Mars. It also became a vital node of NASA’s communications network at the Red Planet

Edison may not have been the first to record the human voice, new evidence suggests

Wed, 03 Jun 2026 10:00:00 +0000

Could a predecessor to the phonograph have appeared a century earlier?

The reason why elevators feel slow—and the surprising math behind everyday life

Wed, 03 Jun 2026 10:00:00 +0000

From slow elevators to perfectly split pizza, math quietly explains the quirks of everyday life

Ötzi the murdered Iceman’s microbiome is still active

Wed, 03 Jun 2026 08:00:00 +0000

More than 5,300 years after Ötzi’s death, researchers identified yeasts in his gut microbiome that continue to be active—and they used it to make bread

U.S. science must innovate or die, National Academy of Sciences president says

Tue, 02 Jun 2026 21:51:00 +0000

The past year has been “filled with turmoil” for science, National Academy of Sciences president Marcia McNutt said during her State of the Science address

In a first, scientists transplanted both a pig liver and kidneys into a person who was brain-dead

Tue, 02 Jun 2026 19:00:00 +0000

The transplanted pig organs functioned for 36 hours before showing signs of rejection

Microsoft’s upgraded Majorana quantum computing chip fizzles with physicists

Tue, 02 Jun 2026 18:15:00 +0000

Microsoft’s announcement of a new quantum computing breakthrough with its Majorana 2 chip continues a trend of bold claims followed by scant evidence

Sturgeon fish sex sounds like ‘thunder’

Tue, 02 Jun 2026 18:04:00 +0000

These sounds could be used to track the health of populations of the endangered Atlantic sturgeon

Trump’s new AI executive order drastically shifts the administration’s stance on the tech

Tue, 02 Jun 2026 17:15:00 +0000

This order asks artificial intelligence companies to give the U.S. government up to 30 days to assess frontier models before they are released

Trump administration takes aim at crucial ocean monitoring network

Tue, 02 Jun 2026 16:30:00 +0000

The Ocean Observatories Initiative has been collecting data on physical, chemical, geological and biological conditions in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans for the past decade

Mathematicians sign declaration to rein in AI use

Tue, 02 Jun 2026 10:01:00 +0000

A group of researchers have proposed rules to prevent artificial intelligence from overpowering humans in math

Questioning everything

Tue, 02 Jun 2026 10:00:00 +0000

Where did stars, and light itself, come from? Is there a hidden sector of particles and forces called “dark energy” affecting the cosmos?