Category Science

In a demonstration of how biology shapes behavior, researchers have identified a specific group of brain cells that act as “gatekeepers” for sexual rejection in female mammals. This discovery reveals how the brain orchestrates the delicate dance between acceptance and…

Imagine standing by a Finnish lake 5,000 years ago, your voice bouncing back from ancient cliffs adorned with painted elks and human figures. New research reveals these prehistoric rock art sites weren’t just visual galleries – they were carefully chosen…

Rachel Feltman: Happy Monday, listeners! For Scientific American’s Science Quickly, I’m Rachel Feltman. Let’s kick off the week by catching up on the latest science news.  First, we’ve got a brief update from Tanya Lewis, a senior editor covering health…

Revenge on referees Our news colleagues Jacob Aron and Michael Le Page have drawn Feedback’s attention to a post on social media site BlueSky, which highlighted a scientific paper in awed tones. The study in question was recently published in…

November 19, 2024 3 min read Exotic Powder Pulls Carbon Dioxide from the Air at a Record Rate A unique crystalline compound soaks up CO2 with great efficiency By Alec Luhn Boris Zhitkov/Getty Images This story was produced in partnership…

November 19, 2024 3 min read Curiosity, Horses and Hypochondria Discovering weird new shapes, turning oil rigs into reefs and making the ocean absorb more greenhouse gases By Laura Helmuth Scientific American, December 2024 Did you grow up around horses?…

November 19, 2024 3 min read Contributors to Scientific American’s December 2024 Issue Writers, artists, photographers and researchers share the stories behind the stories By Allison Parshall Thomas FuchsAdvances Illustrator Thomas Fuchs (above) says the weirder the assignment, the better.…

CURBING HUNGER PANGS I enjoyed “Turning Down the Food Noise” [The New Science of Diet, Health and Appetite], Lauren J. Young’s article on the influence of satiety path­ways on food intake and how glucagonlike peptide 1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists such…

They may be more akin to learning a language, but conversation-based assessments are now making their way into a range of university science disciplines, and they’re proving a valuable alternative to the traditional exam. In a push to provide a…

November 19, 2024 5 min read Famous Star Hasn’t Formed Planets, and We Don’t Know Why The nearby star Vega, featured in the 1997 movie Contact, appears to have a smooth disk devoid of giant planets for reasons we can’t…