Category Science

December 20, 2024 4 min read Our Bodies Are So Ready to Celebrate the Rebirth of the Sun The winter solstice is the culmination of a period every year when each cell in our body literally craves more light By…

There may be more moon-born asteroids near Earth than we thought ESA A huge rock orbiting near Earth appears to have originated from the moon, the second such object known to exist, with maybe more than a dozen awaiting discovery.…

December 20, 2024 3 min read What Gives Christmas Trees Their Crisp, Cozy Scent? Learn which molecules are responsible for giving Christmas trees their distinct, crisp-yet-spicy scent By Meghan Bartels edited by Lauren J. Young Iuliia Bondar/Getty Images Nothing smells…

In 2022, the winter solstice for the northern hemisphere happens on December 21. While not as dramatic as 2020’s conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn, the longest night of the year is a significant turning point. Astronomical winter begins, and the days gradually get…

Is your favourite sci-fi short story in this list? Sometimes you’re in the mood for a slice of science fiction but you haven’t got the time to embark on a Red Mars or a Dune. All hail, then, the sci-fi…

The awards ceremony for the Nobel prizes took place in December this year, celebrating both work relating to artificial intelligence and efforts by the group Nihon Hidankyo to end nuclear war. It was a striking juxtaposition, one not lost on…

December 17, 2024 4 min read Contributors to Scientific American’s January 2025 Issue Writers, artists, photographers and researchers share the stories behind the stories By Allison Parshall edited by Jen Schwartz Doug Gimesy The Next Viral Plague Photojournalist Doug Gimesy…

Mathematicians attended Roger Apéry’s lecture at a French National Center for Scientific Research conference in June 1978 with a great deal of skepticism. The presentation was entitled “On the Irrationality of ζ(3),” which caused quite a stir among experts. The…

In November 2022 Matthew Genge was peering through a scanning electron microscope at a millimeter-sized speck of the asteroid Ryugu when he noticed something was off. A minuscule yet unmistakable rod-shaped tendril of organic matter previously unseen clung to the…

December 19, 2024 3 min read Most Expensive Dinosaur Fossil Ever Could Reveal Stegosaurus Secrets The huge Stegosaurus fossil Apex, bought at auction for $44.6 million, has debuted on loan at the American Museum of Natural History By Zane Wolf…