She’s less than a centimeter long, produces only daughters and is conquering the continent without a single male. Meet the elm zigzag sawfly, named for the delicate zigzag patterns it carves into elm tree leaves. Despite its name, the elm zigzag sawfly (Aproceros leucopoda) is not a fly; it is a type of wasp first…
It’s not inaccurate to think of the heavens as a clockwork apparatus above our head. We use our planet’s spin to mark a day and its orbit around the sun to mark a year. That annual orbital reckoning also means the same constellations appear in the same part of the sky on the same calendar…
The ice-covered island may be strategically important, but it’s unclear that it could be a commercially viable source of minerals and oil in the near future
PHOENIX — A newly discovered asteroid spins about as fast as a Ferris wheel. With a rotation period of just 112 seconds, it’s the new record holder for fastest-spinning asteroid wider than 500 meters. Scientists think it must be made of solid rock to avoid breaking apart. “It’s unlike anything we’ve been able to see…
January 9, 2026 2 min read Add Us On GoogleAdd SciAm These Bizarre, Centuries-Old Sharks May Have a Hidden Longevity Superpower The very, very long-lived Greenland sharks were long thought to be practically blind. But a new study finds that they not only can see but also maintain their vision into old age By Jackie…
In a sunlit amphitheatre, a student writes on a blackboard Piero Castellano In 2007, Ali Nesin set out to solve a mathematics problem by building a village. Nesin, a Turkish mathematician, had noticed that even students who came to his Istanbul Bilgi University classroom from Turkey’s most elite schools were struggling with maths. Instead of…
The oceans just keep getting hotter. According to new research from dozens of international scientists published in Advances in Atmospheric Sciences early on Friday, the world’s oceans stored more heat in 2025 than any other year on record. In 2025 the upper 2,000 meters of the ocean absorbed a record-setting 23 zettajoules more energy than…
A James Webb Space Telescope image of a rare cosmic phenomenon known as an Einstein ring, two galaxies separated by a large distance. ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, G. MahlerA I have absolutely no authority to do this, but I am going to do it anyway: 2026 will be the year of the galaxy. Not only…
January 8, 2026 2 min read Add Us On GoogleAdd SciAm January Feels More Like Summer in Some U.S. States. Here’s Why An area of high pressure is bringing record-high heat to some parts of the U.S., with an added boost from climate change By Andrea Thompson edited by Claire Cameron A map of temperatures…
The red parts of the man’s tattoo became inflamed University Centre of General Dermatology and Oncodermatology, Wroclaw Medical University A Polish man had an extreme allergic reaction to red ink in a tattoo on his arm, causing all his hair to fall out, his sweat glands to shut down, and his skin to develop vitiligo….
