Amy Bies was recovering in the hospital from injuries inflicted during a car accident in May 2007 when routine laboratory tests showed that her blood glucose and cholesterol were both dangerously high. Doctors ultimately sent her home with prescriptions for two standard drugs, metformin for what turned out to be type 2 diabetes and a…
Millions of chickens have been culled due to the threat of bird flu Emily Elconin/Bloomberg via Getty Images The US experienced its first known bird flu deaths this year, igniting concerns that the virus could set off a pandemic in people. Nevertheless, it still reined in the outbreak enough to warrant ending its emergency response…
Solve the crossword from our January 2026 issue, in which we take a crack at geological principles
Kendra Pierre-Louis: For Scientific American’s Science Quickly, I’m Kendra Pierre-Louis, in for Rachel Feltman. With some estimates placing the number of Hawaiian monk seals left in the wild at just 1,600, the species is one of the world’s most endangered types of seals. Although scientists have studied the creatures’ biology, movements and population changes in…
The way young people experience the internet is changing Linda Raymond/Getty Images Several countries around the world introduced new restrictions on internet access in 2025 to protect children from viewing harmful content, and others seem intent to follow suit in 2026. But do these measures really protect children or simply inconvenience adults? The UK’s Online…
Adapted from The Great Shadow: A History of How Sickness Shapes What We Do, Think, Believe, and Buy, by Susan Wise Bauer. Copyright © 2026 by the author and reprinted by permission of St. Martin’s Press. CHAPTER 1: THE PRISM Our bodies are the crossroads where our most private selves meet the world outside, the…
Illustration of an asteroid passing nearby the moon MARK GARLICK/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY The chances of a devastating asteroid impact briefly spiked in 2025, after astronomers discovered a building-sized asteroid hurtling towards Earth. The asteroid, named 2024 YR4, was first detected by astronomers in late December 2024 and was estimated to be between 40 and 90…
If humans are ever to land on Mars, they will need somewhere to stay—a protective shell that can shield them from the sun’s harsh rays. One possible answer: great, glassy domes of ice. Mars is rich in ice, both on and under its surface—with more predicted to lie farther below its dusty exterior. If future…
The National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado Matthew Jonas/MediaNews Group/Boulder Daily Camera via Getty Images The Trump administration’s decision to close a world-leading research centre for atmospheric science is a blow to weather forecasting and climate modelling that could leave humanity more exposed to the impacts of global warming. In a statement to…
December 18, 2025 3 min read Add Us On GoogleAdd SciAm Satellites Used to Have Months to Avoid Collisions—Now They Have Days In the era of mega constellations, spacecraft typically have less than a week to avoid crashes By Jeremy Hsu edited by Clara Moskowitz The space around Earth has become increasingly cluttered with decades…
