October 17, 2025 2 min read Why Aluminum in Vaccines Is Safe—And Often Essential The FDA wants to reevaluate the use of aluminum adjuvants despite a long record of safe use in vaccines By Humberto Basilio edited by Tanya Lewis Justin Sullivan/Getty Images President Donald Trump said the aluminum in many vaccines is harmful during…
A study participant testing her reading after being fitted with a retinal implant Moorfields Eye Hospital People with severe vision loss have been able to read again, thanks to a tiny wireless chip implanted in one of their eyes and a pair of high-tech glasses. Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a common condition that affects…
October 20, 2025 3 min read Is There a Fundamental Limit to Human Metabolism? New Research Suggests Yes A new study finds that even elite endurance athletes run up against a hard metabolic ceiling By Jason Dinh edited by Tanya Lewis Scientists have long hypothesized about a theoretical limit to human energy use. Yet elite…
Immune-related changes take place in the breasts after breastfeeding Svetlana Repnitskaya/Getty Images Breastfeeding has long been linked to a reduced risk of breast cancer, but how it has this effect isn’t entirely clear. Now, scientists have found that women who have breastfed have more specialised immune cells in their breasts, which may keep malignant ones…
October 20, 2025 4 min read Brains Remember Stories Differently Based on How They Were Told Telling the same story in different ways can change the brain networks that the listener uses to form memories By Allison Parshall edited by Sarah Lewin Frasier Javier Zayas Photography/Getty Images Tell me about what you had for dinner…
There are many symptoms of perimenopause, but the same signs could point towards different conditions altogether Christina S. Zhu Like many women in midlife, Stephanie had a lot going on. The 47-year-old, who lives in California, was caring for her ailing grandmother and working long hours in a physically demanding agricultural job. When her periods…
October 20, 2025 2 min read U.S. Protesters Increasingly Reject Political Violence, ‘No Kings’ Survey Finds Massive marches nationwide in the U.S. marked a turn against an increasing acceptance of political violence among protesters, report sociologists By Dan Vergano edited by Jeanna Bryner Protestors march along Pennsylvania Avenue during the second “No Kings” protest on…
Illustration of Chiron’s rings Dan Durda For the first time, astronomers are watching a ring system form in real time. The rings in question encircle Chiron, a comet-like object that takes a path around the sun between the orbits of Saturn and Uranus. Every time we look at Chiron, its rings seem to be a…
Duping a guppy is easier than duping a ring dove — at least when it comes to a classic optical illusion. In the Ebbinghaus illusion, two identical circles placed side by side are each framed by a set of either smaller or larger circles. Human adults almost always perceive the circle ringed by smaller circles…
Global Superbugs Surge, Chikungunya Hits Long Island, and Satellites Leak Data A new WHO report warns of rising antimicrobial resistance, and researchers uncover satellite data leaks and insect surprises. By Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Jeffery DelViscio & Alex Sugiura Smith Collection/Gado/Contributor/Getty Images Rachel Feltman: Happy Monday, listeners! For Scientific American’s Science Quickly, I’m Rachel Feltman….
