September 18, 2025 2 min read Strong Earthquake Hits Kamchatka. Tsunami Risk Waning A powerful magnitude 7.8 aftershock off Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula that arose from July’s magnitude 8.8 earthquake is raising concerns about possible tsunami impacts, although risk appears to be waning By Meghan Bartels edited by Lee Billings A seismic map shows the epicenter…
Our brain activity and health is affected by the goings-on elsewhere in our body CAVALLINI JAMES/BSIP/Getty Images The effects that our fat has on our movement, emotions and even our risk of Alzheimer’s disease may differ depending on where in our body it is located. When it comes to studying the health consequences of excess…
This episode was made possible by the support of Yakult and produced independently by Scientific American‘s board of editors. Rachel Feltman: For Scientific American’s Science Quickly, I’m Rachel Feltman. If you’ve ever heard a youth say “skibidi” and lamented the downfall of the English language, today’s episode might surprise you. Our guest is Adam Aleksic,…
Hydrogen can indirectly warm the atmosphere AXA/ESA Levels of hydrogen in the atmosphere have jumped by 60 per cent since pre-industrial times, underscoring the dramatic impact fossil fuel burning has had on the planet’s atmospheric composition. Although hydrogen is not a greenhouse gas, it has an indirect warming effect through reactions with other molecules. The…
Once upon a time, four queens known as the queens of blue, red, green and pink were locked in a bitter feud. The monarchs lived on four islands, all the same size, yet each with its own distinctive wildlife and vegetation. Each queen plotted to conquer all four islands for herself, and war would certainly…
September 18, 2025 5 min read How Do You Weigh a Black Hole? Gauging the mass of a black hole is tricky, but astronomers have devised multiple methods to measure the heft of these galactic gluttons By Phil Plait edited by Lee Billings This jagged jumble of pixels may look like a rainbow-colored thunderbolt, but…
A quantum version of a debit card could keep your money safe Globalimages101/Alamy A rudimentary quantum debit card that can be loaded with unforgeable quantum money has been made from extremely cold atoms and particles of light. In ordinary banks, discovering a forged banknote often depends on the skill of the forger, but in a…
The Big Bang may have spawned these theoretical black holes, whose lives are thought to end in a burst of extremely energetic particles.
Many scientists dream of winning a Nobel Prize, an accolade that brings worldwide recognition, prestige and a place in the pantheon of greatness alongside the likes of Albert Einstein, Marie Curie and Francis Crick. Then there are the other awards — the Ig Nobel prizes, which were devised to highlight research that makes people laugh,…
A small sample of blood can tell us a lot about our health MoMo Productions/Getty Images A single blood test can reveal the biological ages of 11 different organs and bodily systems, potentially highlighting the risk of disease in those areas. “The goal is to guide care with one test that shows not only overall…
