Farmers spread lime on pastures to improve the quality of the soil Wayne HUTCHINSON/Alamy The centuries-old practice of spreading crushed limestone on farmland can improve crop yields by making soil less acidic. This custom is typically considered a source of greenhouse gas emissions, but new findings suggest “liming” may actually help remove large amounts of…
The fungus Entomophthora muscae turns flies into zombies and kills them at sunset. An internal kill clock may explain the mysterious timing.
Whom would you trust more: an expert who seems to have all of the answers or one who admits what they don’t know? We have spent the past five years studying that question and the many ways people may respond. Our research was sparked by a recurring tension we both noticed early in our academic…
One fewer commuting day may be part of the appeal for some workers 2024 Getty Images Working four days a week without a reduction in salary seems to boost employees’ health and job satisfaction – and may even help them perform better at work. The covid-19 pandemic changed how many people work. Alongside a shift…
Hidden cozied up to Betelgeuse, a bright red star in the constellation Orion, astronomers may have finally found the giant star’s long-sought companion. This close-orbiting partner, first postulated over a century ago, matches some predictions and adds another piece to the puzzle of the mysterious supergiant star. The images, to appear in the Astrophysical Journal…
One of the biggest stories in science is quietly playing out in the world of abstract mathematics. Over the course of last year, researchers fulfilled a decades-old dream when they unveiled a proof of the geometric Langlands conjecture — a key piece of a group of interconnected problems called the Langlands programme. The proof —…
Exposure to air pollution may trigger DNA mutations that cause lung cancer in nonsmokers.
Rachel Feltman: Happy Monday, listeners! For Scientific American’s Science Quickly, I’m Rachel Feltman. You may have noticed we’ve been taking a bit of a break from our usual Monday news roundup to make room for special episodes, including our bird flu series, as well as to accommodate some summer holidays and vacation plans for our…
Shamanism seems to be having a moment in the Western world. According to the UK’s most recent census, the number of people in England and Wales describing their religion as “shamanism” increased more than tenfold between 2011 and 2021. Admittedly, that is still only 8000 individuals – up from 650 – but given that the…
Luc Kordas/Millennium Images, UK Many of us love a new way of labelling the people in our lives, and over the past few months you might have noticed rising interest in “dark empaths”. “They seem sensitive and caring – but really they just want to manipulate you,” The Guardian recently wrote, while TikTok influencers frequently…
