What lurks at the edge? kertlis/Getty Images Amateur mathematicians are closing in on an unimaginably huge number – one so large that it brushes up on the edge of what is even knowable within the framework of modern mathematics. It all stems from a seemingly simple question: how do you know if a computer program…
As summer temperatures soar, a dip can seem like a great way to cool off. But it can be hard to know if the water at the nearby beach or river is clean enough for swimming. Images from space may someday provide answers. An instrument aboard the International Space Station can “see” sewage thanks to…
NASA: Scientific American, this is Mission Control, Houston. Rachel Feltman: Station, this is Scientific American. How do you hear me? Matthew Dominick: Loud and clear. Welcome to the cupola on the space station. On supporting science journalism If you’re enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are…
The VaporID detector can find traces of fentanyl and other substances in the air Elizabeth Denis/Pacific Northwest National Laboratory The US Customs and Border Protection agency is testing technology that sniffs out illegal substances in the air, no contact required. The device could screen objects at the border within seconds to help combat the trafficking…
Adults who walked more than 100 minutes per day were less likely to have chronic low back pain than those who walked fewer than 78 minutes per day.
Magma Pulses Are Tearing Africa Apart Chemical fingerprints from volcanic rock offer hints of what’s happening in the mantle below the area where three rift zones meet in East Africa By Nora Bradford edited by Andrea Thompson Active lava flows spilling out of the Erta Ale volcano in Afar, Ethiopia. Dr. Derek Keir, University of…
An orca attempting to share food with a researcher holding a camera Orca Research Trust Orcas have been seen appearing to gift dead prey to humans, which may be a sign that they engage in altruism and can recognise sentience in other species. Jared Towers at marine research firm Bay Cetology was filming a pod…
Hal LaCroix’s Here and Beyond takes place on a spaceship journeying for centuries to a new planet dotted zebra / Alamy Riches galore await sci-fi fans in July, with two of the books I’ve enjoyed most so far this year due to be published for all to read. Fancy a beautifully written vision of a…
Protocells are membrane-bound spheres formed from fatty molecules that are thought to resemble the precursors to living cells HENNING DALHOFF/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY Membrane-bound structures similar to those that enclose living cells have been shown to spontaneously self-assemble on micrometeorites, offering a tantalising hint that dust strewn across planets could play a role in the development…
Two concentric rings appear around the supernova remnant SNR 0509-67.5, indicating that it exploded twice ESO/P. Das et al. Background stars (Hubble): K. Noll et al. A white dwarf star around 160,000 light years away appears to have exploded twice – the first evidence astronomers have seen that such supernovae involve a double detonation. White…
