Are teenagers at risk of harm from smartphones? Experts disagree Drazen Zigic/Getty Images An attempt to reach a scientific consensus on the potential harms posed by smartphones and social media use in young people has descended into an argument among researchers. This failed consensus suggests it will be difficult for policy-makers to lean on existing…
There’s a serious case of stranger danger unfolding on an island off the coast of Panama. A gang of five juvenile capuchin monkeys living on Jicarón Island has started abducting baby howler monkeys, researchers report May 19 in Current Biology. This bizarre fad, which has no clear purpose, is often deadly for abductees. Capuchins “do…
How Do Doctors Treat ‘Aggressive’ Prostate Cancer like Joe Biden’s? What we know about Joe Biden’s cancer, prognosis and treatment options By Clara Moskowitz edited by Dean Visser President Joe Biden speaks onstage during the first day of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center on August 19, 2024 in Chicago, Illinois. Brandon Bell/Getty…
AI models can struggle to understand the captions on some medical images Getty Images Toddlers may swiftly master the meaning of the word “no”, but many artificial intelligence models struggle to do so. They show a high fail rate when it comes to understanding commands that contain negation words such as “no” and “not”. That…
Kanzi showed apes have the capacity for language, but in recent years scientists have questioned the ethics of ape experiments.
Happy Monday, listeners! For Scientific American’s Science Quickly, this is Allison Parshall filling in for Rachel Feltman. Let’s kick off the week with a quick roundup of some of the latest science news. First, an update on that doomed Soviet-era spacecraft Rachel mentioned last week. After spending more than half a century orbiting Earth, the…
COP30 will be held in Belém, Brazil this November Dominika Zarzycka/SOPA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/Alamy It is now less than six months before the world’s nations gather in Brazil for the COP30 climate summit, where observers hope to see key action on halting global warming. But with skyrocketing accommodation prices, distracted world leaders and…
A London sunset in May 2025 Guy Corbishley/Alamy The aim of limiting global warming to no more than 1.5°C is slipping even further out of reach, as the latest climate data reveals global temperatures remain extremely high, with 2025 on course to rival 2024 as the hottest year on record. April 2025 was the second-warmest…
Stories about medical problems often start with an explosive quote from someone experiencing the condition. After dipping into an online forum of people diagnosed with premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD), however, I found that a single comment didn’t seem to suffice. “One week before my period, like clockwork, I want a divorce, I don’t want to…
An artist’s impression of the lizard-like creature making tracks Marcin Ambrozik Evidence of the earliest known reptile-like animal, an ancestor of many four-limbed creatures including birds, reptiles and mammals, has been found in Victoria, Australia. The discovery could push back the timing of when these animals began to emerge from the water to live solely…
