While free diving to photograph kelp forests along the California coastline, I’ve viscerally felt the consequences of finiteness as a living being—the fleeting nature of a single breath, the limits of my own lungs. Kelp forests, too, have a threshold. These towering underwater jungles, which unfurl in golden ribbons with the pull of the tides,…
A Succinea snail that has been infected by a zombifying parasite shutterstock/JoostP Rise of the Zombie BugsMindy Weisberger (Johns Hopkins University Press) A snail, eyestalks pulsing with coloured stripes, leaves the safety of the shade and oozes its way onto an exposed leaf, where it catches the beady eye of a bird. The larger animal…
One day in June 2022 Chérine Baumgartner, a researcher at the Icelandic Orca Project, was watching from a dinghy as a pod of killer whales fed on herring—when she noticed something very odd about what seemed to be a young member of the pod. “At first, we were like, ‘Oh my god, this killer whale…
The Martian’s Mark Watney (Matt Damon): on Mars, but not by choice Moviestore Collection Ltd/Alamy Out of this World and into the NextAdriana Marais (Profile Books (UK); Pegasus Books (US)) Do you yearn to leave dusty footprints on the moon or prowl the rocks of Mars? Could a new life await you on future off-world colonies?…
The Wonders of Bird-Watching without Tech Technology has made it easier than ever to quickly find, identify and record birds. But to truly appreciate feathered friends, consider unplugging By Derek Lovitch edited by Kate Wong A Boreal Owl emerges from its roost to begin its evening of hunting activities in Northern Minnesota. Scott Suriano/Getty Images…
Acclaimed photographers Paul Nicklen and Cristina Mittermeier showcase a changing planet as part of the Photo London photography fair
New Google AI Chatbot Tackles Complex Math and Science A Google DeepMind system improves chip designs and addresses unsolved math problems but has not been rolled out to researchers outside the company By Elizabeth Gibney & Nature magazine DeepMind says that AlphaEvolve has helped to improve the design of AI chips. Google DeepMind has used…
Ringworld author Larry Niven in 2021 Eugene Powers/Alamy Larry Niven is one of the biggest names in the history of science fiction, and it was a privilege to interview him via Zoom at his home in Los Angeles recently. His 1970 novel Ringworld is the latest pick for the New Scientist Book Club, but he…
This story was produced in partnership with the Pulitzer Center’s Ocean Reporting Network. Rachel Feltman: For Scientific American’s Science Quickly, I’m Rachel Feltman. You don’t have to pay much attention to the news to know that climate change is causing Arctic sea ice to melt—and to understand that this is a huge problem. Ice reflects…
A passing star could send planets scattering Triff/Shutterstock Stars whizzing by our solar system could cause more havoc than astronomers previously thought, from sending Pluto’s orbit haywire to forcing Mercury to fly into the sun – or even catastrophically altering Earth’s orbit and climate. The overall risk of these events is still low, but the…
