Dwight Ellefsen/FPG/Archive The Laws of ThoughtTom Griffiths, William Collins (UK) Macmillan (US) FOR nearly 70 years, cognitive researchers have been fighting a civil war. On one side is computationalism, which argues intelligence is best explained by rules, symbols and logic that can be expressed in equations. On the other is connectionism, where intelligence emerges from…
Editor in Chief Nancy Shute discusses how our reporters find unique stories, from vaccine beer to a particle collider’s retirement to the rise of AI scientists.
February 19, 2026 3 min read Add Us On GoogleAdd SciAm Our solar system is surrounded by weird peanut-shaped objects. Astronomers think they know why A study published today helps explain how “planetesimals”—the building blocks of planets—came to be By Joseph Howlett edited by Lee Billings The planetesimal Arrokoth, as pictured by the New Horizons…
I am currently reading The Big Oyster: History on the half shell, a chronicle of New York City told through its renowned oyster beds. Even though I am a local, I was only vaguely aware of the city’s relationship with the molluscs. I knew there were efforts to boost the oyster population, but I was…
In last week’s The Universe column, I fielded a reader’s question about galaxy collisions in an expanding universe. The answer deals with vast distances, inscrutable forces and the ultimate fate of the cosmos. Not all queries are quite so serious. For example, reader David Erickson had this on his mind: “If there were aliens 66…
Royal West of England Academy Both artists and astronomers are, in a way, translators. They convert what we can see into a story we can tell. In Cosmos: The art of observing space, a new exhibition at the Royal West of England Academy in Bristol, UK, every facet of this process is on display. “We…
February 20, 2026 2 min read Add Us On GoogleAdd SciAm NASA just passed a major milestone on its mission to return humans to the moon After completing a second “wet dress rehearsal” of its upcoming moon mission, NASA said it is targeting a March 6 launch date for Artemis II By Claire Cameron The…
Ice cream and other confections are ultra-processed foods Martin Parr/Magnum Photos A few months ago, I tried my hand, unsuccessfully, at coining a neologism. I was writing a feature about how obesity, stress, heatwaves and pollution accelerate ageing, or senescence, in which I proposed that our modern world should be called the “senesogenic environment”. (I…
On Thursday U.S. president Donald Trump announced on his social media platform Truth Social that he would direct the Department of Defense and other federal agencies to “begin the process of identifying and releasing Government files related to alien and extraterrestrial life, unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), and unidentified flying objects (UFOs), and any and all…
Some pet foods contain potentially harmful PFAS chemicals Cris Cantón/Getty Images Many pet foods – especially those based on fish – have levels of so-called forever chemicals that exceed European health agency thresholds for humans. The findings point to an urgent need for increased monitoring of contaminants in pet products and a better understanding of…
