February 18, 2026 2 min read Add Us On GoogleAdd SciAm Doting male mouse dads share a genetic signature, new study finds New research on African striped mice found that the caregiving instinct may be rooted in a specific gene By Jackie Flynn Mogensen edited by Claire Cameron Paternal care is rare in mammals, but…
Citations S. Bubeck et al. Early science acceleration experiments with GPT-5. arXiv. Submitted November 20, 2025. doi: 10.48550/arXiv.2511.16072. U. Jang and E. Ryu. Point convergence of Nesterov’s accelerated gradient method: An AI-assisted proof. arXiv. Submitted October 27, 2025. doi: 10.48550/arXiv.2510.23513. L. Cong et al. LabOS: The AI-XR co-scientist that sees and works with humans. arXiv….
When you walk into a doctor’s office, you assume something so basic that it barely needs articulation: your doctor has touched a body before. They have studied anatomy, seen organs and learned the difference between pain that radiates and pain that pulses. They have developed this knowledge, you assume, not only through reading but years…
February 18, 2026 4 min read Add Us On GoogleAdd SciAm This key fitness metric is crucial for Olympic ski mountaineering—and regular health, too VO2 max is an important measure of aerobic conditioning, whether you’re an Olympian or just a person hoping to stay healthy By Matt Fuchs edited by Tanya Lewis Alba de Silvestro…
February 17, 2026 2 min read Add Us On GoogleAdd SciAm First solar eclipse of 2026 blazes a ‘ring of fire’ above Antarctica A stunning “ring of fire” eclipse was totally visible to a lucky few in the Southern Hemisphere. Here’s how to see the next one By Jackie Flynn Mogensen edited by Claire Cameron…
NASA has set a date for the do-over of a key readiness test for its Artemis II mission to the moon. During this “wet dress rehearsal,” the agency will attempt to pump liquid fuel into the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and simulate a countdown to liftoff on February 19 at 8:30 P.M. EST. The…
Illustration of a mimivirus, a kind of giant virus that infects amoebae Science Photo Library / Alamy Viruses rely on the machinery of their host cells to produce proteins, but some giant viruses encode a key part of this toolkit in their genome, enabling them to direct the host cell to produce more of their…
February 17, 2026 2 min read Add Us On GoogleAdd SciAm How climate change made deadly floods in Spain even worse In 2024 extreme rain and floods hit the Spanish region of Valencia, killing more than 230 people in the country. Now a new study shows climate change made it even worse By Jackie Flynn…
Playing a complex guitar solo ought to be impossible. To elicit the desired torrent of notes, the fingers of one hand must move nimbly around the fretboard, while the other hand plucks the strings, in a dexterous combination of speed and strength. Anyone who has watched an expert player and then picked up a guitar…
The Story of StoriesKevin AshtonHarper, $32 Back in 1944, two psychologists performed a somewhat mundane experiment. The researchers asked people to simply watch a short film and describe it. Most of the viewers spun elaborate tales involving lovers, violence and abandonment. That’s pretty amazing, considering the film featured only shapes: two triangles and a circle…
