The following essay is reprinted with permission from The Conversation, an online publication covering the latest research. Going to space is harsh on the human body, and as a new study from our research team finds, the brain shifts upward and backward and deforms inside the skull after spaceflight. The extent of these changes was…
February 12, 2026 3 min read Add Us On GoogleAdd SciAm Elephants’ peculiar whiskers help them sense the world around them Pachyderm whiskers are more flexible at the tip than the base, allowing elephants to complete delicate tasks with their incredibly strong trunks By K. R. Callaway edited by Tanya Lewis Zookeeper feeling an elephant’s…
Scientists have seen something spectacular unfolding in Andromeda, our neighboring spiral galaxy, located some 2.5 million light-years away from Earth. The spectacular part is actually what they didn’t see: instead of exploding as a bright supernova, a massive star there seems to have simply vanished. This case of “now you see it, now you don’t”…
Kendra Pierre-Louis: For Scientific American’s Science Quickly, I’m Kendra Pierre-Louis, in for Rachel Feltman. There is something about a good kiss that can stick with you, that can give you butterflies even decades later. For the past few weeks we’ve been asking listeners to share stories with us about their most memorable kiss. [CLIP:Kerry talks…
February 13, 2026 3 min read Add Us On GoogleAdd SciAm Join the Great Backyard Bird Count—for science! Avian enthusiasts around the world will identify and count birds from February 13 through February 16 as part of a massive community science project By Kate Wong A male Northern Cardinal takes wing. What are you doing…
Four fresh astronauts are on their way to the International Space Station (ISS). On Friday at 5:15 A.M. EST, Crew-12 launched from Cape Canaveral, Fla., onboard a spacecraft on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, kick-starting a day-long journey to orbit. Crew-12 is composed of NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, European Space Agency astronaut…
February 13, 2026 2 min read Add Us On GoogleAdd SciAm Algorithms really do create political polarization—and this AI tool let users avoid it Researchers used a browser extension to reorder people’s X feeds, reducing their polarizing effect By Simon Makin edited by Sarah Lewin Frasier People often blame social media algorithms that prioritize extreme…
Few areas of healthcare have been the subject of more hype, and achieved less genuine good, than personalised medicine. Companies are eager to track your biomarkers or supply a personalised nutrition plan – all for a healthy fee, of course – but truly useful personalised medicine is still a long way off. The idea remains…
Roses are the “queen of flowers,” and they’ve earned the title: from Romeo and Juliet to Beauty and the Beast and ABC’s The Bachelor franchise, roses are the enduring symbol of passion, romance and love. It’s estimated that more than 250 million roses are produced for Valentine’s Day every year, and florists sell more on…
How can I trust that my information will be safe? That’s the question I hear as a young Black doctor working in clinical research when I speak to Black African and Caribbean communities about joining genetic studies. You don’t have to search far to find mistrust – or the reasons for it. Take the infamous…
