More than half of people who receive antibiotics to treat appendicitis do not see their disease come back 10 years after the initial illness, a new study shows. The data come from one of the first clinical trials of the approach and bolster newly updated guidelines for treating appendicitis. A quarter of a million people…
February 10, 2026 2 min read Add Us On GoogleAdd SciAm Earth’s core may contain 45 oceans’ worth of hydrogen An experiment to quantify the amount of the universe’s lightest element in Earth’s core suggests that the planet’s water has mostly been here since the beginning By Stephanie Pappas edited by Andrea Thompson Earth’s core…
A vehicle battery factory in Guangxi, China Costfoto/NurPhoto via Getty Images Used electric vehicle batteries could meet two-thirds of China’s grid storage needs, charging up when renewable energy is plentiful and disbursing electricity when demand outstrips supply. Renewable energy generation slackens when the wind doesn’t blow and the sun doesn’t shine, which can lead to…
Tell Me Where It HurtsRachel ZoffnessGrand Central Publishing, $30.00 It’s a rare book that both expands an issue into a dizzyingly complex problem and offers to solve it. In Tell Me Where It Hurts, pain psychologist and scientist Rachel Zoffness pulls off both. Pain, she argues, has been deeply misunderstood. Sure, pain signals can come…
The big bang wasn’t a bang in the traditional sense—but it was nonetheless the start of important things: for one, space; another, time. Thirdly, it began the conditions and processes that eventually resulted in us humans, who can sit here and wonder about space and time. The big bang was, effectively, the beginning of the…
Objects are full of electrons that can interact to cause friction Quality Stock/Alamy Parts of devices that are perfectly smooth can still experience friction because of the electrons within them, but a new method may enable researchers to turn it down or fully turn it off. Controlling this electronic friction could help build more efficient…
February 10, 2026 3 min read Add Us On GoogleAdd SciAm Rules of mysterious ancient Roman board game decoded by AI A Roman stone board game has been unplayable since its discovery more than a century ago, but AI might have just worked out the rules By Jackie Flynn Mogensen edited by Claire Cameron The…
Mathematician Paul Erdős (left) and actor Jeff Goldblum have an uncanny resemblance Public Domain; Matt Baron/BEI/Shutterstock I come to you with something a little different for my latest maths column – a plea to Hollywood to make a comedy biopic about one of the greatest mathematicians of all time, Paul Erdős. Why is Erdős (pronounced…
February 9, 2026 2 min read Add Us On GoogleAdd SciAm Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime show highlighted Puerto Rico’s power grid. Here’s why Bad Bunny performed part of the Super Bowl halftime show from a power-line-themed set, drawing attention to the problem of widespread blackouts in Puerto Rico By Stephanie Pappas edited by Andrea…
I was so excited for my first job after university that even the physical assessment – required for my work as a field geologist – came with a certain thrill. That was until the doctor glanced at my chart and told me to lose 10 to 15 pounds. The proof, he said, was my body…
