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…
February 9, 2026 3 min read Add Us On GoogleAdd SciAm Why has this winter been so cold? While it’s been a frigid winter in the eastern U.S., the western region of the country has seen record warmth By Andrea Thompson edited by Jeanna Bryner & Clara Moskowitz People walk down a street in Brooklyn,…
The possible game board with pencil marks highlighting the incised lines Het Romeins Museum A mysterious flat stone with a geometric pattern of straight lines carved into it may be a previously unknown Roman board game. Thousands of simulations by artificial intelligence of how sliding stone or glass pieces could have marked the surface suggest…
An old, flattened piece of limestone inscribed with a crisscross of grooves looks like the board for a game, but for nearly a century, no one knew how the game was played. Now, researchers have used artificial intelligence to reverse-engineer the rules, revealing the board was probably part of a “blocking” game played by the…
February 9, 2026 4 min read Add Us On GoogleAdd SciAm Obesity increases risk of severe infections, study finds A new study suggests that people with obesity have higher rates of mortality and hospitalization from a variety of infections from viruses, fungi, parasites and bacteria By Lauren J. Young edited by Tanya Lewis Halfpoint Images/Getty…
Gut bacteria that we barely know anything about may be essential for good health 3DMEDISPHERE/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY A mysterious group of bacteria seems to thrive in the gut microbiomes of people without illness, hinting that they may be crucial to good health. More than 4600 species of bacteria are estimated to reside in our gut,…
February 9, 2026 3 min read Add Us On GoogleAdd SciAm Mathematicians issue a major challenge to AI: Show us your work Frustrated by the AI industry’s claims of proving math results without offering transparency, a team of leading academics has proposed a better way By Joseph Howlett edited by Claire Cameron Alfred Gescheidt/Getty Images…
Artist’s impression of a black hole collision that produced GW250114 A. Simonnet/Sonoma State University; LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA Collaboration; University of Rhode Island The loudest collision ever recorded between two black holes has allowed scientists to test Einstein’s theory of general relativity in unprecedented detail, showing that the physicist’s predictions were once again correct. In 2025, an international…
Downing a few cups of caffeinated coffee or mugs of tea each day may lower the risk of developing dementia, according to a long-term study. The lowest risk was tied to drinking around two to three cups of caffeinated coffee or one to two cups of tea per day, compared with having none, the researchers…
