February 3, 2026 1 min read Add Us On GoogleAdd SciAm NASA delays Artemis II moon mission after critical test raises issues NASA will review data gathered during a simulated launch of the Artemis II rocket before revealing a new date for its upcoming moon mission By Claire Cameron NASA has delayed its upcoming moon…
At the dawn of the millennium, the number of genes in our genome was still up for discussion. When we finally got our first official estimate, the number was so far below expectations that it helped turbocharge a movement to rethink the evolutionary process. In 2001, the Human Genome Project announced we have no more than 40,000 protein-coding genes – a figure…
February 2, 2026 4 min read Add Us On GoogleAdd SciAm Astronomers declare rare dark-sky victory over scrapped energy project in Chile After a year of protests from astronomers, authorities have abandoned plans for a giant, light-polluting renewable-energy facility in Chile’s Atacama Desert By Jenna Ahart edited by Lee Billings Europe’s Extremely Large Telescope, as…
There is a saying in the halls of British political power that scientific advisers should be “on tap, not on top”. This pithy aphorism, often attributed to Winston Churchill, highlights that, in a democracy, science should guide – not dictate – policy-makers’ decisions. Never was this truer than at the height of the covid-19 pandemic….
February 2, 2026 1 min read Add Us On GoogleAdd SciAm The sun just unleashed its most powerful solar flare in years The sun is experiencing a violent solar storm, releasing one of the strongest solar flares seen in the past 30 years By Joseph Howlett edited by Claire Cameron An X-class solar flare captured…
At first glance, it might not seem like people have much in common with deer. But a strange discovery about how their antlers regenerate is lifting the lid on the unseen ways that our bodies work, too. Biologist Chunyi Li, who has long studied deer in north-east China, noticed something odd that happened when the animals regrew their antlers each…
February 2, 2026 1 min read Add Us On GoogleAdd SciAm New chicken-sized dinosaur baffles paleontologists The tiny Foskeia pelendonum was a plant-eating dinosaur with a “weird” anatomy, scientists say By Jackie Flynn Mogensen edited by Claire Cameron A reconstruction of the dinosaur Foskeia pelendonum. A tiny plant-eating dinosaur that was about the same size…
Administering cancer treatments at a particular time could be a relatively simple but effective intervention Kenneth K. Lam/ZUMA Press/Alamy Delivering cancer immunotherapy earlier in the day really could extend survival, according to the first randomised-controlled trial into how the timing of such interventions affects patient outcomes. Our body’s cells and tissues follow 24-hour cycles of…
February 2, 2026 3 min read Add Us On GoogleAdd SciAm A century of hair clippings show lead exposure rates have plummeted There’s no safe level of exposure to lead—but a small, strange study shows we’ve made incredible progress in recent decades By Meghan Bartels edited by Claire Cameron Frances McLaughlin-Gill/Condé Nast via Getty Images…
Harvester ants attack nest-mates whose scent they don’t recognise JorgeOrtiz_1976/Shutterstock Common air pollutants like ozone and nitric oxide can change the way ants smell, prompting their nest-mates to attack them as if they were intruders. Ants recognise their comrades by scent, and when they encounter an ant whose smell they don’t recognise, they respond aggressively,…
