Browsing: Scientific

When Czech writer Karel Čapek coined the word “robot” in his 1920 play R.U.R., he imagined tireless “artificial workers” liberating people from drudgery. The lead character…

December 7, 20253 min read Add Us On GoogleAdd SciAmDeath by Fermented FoodSome fermenting foods can carry the risk of a bacterium that produces an extremely…

There’s no easier way to explore far-off planets or find your one true love than by reading a great book. Scientific American’s staffers may spend their…

Discovering nonfiction that reads like a story but keeps the scholarship front and center is the great white whale hunt for bookish adventurers. Countless authors attempt…

Each year around this time, we ask the staff of Scientific American to recommend the best books they read this year. Here are the 67 new…

Kendra Pierre-Louis: For Scientific American’s Science Quickly, I’m Kendra Pierre-Louis, in for Rachel Feltman.One way that we here at Scientific American stay on top of what’s…

As world leaders gather in Brazil this year for Cop30 – the first Amazonian Cop – it’s worth doing a quick reality check on how we…

According to astronomersthe universe is 14 billion years old,a fact that makes the long scrollof my life—its fine brushstrokes of autumn leaves, incliningover a mountain pool;…

October 14, 20254 min readContributors to Scientific American’s November 2025 IssueWriters, artists, photographers and researchers share the stories behind the storiesBy Jen Schwartz Lori YoumshajekianSupplements That…

October 14, 20253 min readBeing Wrong Is a Scientific SuperpowerSnake oil, smuggling and a fundamental change in the way we understand lifeBy David M. Ewalt Scientific…