Frank Drake, the eminent radio astronomer who performed the first search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) around other stars in 1960, died on Friday at his home near Santa Cruz, Calif.…
In 1962 Heinz Stolp, a researcher in Berlin, was searching for new viruses when he ran out of the filters that sieved them from his samples. So he substituted filters…
Minerals are geologic time capsules of the environments in which they form. With the right approach, their mysteries can be cracked open to reveal key features of the ancient Earth…
The following essay is reprinted with permission from The Conversation, an online publication covering the latest research. Like many people, I have recently become fascinated the lives and loves of…
The following essay is reprinted with permission from The Conversation, an online publication covering the latest research. On Aug. 31, 2022, the Food and Drug Administration authorized the use of updated COVID-19…
Distinctive bursts of sleeping-brain activity, known as sleep spindles, have long been generally associated with strengthening recently formed memories. But new research has managed to link such surges to specific…
One in 800 children are born with Down syndrome, the most common genetic cause of intellectual disability. The vast majority of cases are caused by having three copies of chromosome…
Scientific American is part of Springer Nature, which owns or has commercial relations with thousands of scientific publications (many of them can be found at www.springernature.com/us). Scientific American maintains a…
Nearly 50% of cancer deaths worldwide are caused by preventable risk factors, such as smoking and drinking alcohol, according to the largest study of the link between cancer burden and…
Comprehensive sex education works. Years of research show that it is much more effective than an abstinence-only approach at preventing teen pregnancy. In fact, abstinence-only programs may actually increase unplanned…