Once you can accept the Universe as matter expanding into nothing that is something, wearing stripes with plaid comes easy.

— Albert Einstein

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Scientific American is the essential guide to the most awe-inspiring advances in science and technology, explaining how they change our understanding of the world and shape our lives.
Updated: 15 hours 46 min ago

A real Mr. Snuffleupagus? Meet the ocean’s strangest new fish species

Fri, 05/15/2026 - 2:45pm

A strange, tiny fish that resembles the famous Sesame Street character camouflages amid red algae thanks to its flamboyant reddish “hairs”

Categories: Astronomy

This startup wants to make drugs in orbit. If it succeeds, it could transform the space economy

Fri, 05/15/2026 - 2:00pm

Varda’s plan to develop medicines in microgravity has its advantages, but it requires a big up-front cost

Categories: Astronomy

How to arm yourself against hantavirus misinformation

Fri, 05/15/2026 - 1:30pm

Hantavirus misinformation is spreading fast. COVID trauma and social media algorithms may be to blame

Categories: Astronomy

Can plants have consciousness? The film Silent Friend reimagines the science

Fri, 05/15/2026 - 1:00pm

The filmmaker behind the newly released movie Silent Friend shares the scientific and historical inspiration for its story of botanical consciousness

Categories: Astronomy

Asking AI to explain your medical results? What doctors want you to know

Fri, 05/15/2026 - 10:30am

As more people turn to chatbots for medical guidance, the technology is revealing both its promise and its risks

Categories: Astronomy

Microbe ‘cities’ may solve a key ocean mystery

Fri, 05/15/2026 - 6:45am

Some of Earth’s tiniest life-forms inhabit slowly sinking particles of fish poop and debris, playing a crucial role in ocean carbon storage

Categories: Astronomy

Are astronomers ignoring some of the cosmos?

Fri, 05/15/2026 - 6:45am

There are parts of the universe, and of the electromagnetic spectrum, that we’re not covering with our telescopes—but not as many as you might think!

Categories: Astronomy

Why Black women are at greater risk for fibroids and endometrial cancer

Fri, 05/15/2026 - 6:00am

A new book argues that disparities in fibroids, cancer and diagnosis reveal a lifelong gynecologic health crisis for Black women

Categories: Astronomy

To celebrate Endangered Species Day, meet the scaly-foot snail, the most metal animal in the world

Fri, 05/15/2026 - 6:00am

This snail became the first animal living on deep-sea hydrothermal vents to be added to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species—it also turns poisonous sulfur into armor

Categories: Astronomy

U.S. Supreme Court allows mifepristone by mail—for now

Thu, 05/14/2026 - 7:20pm

The nation’s top court extended a stay on a lower court order banning telemedicine access to mifepristone, a drug used in medication abortions—but the order sets up a longer legal fight

Categories: Astronomy

There’s an 82 percent chance El Niño will ‘emerge soon,’ NWS says

Thu, 05/14/2026 - 4:32pm

The El Niño climate event is due to return this year, with U.S. forecasters predicting an 82 percent chance of it coming in May through July and a 96 percent chance for it doing so in December through February 2027

Categories: Astronomy

‘Golden rule’ in abstract art just discovered by mathematicians

Thu, 05/14/2026 - 3:35pm

A mathematical ratio could explain why AI-generated art doesn’t evoke awe from viewers

Categories: Astronomy

Implantable ‘living materials’ that deliver drugs on demand could help fight infections

Thu, 05/14/2026 - 2:57pm

In a “breakthrough,” researchers demonstrate how engineered bacteria held in a jellylike container could help fight infection in mice

Categories: Astronomy

Doubts grow over theory that bird-watchers’ trip to Argentine landfill sparked hantavirus outbreak

Thu, 05/14/2026 - 1:30pm

The hantavirus cruise outbreak may not have started in a garbage dump in Ushuaia, Argentina, after all

Categories: Astronomy

NASA’s Psyche mission is snapping photos of Mars on its way to an asteroid

Thu, 05/14/2026 - 1:20pm

The Psyche spacecraft is bound for a metal-rich asteroid that it will examine up close starting in 2029. But first, it needs to swing past the Red Planet

Categories: Astronomy

Can helium-3 create a ‘gold rush’ on the moon?

Thu, 05/14/2026 - 12:00pm

The rare isotope helium-3 is one of Earth’s most precious commodities—so precious, in fact, that it might prove profitable to mine from the moon

Categories: Astronomy

The war in Iran is supercharging an ecological crisis in the Persian Gulf

Thu, 05/14/2026 - 7:30am

Despite decades of damage, the Persian Gulf’s ecological marvels remain—for now

Categories: Astronomy

Deep-Earth diamonds reveal trove of never-before-seen minerals

Thu, 05/14/2026 - 7:00am

Flecks of minerals captured in diamonds show hidden connections between Earth’s surface and its deep interior

Categories: Astronomy

Depression scales may not work the same for highly intelligent people

Thu, 05/14/2026 - 6:45am

Research suggests depression assessment questionnaires can’t reliably compare people with differing intelligence

Categories: Astronomy