News: 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.
RFK, Jr., loosens restrictions for six popular peptides, bypassing the FDA
Under the new policy, compounded combinations of these unproven peptides can now be dispensed by certain pharmacies
Posted on 28 October 2026 | 7:45 pm
Landmark study finds three in four NFL players die with CTE
The staggering new estimate is based on an analysis of thousands of former players’ medical records
Posted on 28 October 2026 | 4:00 pm
Sci-fi horror collides with small-town politics in John Scalzi’s Monsters of Ohio
Scientific American talks to author John Scalzi about his tentacle-filled 20th novel, its balance of hope and cynicism—and the possibility of a Chappell Roan crossover
Posted on 28 October 2026 | 12:00 pm
Animal-borne Shamonda virus infects and kills a human for the first time
The potential for a wider outbreak is low, but experts are still investigating how the disease-causing virus leaped from animals to humans in the first place
Posted on 28 October 2026 | 11:30 am
7 spooky bat facts—right in time for Halloween
Bats deserve a little more love
Posted on 28 October 2026 | 11:00 am
Why science is on the ballot in the 2026 midterm elections
From Medicare for All to research grants, science-driven issues are playing a role in the midterm elections
Posted on 28 October 2026 | 11:00 am
The Vera C. Rubin Observatory may have just discovered our solar system’s sixth dwarf planet
Located farther away from Earth than Pluto, the object was hidden in the light of the Milky Way’s stars
Posted on 27 October 2026 | 10:00 pm
OpenAI just scooped human researchers on a million-dollar quantum math problem
Another bombshell result shows how artificial intelligence is fueling fierce competition at the frontiers of math and physics
Posted on 27 October 2026 | 7:10 pm
How a 16th century pirate accidentally spawned a centuries-old math problem
A question posed by Sir Walter Raleigh about cannonballs inadvertently led to a puzzle that mathematicians have been trying to solve for centuries
Posted on 27 October 2026 | 7:00 pm
CDC deputy director Jennifer Shuford resigns after just four months in the role
Jennifer Shuford, a well-respected infectious disease researcher, cited a desire to spend more time with her family
Posted on 27 October 2026 | 6:00 pm
Dueling proofs from OpenAI and Anthropic astound scientists
The results resolve major problems in math, physics and computer science. But like other recent AI-generated “slop drops,” the releases are already controversial
Posted on 27 October 2026 | 3:30 pm
Sleep and depression may be more intertwined than we thought
Depression tied to the body’s sleep cycle could be less responsive to antidepressants and cause more severe symptoms
Posted on 27 October 2026 | 3:00 pm
Underwater data centers may be coming to the U.S.—smack in the middle of endangered whale habitat
Ocean water could help dissipate the heat from data centers, but the infrastructure could threaten endangered whales
Posted on 27 October 2026 | 11:30 am
Why we’ll never have another Black Death
The death of a worker at a Russian plague lab was alarming, but the disease is extremely unlikely to become a worldwide problem as it has in the past
Posted on 27 October 2026 | 11:00 am
Anthropic’s S-1 filing spotlights safety fears and science ambitions ahead of IPO
Anthropic is preparing to go public, and new documents show how the lab hopes to control its technology while also pushing the limits of what AI can do
Posted on 26 October 2026 | 7:00 pm