Did the Eclipse Give You the Amateur Astronomy Bug? Here’s How to Get Started
Chanda Prescod-Weinstein, a professional astronomer, talks about her own adventures in astrophotography—and offers tips and tricks for new amateur astronomers.
Stories by Rachel Feltman
Rachel is the former Executive Editor of Popular Science Magazine and the forever host of the podcast The Weirdest Thing I Learned This Week. She previously founded the blog “Speaking of Science” for The Washington Post.
It’s Not Just You: Three Times Eclipses Left Scientists ‘More or Less Agog’
Total solar eclipses have set the stage for major scientific advancements—everything from the discovery of helium to the testing of Einstein’s general theory of relativity.
Inside the Race to Protect Artists from Artificial Intelligence
AI-generated art is creating new ethical issues—and competition—for digital artists. Nightshade and Glaze are two tools helping creators fight back.
Book Review: On the Cancer Frontier
Reviews and recommendations from Scientific American
Book Review: Caffeinated
Reviews and recommendations from Scientific American
Gut Microbes Respond within Days to Major Diet Changes
The food we eat quickly changes the bacterial makeup in our gut
Chefs and Scientists Design Bioinspired Cocktail Gadgets
Inspired by nature, scientists and chefs team up to design culinary wonders
Me, Myself, and Why: Searching for the Science of Self
Books and recommendations from Scientific American
Extreme Medicine: How Exploration Transformed Medicine in the Twentieth Century
Books and recommendations from Scientific American
What Does Our DNA Say about How We Look?
A biologist aims to profile suspects from genetic material left at crime scenes
This Tiny Animal Can Live an Estimated 1,400 Years
Book Review: Windfall
Books and recommendations from Scientific American
Start-up Aims to Replace Eggs with More Sustainable Vegetable Proteins
A west coast start-up wants to make the staple ingredient obsolete
Book Review: Romania's Abandoned Children
Books and recommendations from Scientific American
The Gut’s Microbiome Changes Rapidly with Diet
A new study finds that populations of bacteria in the gut are highly sensitive to the food we digest
Glow Sticks Prove the Math Theorem behind the Famous Flatiron Building
How many math lovers live in New York City? Its a tough count to make, but the Museum of Mathematics made progress at its first anniversary celebration on Thursday, December 5.
Golden Goose Awards Highlight Weird-Sounding Science with Big Benefits
Why it's worth spending $250,000 to research worm sex
Book Review: Shaping Humanity
Books and recommendations from Scientific American
Ancient Water Irrigates Saharan Oasis
Cocktail Accessories Modeled after Nature’s Survival Mechanisms
A mathematician and a chef have produced objects that mimic the function and beauty of biological organisms
Tiny Gears Power Leaping Liftoffs
Socio-Economic Gender Gap Is Closing Worldwide, but Far from Eliminated
The world’s gender gap along economic, political and other social dimensions continues to narrow, according to a new report released by the World Economic Forum, but lack of equality for women remains a major roadblock in most countries, including the U.S.
The Fingerprints the Higgs Leaves Behind
Tomorrow, the Nobel prize in physics will most likely be awarded to Peter Higgs and Francois Englert. Along with other researchers, the two physicists are credited with the 1964 introduction of the then-theoretical Higgs field—a fluid that permeates every corner of the universe and gives each particle a distinct mass.
U.S. Falls Short in New Measure of Human Capital
Businesses in Switzerland, Finland and Singapore milk the most economic value out of their workers—and the U.S. lags pretty far behind them.