SCIENCE
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Wildfire Smoke from Canada Reduces Air Quality in U.S. Midwest
Wildfire Smoke from Canada Blankets the U.S. Midwest in Haze of Bad Air Quality Winds from the northwest are blowing cool, dry air—but also wildfire smoke—into the U.S. Midwest from Canada By Meghan Bartels edited by Andrea Thompson Smoke from wildfires in Canada is drifting across the U.S. Midwest, leading to hazy skies and air quality alerts. Andrew Wevers/Stringer/Getty Images…
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Why the Tsunami from Russia’s Earthquake Wasn’t as Large as Feared
Why the Russian Earthquake Didn’t Cause a Huge Tsunami Russia’s magnitude 8.8 earthquake spawned serious tsunami warnings, but waves have been moderate so far. Here’s the geological reason why By Robin George Andrews edited by Dean Visser An aerial view of the city of Severo-Kurilsk flooded due to a tsunami triggered by the 8.8 magnitude earthquake that struck off Russia’s…
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Organ Proteins Reveal How Aging Accelerates at 50 Years Old
Organs Age in Waves Accelerating at 50 Years Old Aging is a complex process that plays out differently across different organs, according to growing evidence By Heidi Ledford & Nature magazine Color enhanced computed tomography (CT) scan of the human heart, highlighting the cardiac conduction system (yellow). It is a warning that middle-aged people have long offered the young: ageing…
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Polymetallic Nodules, a Source of Rare Metals, May Hold the Secrets of ‘Dark Oxygen’
This story was supported by a grant from the Pulitzer Center and co-published with the Post and Courier. On July 22, 2024, a team of researchers released a shocking discovery: deep-sea rock concentrations appeared to be producing oxygen in the blackness of the ocean’s abyss. The two of us were in the middle of filming a documentary about these potato-sized…
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How Humility Can Restore Trust in Expertise
Whom would you trust more: an expert who seems to have all of the answers or one who admits what they don’t know? We have spent the past five years studying that question and the many ways people may respond. Our research was sparked by a recurring tension we both noticed early in our academic careers. Our graduate studies made…
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Can U.S. Math Research Survive NSF Funding Cuts?
Mathematics research typically requires few materials. To explore the secrets of prime numbers, investigate unimaginable shapes or elucidate other fundamental mysteries of our universe, mathematicians don’t usually need special labs and equipment or to pay participants in clinical trials. Instead funding for mathematicians goes toward meetings of the mind—conferences, workshops and institutes where they gather for intensive sessions to work…
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Doctors Discover New Blood Type—And Only One Person Has It
The following essay is reprinted with permission from The Conversation, an online publication covering the latest research. In a routine blood test that turned extraordinary, French scientists have identified the world’s newest and rarest blood group. The sole known carrier is a woman from Guadeloupe whose blood is so unique that doctors couldn’t find a single compatible donor. The discovery…
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Elon Musk’s New Grok 4 Takes on ‘Humanity’s Last Exam’ as the AI Race Heats Up
New Grok 4 Takes on ‘Humanity’s Last Exam’ as the AI Race Heats Up Elon Musk has launched xAI’s Grok 4—calling it the “world’s smartest AI” and claiming it can ace Ph.D.-level exams and outpace rivals such as Google’s Gemini and OpenAI’s o3 on tough benchmarks By Deni Ellis Béchard edited by Dean Visser Elon Musk released the newest artificial…
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Tracking Coral Reef Health with Bioacoustics
Rachel Feltman: For Scientific American’s Science Quickly, I’m Rachel Feltman. In case you missed it we’re spending this week revisiting some of our favorite episodes from the past year. Today we’re diving into the subject of coral reefs. Even if you’re not an avid snorkeler or diver, chances are that movies and childhood trips to the aquarium have given you…
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Math’s Block-Stacking Problem Has a Preposterous Solution
This Block-Stacking Math Problem Has a Preposterous Solution You Need to See to Believe In principle, this impossible math allows for a glue-free bridge of stacked blocks that can stretch across the Grand Canyon—and into infinity By Jack Murtagh edited by Jeanna Bryner Here’s a mind-blowing experiment that you can try at home: Gather some children’s blocks and place them…
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