Dan Vergano is senior editor, Washington, D.C., at Scientific American. He has previously written for Grid News, BuzzFeed News, National Geographic and USA Today. He is chair of the New Horizons committee for the Council for the Advancement of Science Writing and a journalism award judge for both the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.
NASA’s Roman Space Telescope will begin its revolutionary mission in September
Ahead of schedule and under budget, the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will launch in early September. The mission aims to map the universe in unprecedented detail
Former deputy surgeon general Erica Schwartz nominated as new CDC chief
The White House has nominated Erica Schwartz to replace NIH director Jay Bhattacharya as CDC chief. Bhattacharya has been leading the CDC on an acting basis since February, after the public health agency’s director was fired in 2025
Congress grills RFK, Jr., about vaccines and cuts to health budget
The HHS secretary defended proposed budget cuts to science, his vaccine moves and health care costs on Capitol Hill on Thursday
Artemis III sets up a high‑stakes test of rival moon landers
In 2027’s Artemis III mission, the space agency aims to test two challengers, SpaceX and Blue Origin, for a lunar landing mission
NASA’s Artemis II ‘free return’ trajectory lets gravity do the work
An elegant mix of math and gravity powers the Artemis II “free return” trajectory from Earth to the moon and back
NASA unveils ambitious new moon base plans
NASA chief Jared Isaacman announced a $30-billion plan to speed up its lunar landings and establish a U.S. moon base by 2036
Oil reserves tapped as nuclear assertions face pushback, warming fuels hail, and microbiome affects the brain
From emergency oil reserves to nuclear scrutiny, bigger hail, and research on a connection between the aging gut and the brain
The dark roots of RFK, Jr.’s public health ideology
How Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s ideas about public health—from vaccines to seed oils—are shaping Americans’ health
Iran was nowhere close to a nuclear bomb, experts say
Although President Trump has claimed Iran was weeks away from developing a nuclear weapon, much more work was needed for the country to do so
Stand Up for Science protests spread to more than 50 cities
Speakers at the Stand Up for Science rally in Washington, D.C., criticized the politicization of science and cuts to research that serves the public
Americans trust federal scientists more than RFK, Jr., poll suggests
When it comes to health advice, more people trust the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Medical Association than they do federal health agencies, according to a new poll
U.S.’s and Israel’s war with Iran leaves uranium stockpiles uncertain
The Trump administration’s war with Iran over its nuclear ambitions raises new questions about the country’s uranium stockpile
Nobel Prize–winning brain scientist steps down over Epstein ties
Richard Axel resigned from his post co-leading Columbia University’s Mortimer B. Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute over his long ties to Jeffrey Epstein
‘Wellness influencer’ Casey Means heads to confirmation hearing
The U.S. Senate is holding a confirmation hearing today for wellness influencer Casey Means, the Trump administration’s pick for surgeon general
EPA faces lawsuit over scrapping the ‘endangerment finding,’ a pillar of climate regulation
Medical and environmental groups are challenging the EPA’s decision to break with the long-standing scientific evidence that climate change endangers human health
How a year of RFK, Jr., has changed American science
After a year of RFK, Jr., heading the Department of Health and Human Services, the “Make America Healthy Again” movement has upended science and medicine
EPA scraps the ‘endangerment finding’ that climate change harms human health
The Trump administration rescinded the 2009 “endangerment finding,” ending regulation of greenhouse gases from cars and trucks
Epstein files show a complicated relationship with science and journalism
Jeffrey Epstein aggressively sought access to publishers, mentions of Scientific American and other media in Department of Justice files show
NIH ends fetal tissue research
The National Institutes of Health’s move to end support for research using fetal human tissue is “clearly a political decision, not a scientific one,” one expert says
Why did Jeffrey Epstein cultivate famous scientists?
The Epstein files revive questions of whether the disgraced financier sought to merely cultivate famous scientists, or to shape science itself
CDC Will Continue a Controversial Vaccine Study in Africa
This clinical trial in Guinea-Bissau would withhold vaccination from some babies, sparking ethical concerns
From Vaccines to Gender-Affirming Care: What New Policy Shifts Mean for Kids
A look at how evolving national health policies could reshape the future of kids’ care, from vaccines to essential treatments.
Congress Proposes Strong Science Funding for 2026
Lawmakers aim to support science research despite cuts proposed by the Trump administration
NIH Agrees to Evaluate Stalled Scientific Grants
Health officials have agreed to assess pending medical research grants after a Trump administration antidiversity purge put them on ice