Scientific American

A massive digitization project has nearly doubled the known extent of the first continent-scale road network

The long-tailed pygmy rice rat is the primary host for Andes virus, the type of hantavirus responsible for sickening passengers on the MV Hondius cruise ship

Researchers discovered the copy of the 1,300-year-old poem lurking inside a historical text in an Italian library

A growing body of research suggests cannabis poses risks to the developing brain

The intimidating legacy of the scariest problem in mathematics

The “coastline paradox” helped to define fractals, but coastlines themselves turn out to be less fractal than thought

This company says its pulsed plasma machine will deliver electricity to the grid by 2029. Some physicists warn that its promises are outrunning what the technology has proved

Start your morning with today’s Spellements. Create as many words as you can from our daily selection of letters—including one tied to recent science news. Play now.

Genetic analysis suggests interbreeding between two groups of human relatives

At least six Americans are believed to have been exposed to the Ebola virus, and one person who appears to have contracted the virus has been evacuated to Germany

NASA is starting to paint in some of the details of its planned 2027 Artemis III mission, but key questions, such as who its astronauts will be, are yet to be answered

Sharla Boehm, a math teacher, spent her summers coding. She’d go on to build what would eventually evolve into the Internet

Fix the matchstick equation in this math puzzle

Eight of the top 10 officials at the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases have now been pushed out since President Donald Trump took office

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

Mosaic depictions of a weapon-wielding female gladiator are the first physical evidence showing women in ancient Rome could be skilled beast hunters

A newfound nocturnal navigation system challenges what entomologists thought they knew about how ants find their way

The asteroid will swing by Earth on Monday and be close enough to be visible using an amateur telescope

To build its moon base, NASA needs a lot of power

Researchers know very little about how long the Andes version of the hantavirus can remain in human hosts

Quantum computing could lead to revolutions in cryptography, materials design and telecommunications. But fulfilling those promises could be many years away

Sometimes science does make our world turn upside down

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

Here are six ways to build a quantum computer

Commercial satellites can now watch much of Earth in near-real time. Militaries are learning new ways to fool them

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

Letters to the editors for the February 2026 issue of Scientific American

Ozempic and just getting older take off muscle. New therapies could retain it

As world health leaders face deadly outbreaks of hantavirus and Ebola, a major pandemic preparedness report finds we are less safe from viral outbreaks than before COVID

Science in meter and verse

Play this crossword inspired by the June 2026 issue of Scientific American

What you should know about hantavirus, why PCOS is getting a new name, and how some fish hide in an unusual spot

Door-building spiders; a new quantum liquid

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

Researchers at the Nebraska Public Health Laboratory worked round the clock to develop a test for the Andes virus at the center of the deadly cruise ship outbreak

Margaret Hamilton designed safety features for NASA inspired in part by her four-year-old

Long-held assumptions tell us that atoms with the same number of protons, neutrons and electrons are indistinguishable, but one physicist wants to put this idea to the test

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

Digital distractions can undermine our focus, but research suggests that our inherent capacity to pay attention hasn’t diminished

People exposed to the Andes strain of the hantavirus may not develop symptoms for up to 42 days, a delay that makes tracing infections more difficult

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

The Andes type of the hantavirus is spread by “close contact,” but it’s unclear how much of that transmission occurs by inhaling airborne droplets or other means

Some clinicians are pushing to broaden testosterone use, but there is debate about its benefits and risks

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

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

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!

Probability theory and the Saint Petersburg paradox can help you determine whether the stakes of a game are too great