Social Sciences

ArchaeologyJune 25, 2025

Scientists Used Prehistoric Tools to Build a Canoe, Then Paddled Across 140 Miles from Taiwan to Japan

Researchers and expert seafarers teamed up to re-create an ocean journey from more than 30,000 years ago

Nora Bradford

A building with a taller section on the left and a shorter section on the right, with a Metro train in the foreground

PolicyJune 25, 2025

Trump Administration Ousts National Science Foundation from Headquarters Building

Employees at the National Science Foundation say they’ve been blindsided by a plan for the Department of Housing and Urban Development to take over their offices

Robin Bravender, E&E News

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An artist rendering the hominin source of the ‘Dragon Man’ cranium in his habitat holding and looking at a stone tool

AnthropologyJune 20, 2025

First Near-Complete Denisovan Skull Reveals What This Ancient Human Cousin Looked Like

A Denisovan skull has been identified for the first time. The find was based on proteins and calcified dental plaque

Dyani Lewis, Nature magazine

A positron propagates as a wave toward an electron in the bulk of a crystal (left). When the two particles annihilate each other, the resulting gamma rays carry away the momentum of the electron at an angle different from 180 degrees (right).

HistoryJune 17, 2025

July/August 2025: Science History from 50, 100 and 150 Years Ago

Toxic cigars; dueling with a swordfish

Mark Fischetti

Illustration of the palm of a hand reaching out in the nighttime, with little orbs of light floating around the hand

ArtsJune 17, 2025

Poem: ‘Prayer to Fireflies’

Science in meter and verse

Genevieve Pfeiffer

Cover of the July/August 2025 issue of Scientific American against a brown background

CultureJune 17, 2025

Seeking Sustainable Fashion and Cracking a Greenland Mystery

Inside this double issue of SciAm, you’ll find black holes that burp up their stellar meals, metal detectorists that hit pay dirt, hope for psychopathy, the truth about testosterone and a consumer guide to sustainable clothes shopping

Jeanna Bryner

Image of Jeffery DelViscio in a blue winter coat and foggy glasses

CultureJune 17, 2025

Contributors to Scientific American’s July/August 2025 Issue

Writers, artists, photographers and researchers share the stories behind the stories

Allison Parshall

Games illustration with a green background

LanguageJune 17, 2025

Science Crossword: Throwing Shades

Play this crossword inspired by the July/August 2025 issue of Scientific American

Aimee Lucido

ArchaeologyJune 17, 2025

Denmark’s Radical Archaeology Experiment Is Paying Off in Gold and Knowledge

The Danish government deputized private detectorists to unearth artifacts buried in farm fields. Their finds are revealing the country’s past in extraordinary detail

Elizabeth Anne Brown

Ripped up textbook with illustrations of 'new' evolution

OpinionJune 17, 2025

American Education Demands a Fact-Based Curriculum, Not Religious Ideology

One hundred years after the Scopes trial, religious ideologues are still trying to supplant evidence-based curricula with myths, to the detriment of a well-informed society

The Editors

Cover of the March 2025 issue of Scientific American against a brown background

CultureJune 17, 2025

Readers Respond to the March 2025 Issue

Letters to the editors for the March 2025 issue of Scientific American

Aaron Shattuck

Young girl pointing at camera in homemade superhero costume and cardboard plane wings

The Science of ParentingJune 9, 2025

Superheroes Represent Something Different to Today’s Kids

The newest generation of superheroes are complex, irreverent and exactly what our kids need

Aviva Dove-Viebahn