Scientific American
@sciam.bsky.social
A legacy of discovery. A future of innovation.
Scientists have long suspected that how our bodies deal with calories is somewhat determined by our genetic makeup. Now, they’ve zoomed in on one gene—FNIP1—which plays an outsize role in how we burn energy www.scientificamerican.com/article/scie...
Scientists discover a ‘skinny gene’ mutation that acts like Ozempic
One in 7,000 people carry this gene mutation
scientificamerican.com
Now that YouTube has been around for this long, it's really cool to check in with creators as their careers transform on the platform. Check out my interview with the incomparable @simonegiertz.bsky.social! She was truly a joy to chat with. youtu.be/jVp1-Qf-UtM?...
@simonegiertz has some life and science lessons to share with you
YouTube video by Scientific American
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Now on @sciam.bsky.social: Behold! These are the sharpest images of the sun's surface ever obtained, and they reveal something *wild*: never-before-seen whirlpools of plasma called Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities that are fundamental to solar energy flow. www.scientificamerican.com/article/spec...
Spectacular images reveal never-before-seen whirlpools on the sun
Strange whirlpools of plasma seen in the sharpest images ever captured of our star help explain the deep origins of Earth-threatening space weather and more
scientificamerican.com
This billionaire-backed fund is dedicating $200 million to preserve animals and even plants that are facing extinction around the world
Project backed by Leonardo DiCaprio and Jeff Bezos aims to save 100 critically endangered species
This billionaire-backed fund is dedicating $200 million to preserve animals and even plants that are facing extinction around the world
scientificamerican.com
A piece of SpaceX space junk is about to hit the moon at several times the speed of sound. These simulations offer a glimpse of what will happen when it does www.scientificamerican.com/article/a-sp...
A SpaceX rocket is about to hit the moon—these videos show what could happen
Astronomers’ simulations predict what this lunar impact—and its aftermath—will look like
scientificamerican.com
Maybe you've never thought much about the sex lives of arachnids, but here we are. It turns out some daddy longlegs have surprisingly complex, lurid and even violent mating habits www.scientificamerican.com/article/dadd...
Daddy long legs perform fellatio—and other wild facts about how these arachnids mate
Some female daddy longlegs will perform fellatio, perhaps to avoid potential violence from males, while males of another species entice females with a secretion on their penises
scientificamerican.com
Excited to make my debut on the @sciam.bsky.social Science Quickly podcast! Thanks to @feltman.bsky.social for having me on to talk about why protein maxxing may contribute to shaving years off your life. www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/epis...
The parasite outbreak everyone’s talking about, plus the truth about ‘protein maxxing’
An outbreak of Cyclospora infections tied to produce spreads across multiple states as new research challenges the protein maxxing craze
scientificamerican.com
Check out my conversation with Craig Fehrman, author of THIS VAST ENTERPRISE about the adventurous, dangerous and scientific journey of Lewis and Clark for @sciam.bsky.social Science Quickly podcast 💫🧪📚🐻 www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/epis...
What your fifth grade lesson missed about Lewis and Clark’s expedition
Historian Craig Fehrman unpacks the science, politics and human stories behind one of America’s most famous expeditions
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Most of Earth's volcanism happens under the ocean's surface, which makes it hard to for scientists to see. But this eruption is offering a rare peak into an underwater event. (By @meghanbartels.bsky.social)
Secret eruption offers tantalizing glimpse of underwater volcanism
Frothy rock floating on the ocean near Papua New Guinea is the sign scientists needed that, hidden from view, an underwater volcano was erupting
scientificamerican.com
Daytime highs often get the headlines, but overnight temperatures are rising twice as fast in the U.S. And that nighttime heat is losing us sleep. 🧪 By @jackiefmogensen.bsky.social. Graphics by our excellent graphics intern Sani Sharma.
3 charts show how extreme heat is costing us hours of lost sleep
The U.S. has been pummeled with heat waves this summer. Here’s how hot overnight temperatures can get in the way of a good night’s rest—in 3 charts
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“If you’d looked, you never would have guessed there was a supermassive black hole hiding there, and it’s only because it happened to eat the star that we were able to figure out where it was" - astrophysicist Robert Stein
Astronomers spot best-yet example of a wandering supermassive black hole
Giant black holes adrift in deep space are normally invisible—unless they’re dining on stars
scientificamerican.com
Marcel Proust so famously wrote of the rush of memories invoked by smelling and eating a madeleine cake that the phenomenon of scent-induced nostalgia became known as "Proust's madeleine." Now neuroscientists have figured out how it works in the brain.
Neuroscientists pinpoint how smells bring back childhood memories
Smell can bring back vivid childhood memories—the so-called “Proust’s madeleine” phenomenon—and neuroscientists now think they know why
scientificamerican.com
“These particles are not simply melted debris. They are physical archives of the explosion.” - Luca Bindi, who discovered a never-before-seen material in the debris form the Hiroshima explosion
Bizarre new material discovered in Hiroshima bombing debris
he extreme conditions of atomic bomb explosions create “uncontrolled microexperiments” that, in Hiroshima, forged a never-before-seen metallic alloy
scientificamerican.com
There are probably tens of thousands of undiscovered ancient earthworks known as geoglyphs in the Amazon, new imaging research shows. Click through to see photos.
Hundreds of never-before-seen ancient ‘earthworks’ discovered in the Amazon
Many of these structures date to around C.E. 100–300, during the time of the Aquiry civilization, and may have been used for ceremonial purposes
scientificamerican.com
Now on @sciam.bsky.social: A spacecraft on a rescue mission to NASA's aging Swift space telescope is in trouble in Earth orbit. Can the mission—and Swift—be saved? www.scientificamerican.com/article/resc...
Rescue mission to save NASA’s Swift space telescope is imperiled in orbit
A private spacecraft launched to boost the decaying orbit of NASA’s Swift Observatory is now suffering from potentially mission-ending malfunctions
scientificamerican.com
Did you know that the flowers of avocado trees change sex every day? Scientists have noticed this nearly 100 years ago but only now do we how it works. Life is amazing.
Avocado flowers switch sex daily—now we know why
New work explains how avocado trees coordinate a complex reproductive strategy, switching every day between male and female
scientificamerican.com
ICYMI, this is the best story you're gonna find about the current status of the search for life on Mars, wrapped up inside a 50th-anniversary retrospective of NASA's epochal Viking missions. And it's only on @sciam.bsky.social.
Lee Billings@leebillings.bsky.social · last wk.Now on @sciam.bsky.social: Has NASA already found life on Mars? A controversial new assessment of half-century-old data suggests the space agency’s life-hunting Mars lander Viking 1 found exactly what it was looking for. By @nadiadrake.bsky.social. www.scientificamerican.com/article/has-...
Now on @sciam.bsky.social: Astronomers just revealed the best-yet images of Betelgeuse's buddy, a ~3x-solar-mass companion star. By @adamjkovac.bsky.social. www.scientificamerican.com/article/scie...
Scientists get best-yet glimpse of Betelgeuse’s companion star
After decades of hints and speculation, scientists have at last unveiled the hidden companion to the iconic star Betelgeuse
scientificamerican.com
Even more books recommendations from @sciam.bsky.social this summer! Check out what's been in my beach bag this summer and use #SciAmBookBingo and #SciAmSummerReading to tell us what you've been reading! www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxyA...
Your summer reading list starts here | Science Quickly Podcast
YouTube video by Scientific American
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The Best Science Stories and How They Work includes @nadiadrake.bsky.social’s “Voyager 1's Immortal Interstellar Requiem,” originally in @sciam.bsky.social, with new annotations by @raminskibba.bsky.social. Grab your copy at www.theopennotebook.com/the-best-sci...
Now on @sciam.bsky.social: Has NASA already found life on Mars? A controversial new assessment of half-century-old data suggests the space agency’s life-hunting Mars lander Viking 1 found exactly what it was looking for. By @nadiadrake.bsky.social. www.scientificamerican.com/article/has-...
Has NASA already found life on Mars?
In searches for past and present Martian life, some scientists say we’ve been too cautious to see what’s right in front of us
scientificamerican.com
Now on @sciam.bsky.social: The Fields Medals—math's most prestigious prizes, often compared to the Nobels—have 4 new honorees, for work ranging from the theory of knots to the motion of fluids. Congrats to Hong Wang, Yu Deng, John Pardon & Jacob Tsimerman! www.scientificamerican.com/article/2026...
Math’s latest Fields Medalists are the most diverse group yet
The 2026 Fields Medals recognize breakthroughs in the math of messy fluids, tangled knots, spinning pencils, and more
scientificamerican.com
So... what *did* actually happen with the OpenAI attack on Hugging Face? With the help of able experts, I've delved into the detail in a way I've not really seen other outlets do for @sciam.bsky.social - and ask what's next www.scientificamerican.com/article/what...
What OpenAI’s rogue agent really did in the Hugging Face hack
The agent pursued its objective far beyond what researchers intended, revealing how difficult powerful AI systems can be to contain
scientificamerican.com
When is a moon not a moon? That’s the riddle raised by a new study, and the solution appears to be “when it’s a planet.” Or maybe the answer is vice versa. www.scientificamerican.com/article/a-hu...
A huge cosmic object could force astronomers to rethink what a moon is
This almost Jupiter-sized object is orbiting a brown dwarf, which, in turn, is circling around a small star
scientificamerican.com
"The model wasn’t malicious it was just doing what it was optimized to do." www.scientificamerican.com/article/open...
OpenAI admits its agent went rogue, triggering a major hack
The incident underscores concerns over the increasingly powerful cybersecurity capabilities of new AI models
scientificamerican.com
Just imagining a whale floating there and sighing. "Five minutes alone, that's all I ask."
Andrea Thompson@andreatweather.bsky.social · 2w agoSo southern right whales are the only whales ever observed to flip over on their backs. It turns out it might be moms getting a break from the kids. I've never related to animal more. 🧪 Click through for some really cool drone footage. (by @gennarotomma.bsky.social for @sciam.bsky.social)
The best way to stop the destruction from wildfires is to spot them before they can grow out of control. It's also the most difficult.
Inside the race to spot wildfires before they spiral out of control
Finding wildfires before they explode in size could save countless lives each year. Decades of technology development may finally make that possible
scientificamerican.com
Have you seen Christopher Nolan's 'The Odyssey' yet? Psychologists explain why the “hero’s journey” in the ancient Greek story can help people make meaning in their own lives. www.scientificamerican.com/article/psyc...
Psychology researchers know why The Odyssey transcends time
The “hero’s journey” narrative structure seen in the ancient Greek story can help people make meaning in their own lives
scientificamerican.com
Duration, location, aviation: What makes the best possible view of a total solar eclipse? @philplait.bsky.social takes a deep dive. www.scientificamerican.com/article/what...
Can there be a ‘best’ total solar eclipse?
Duration, location, aviation: What makes the best possible view of a total solar eclipse?
scientificamerican.com
Are GLP-1s for life? What we know about getting older on weight-loss drugs www.scientificamerican.com/article/amer...
America is embarking on a risky experiment with GLP-1s and aging
Are GLP-1s for life? What we know about getting older on weight-loss drugs
scientificamerican.com