Genes point to how some bacteria can gobble up electricity
Bacteria can have superpowers. Some flourish in almost any environment. Others can transform toxic materials into harmless sludge. A bacterium…
Category: Recent Work
AI, Explain Thyself
PUBLISHED NOVEMBER 20, 2021 The past decade has seen machine learning—finding patterns in vast piles of data—in a state of…
Green ammonia could produce climate-friendly ways to store energy and fertilize farms
Curbing climate change goes hand-in-hand with decarbonizing energy production. But how can communities continue to meet the global demand for…
When Cancer is in the Family
AMY YOFFE HAS ALWAYS KNOWN that cancer runs in her family and is acutely aware of the loss that comes with it.…
Astronomer-turned-filmmaker strives to ignite an interest in space
For scientists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA, the night of January 3, 2004 entailed six minutes of…
Cancer Care’s Virtual Revolution
AT SUNRISE ON MARCH 4, 2020, the same day the first COVID-19 case was confirmed in Houston and one week before…
When Scientific American Made M. C. Escher Famous
Between 1957 and 1986 Martin Gardner wrote the Mathematical Games column for this magazine, with a total of 297 installments.…
The Golden Riffleshell’s Appalachian Roadtrip
The emergency surgery took place in the back of a modified pickup truck in a McDonald’s parking lot in Pikeville,…
Flash Radiotherapy Is (Finally) on the Way
Since the 1960s, the dream of ultra-fast high dose radiation promised better cancer treatment with fewer side effects. Will the…
Trees power this alarm system for remote forest fires
Scientists in Michigan have developed a forest fire alarm system. It not only can detect when a blaze begins but…