Scientific American

New Scientific American

Science of Speed Dating Helps Singles Find Love

As a psychologist, I have always found the concept of speed dating fascinating. During a series of mini dates, each spanning no more than a couple of minutes, participants in a speed-dating event evaluate a succession of eligible singles. They make split-second decisions on matters of the heart, creating a pool of information on one of the more ineffable yet vital questions of our time--how we select our mates. [More]

What a Scientist Looks Like

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Illustrating the Lost Continent

Go behind the scenes with artist James Gurney to see how he created the illustrations for "Dinosaurs of the Lost Continent", a feature article in the March issue of Scientific American.

Deadly Alcohol Needs Global Regulation, Health Expert Says

When considering the world's worst killers, alcohol likely doesn't come to mind. Yet alcohol kills more than 2.5 million people annually, more than AIDS, malaria or tuberculosis. [More]

World's Tiniest Chameleon Discovered

A species of chameleon small enough to easily perch on a match head has been discovered on a tiny island off Madagascar, a group of scientists has announced. [More]

Upbleat Finding: Kids Start To Sound Alike Over Time

The sounds many animals make are determined by their genes--they don't have to learn them. Humans, on the other hand, have all sorts of languages and accents, stuff we pick up from those around us. We're not alone. Whales, elephants, songbirds and bats also listen and learn. [More]

Leaked: Conservative Group Plans Anti-Climate Education Program

Leaked documents from the free-market conservative organization The Heartland Institute reveal a plan to create school educational materials that contradict the established science on climate change . [More]

The Coming Entanglement: Bill Joy and Danny Hillis

Digital innovators Bill Joy, co-founder of Sun Microsystems, and Danny Hillis, co-founder of the Long Now Foundation, talk with Scientific American executive editor Fred Guterl about the technological Entanglement and the attempts to build the other, hardier internet. [More]

Quantum Entanglement Experiments Expand to Include Eight Photons

Laser photo: FastLizard4/Flickr The quantum phenomenon known as entanglement keeps spreading its arms to hold ever more particles in its spooky embrace. [More]

Did Life's First Cells Evolve in Geothermal Pools?

Earth started as a violent place, its surface churned by continuous volcanic eruptions and cloaked in an atmosphere that would have been poisonous to today's life-forms . Furthermore, the thin primeval atmosphere may have provided only scant protection from the young sun's harsh ultraviolet glare. Given these inhospitable conditions, scientists have long wondered: How did the first cells come to be nearly four billion years ago? [More]

Cool Aid: Drug That Lets Body Temperature Drop Could Save Stroke Victims

During the last decade, a series of studies in The New England Journal of Medicine chronicled the potential benefits of rescuing patients from stroke, heart attack and other conditions by lowering body temperature to reduce demand for oxygen. Depressed body temperature may also have manifold effects beyond the ones described--anything from prolonging life span to inducing a lower metabolic state suitable for long-distance spaceflight. [More]

Drafty Home Retrofits Spread from Neighbor to Neighbor

Beth Domingo watched in wonder as contractors uncovered the flaws in her four-bedroom suburban Maryland home. After living there for 18 years, she thought she knew it inside and out, but she was wrong. [More]

Hearts and Air Pollution: 5 Deadly Air Pollutants Measured on 5 Continents

Around the world, breathing a variety of air pollutants - in some cases for a single day - increases the chance that people will suffer heart attacks, according to a new analysis published Tuesday. [More]

Stem Cells Help Heal Broken Hearts

Valentine's Day can lead to plenty of broken hearts. But for cardiac wounds that time alone won't heal, science has made some major advances. When it comes to heart attack, for example, a big development is emerging from a tiny source. Stem cells are coming of age.? [More]

Self-Rated Health Predicts Mortality

How healthy are you? Your best guess might be pretty accurate: Researchers found that people who gave their health a positive rating were less likely to fall ill or die over the next 30 years than were those who thought they weren't as healthy. The work is in the journal Public Library of Science ONE . [Matthias Bopp et al., " H ealth Risk or Resource? Gradual and Independent Association between Self-Rated Health and Mortality Persists over 30 Years " ] [More]