Discussions

AI companies are trying to decide how chatbots should respond to morally charged questions about grief, family, medicine, sexuality and belief. Anthropic has consulted theologians and ethicists as it refines Claude’s behavior. Is religious tradition a useful source of moral...

Many of math's greatest minds have tried to prove Bernhard Riemann's sweeping claim that there's order hiding beneath the apparent randomness of prime numbers. Do you think, like most mast mathematicians do, that Riemann was right? And even if he...

Andes virus, a type of hantavirus, has sparked global concern in recent weeks after causing the death of three passengers and sickening at least eight others aboard the MV Hondius, a cruise ship traveling from Argentina across the Atlantic. Read...

Do you think the global community is responding well to the hantavirus outbreak? How concerned are you that this will turn into a larger outbreak?

Some mathematicians believe pi should be replaced by tau as the mathematical constant of a circle. What do you think? Is tau a better circle constant? Or would tau bring more disadvantages than advantages?

Are you a birder and spring migration is your Super Bowl? Or do you casually look for birds out the window or on walks? No matter your level of bird fanaticism, what species are you most hoping to spot this...

Some athletic purists have argued that souped-up apparel and athletic equipment constitute “technological doping.” Do you think the shoes worn by the London Marathon winner and others offer an unlevel playing field, or should athletes be able to wear whatever...

Peptides are all the rage in health circles these days. These chemicals promise to do everything from helping you bulk up to giving you youthful skin to helping you live longer. However, there is little evidence of their efficacy, with...

My childhood memories are blurry in some spots and crystal clear in others. So when I read this article about a subtle "face-swapping illusion" that could bring such memories back into focus, it got me thinking. Which memories would I...

From high-end binoculars with far-range optics to wristwatches that are engineering marvels to space hotels to perfumes engineered to impact emotion and memory, the world of luxury is filled with ... science. What is the most scientifically advanced gadget or...

Don't try to build a Lego version of one of M.C. Escher's staircases … it would be impossible, as Robert Ghrist points out in this article about an impossible object that he and a colleague invented. The object fits into...

Are you excited to see people return to the moon, and what questions would you like us to address in our coverage?

An L.A. trial jury has found Meta and YouTube liable for operating apps that are addictive and harmful to young people. This is the first trial of its kind to weigh social media's harms. How surprising did you find the...

In the new sci-fi film Project Hail Mary, Ryan Gosling's character goes on a long trip to the Tau Ceti star system. To survive, he's placed in a state akin to suspended animation. Would you be willing to go into...

Research has found that today’s kids and teens are doing better in many ways than previous generations. Does that ring true to your experiences?

In the movie Hoppers, an animal lover slips into a robot beaver body and joins a beaver colony. In real life, some researchers use robots, costumes, drones and other creative methods for studying animals in the wild. What have they...

This year people in Scientific American’s New York office brought in pies ahead of Pi Day, but we know there must be stranger and more interesting ways to celebrate the iconic number. How have you or people you know celebrated...

The clocks are about to spring forward an hour as most of the U.S. enters daylight saving time. Are you ready? Do the tips from the article (exercise and morning sunshine) work for you, or do you have any other...

Mathematicians have recently discovered that some formulas related to the prime numbers can describe features of black holes. Primes are numbers that can be divided only by themselves and 1. On the surface, they don't seem to have anything to...

The FDA is reportedly considering making many prescription drugs available over-the-counter, but such a move would have important consequences for safety and accessibility. What do you think of the idea? Would you feel comfortable being able to get medicines without...