For 100 years, scientists thought these red markings were natural—now researchers say they’re ancient human art
A new analysis of red lines inside a cave in Wales suggests they were made deliberately by ancient humans some 17,000 years ago
Scientific American Summer Reading Challenge
Fill your bingo card with fascinating science stories, discoveries and ideas all summer long for a chance to win prizes
Top U.S. science funder slows research grants to universities
It's not clear why the National Science Foundation may be limiting funding to certain U.S. universities
A new book debunks the myth of human selfishness—and makes the case for an ‘ecocivilization’
Author Jeremy Lent argues that human society runs on a flawed, exploitative worldview—and that embracing interconnectedness could enable a more sustainable future
Female beast hunters battled leopards in ancient Rome
Mosaic depictions of a weapon-wielding female gladiator are the first physical evidence showing women in ancient Rome could be skilled beast hunters
New map reveals lost roads of the Roman Empire
A massive digitization project has nearly doubled the known extent of the first continent-scale road network
Readers respond to the February 2026 issue
Letters to the editors for the February 2026 issue of Scientific American
June 2026: Science history from 50, 100 and 150 years ago
Door-building spiders; a new quantum liquid
A real quantum leap
Sometimes science does make our world turn upside down
Science crossword: At the same time
Play this crossword inspired by the June 2026 issue of Scientific American
Poem: ‘Horseshoe Crab’
Science in meter and verse
Hidden copy of the oldest known poem in the English language leaves researchers ‘speechless’
Researchers discovered the copy of the 1,300-year-old poem lurking inside a historical text in an Italian library