world
Scientists Unveil Extremely Small Battery For The Smallest Computers in The World
There was a time, not so long ago, when computers were so large, they occupied entire rooms. Today, some processing units can come as small as a few specks of dust. Even next to a grain of rice, these stacks of micrometer-sized chips look infinitesimal. Shrinking computer batteries to fit that size, however, has proved … Read more
Introducing a Special Issue on How COVID Changed the World
It’s been a tough two years. I hope you and yours are as safe and healthy as possible at this stage of the COVID pandemic. Like everyone, we at Scientific American have been thinking about this terrible disease constantly and trying to make sense of it. We’ve published hundreds of articles about the coronavirus itself, … Read more
The Key Actions From The UN’s Major New Climate Report
Rising global temperatures bring dire threats, such as floods, heat-related injuries, water scarcity, and hunger, making up to 3.6 billion people – nearly half of the world’s population – highly vulnerable to climate change. That’s according to a major report, released Monday, from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change – a UN body that … Read more
Ancient Peoples Teach Us That We Can Create a Better World
These are dark times, and I take solace where I can get it. Lately I’ve gotten it from The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity, by anthropologist David Graeber, who died shortly after finishing the book, and archaeologist David Wengrow. Dawn is both a dense, 692-page scholarly inquiry into the origins of civilization … Read more
Mriya, The World’s Largest Plane, Has Been Destroyed by Russia’s Strikes on Ukraine
The largest plane in the world – Ukraine’s Antonov-225 cargo plane – was destroyed by Russian strikes outside Kyiv on the fourth day of Moscow’s invasion, Ukraine’s state-owned Ukroboronprom group said Sunday. “Russian invaders destroyed the flagship of the Ukrainian aviation, the AN-225” at the Antonov airport in Gostomel near Kyiv, the group said … Read more
The Man Who Tasted Words review: Inside the odd world of human senses
A new book by neurologist Guy Leschziner looks at the astonishing ways some people’s brains interpret the world, offering insight into how we all experience reality Humans 23 February 2022 By Carissa Wong Tasting words is one possible outcome of crossed sensory wires in the brain Shutterstock/Brian Mueller The Man Who Tasted Words: Inside the … Read more
The World’s ‘Happiest’ Countries Harbor a Dark Side, Wellbeing Study Reveals
Have you looked at the international rankings of the world’s happiest countries lately? Measuring a country’s subjective levels of happiness has become something of an international sport. People look with interest (and a little jealousy) to nations such as Denmark, which consistently tops the world’s happiness rankings. It has also led to Danish practices … Read more
US Could Get a Century’s Worth of Sea Level Rise in Just 3 Decades, Report Warns
A new federal report with up-to-date projections for all states and territories predicts sea levels in the United States will rise more than three times as fast as they did last century. According to new lines of data, the average sea level along the nation’s coastline could increase by 0.3 meters (or a foot) … Read more
Nights won’t save us from wildfires in a warming world | Science
As the Sun set in eastern Australia in late December 2019, a wildfire swept through the region’s eucalyptus forests like nothing scientists had seen before. Blazes typically weaken at night. But high winds, hot temperatures, and extremely dry air helped trigger a firestorm that sent plumes of ash 15 kilometers into the atmosphere. Over the … Read more