Scientific American Magazine

Is the big bang, and all that came from it, a holographic mirage from another dimension?

The recent discovery of gravitational waves emerging from the big bang may point a way forward

Harmful chemicals, stress and other influences can permanently alter which genes are turned on without changing any of the genes' code. Now, it appears, some of these “epigenetic” changes are passed down to—and may cause disease in— future generations

A blow to the head can sometimes unmask hidden artistic or intellectual gifts

As the far north heats up, its inhabitants—from musk oxen to residents of growing cities—are getting ill

A three-step plan for using data right in an age of government overreach

Researchers are using tools borrowed from medicine and economics to figure out what works best in the classroom. But the results aren't making it into schools

At the college level, the evidence is clear: science students learn less when they are expected to listen passively

To know whether life exists beyond Earth, we must come to terms with our own significance in the universe. Are we uniquely special or merely mediocre?