Scientific American

A diamond against a black background

Materials ScienceMarch 14, 2026

Fresh claim of making elusive ‘hexagonal’ diamond is the strongest yet

After decades of debate, researchers say that they have found the clearest evidence yet for this rare form of carbon

Mark Peplow, Nature magazine

An animated snake wrapped around a fox and a rabbit

AnimalsMarch 15, 2026

What would happen if snakes disappeared like in Zootopia 2? An investigation

Jackie Flynn Mogensen

Woman laying in cryo-sleep pod from movie Alien.

CognitionMarch 15, 2026

Scientists revive activity in frozen mouse brains for the first time

Tosin Thompson, Nature magazine

The back of a French police officer.

DNAMarch 14, 2026

Identical twins on trial: can DNA testing tell them apart?

Rachel Fieldhouse, Nature magazine

GamesMarch 15, 2026

Cover Art Jigsaw: October 1919

K. R. Callaway

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electron micrograph of Escherichia coli (top); The ISS pictured from the SpaceX Crew Dragon (bottom)

MicrobiologyMarch 15, 2026

Spaceflight supercharges viruses’ ability to infect bacteria

K. R. Callaway

A photo of Emma Stone shaved bald in a scene from Bugonia

Extraterrestrial LifeMarch 15, 2026

What Bugonia reveals about the real search for aliens

Emma Gometz

A globe of the Earth in motion

EarthMarch 13, 2026

Earth’s spin is slowing at an unprecedented rate, thanks to climate change

Claire Cameron

A view of the International Space Station against the blackness of space.

Space & PhysicsMarch 13, 2026

24 mice launched to orbit in 2023. What happened to their bodies could help humans better survive in space

Jackie Flynn Mogensen

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March 2026 Issue

Woman walking through a city scene wearing AI-enabled devices including glasses, an earbud, and a necklace pendant.

Artificial Intelligence

Inside the new AI world order: A special report

Eric Sullivan

Illustration of AI in clinical care, showing tech-driven clipboards

Artificial Intelligence

AI enters the exam room

Hilke Schellmann

Illustration of a person in a hoodie, covering their face, working on a computer ominously

Artificial Intelligence

A deepfake can ruin you before breakfast

Eric Sullivan

Grid of six images. Each panel holds a red glowing dot in a black field.

Astronomy

Exotic black hole stars could explain the mystery of Little Red Dots

Rebecca Boyle

View through a window into a living room. Three people are sitting on a couch in an animated conversation, with hands intertwined

Psychology

The truth about polyamory

Rebecca J. Lester

Image of new paleontological site

Paleontology

Mountain photographer stumbles on one of the largest ever collections of Triassic dinosaur prints

Humberto Basilio

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Games

A robot hand reaches toward bubbles with letters in them

Spellements

Create as many words as you can!

Illustration of a hand and multiple numbers against a purple background.

Math Puzzles

Stretch your math muscles with these puzzles.

A robot hand unleashes a swirl of puzzle pieces, crosswords, and circles with numbers and letters

All Games

Science inspired games, puzzles and quizzes

Special Edition

A number of suns floating with Red Blood cells

Health

Can sunlight cure disease?

Rowan Jacobsen

Pile of peanuts

Public Health

Can peanut allergies be cured?

Maryn McKenna

Illustration of a Vitamin D pill bottle with yellow balloons flying out of it, then being popped by a pin in a hand.

Public Health

How much vitamin D do you need to stay healthy?

Christie Aschwanden

Illustration of a row of human figures (minimialist in style—just outlines, even stick figures), each in a different rainbow color, with a row of vaccines (eg needle plus vial) above the row of humans.

Medicine

Personalized mRNA vaccines will revolutionize cancer treatment—if funding cuts don’t doom them

Rowan Moore Gerety

Illustration of a face, with an enlarged nasal cavity. Inside the nasal cavity are three health care professionals with nasal spray bottles and colorful patterns

Pharmaceuticals

New nasal vaccines offer better protection from COVID and flu—no needle needed

Stephani Sutherland

Illustration of a doctor in a white lab coat, using a bow and arrow.

Pharmaceuticals

These cancers were beyond treatment—but might not be anymore

Jyoti Madhusoodanan

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Podcasts

Illustration of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., US Secretary of Health and Human Services

The dark roots of RFK, Jr.’s public health ideology

Kendra Pierre-Louis, Dan Vergano, Sushmita Pathak, Jeffery DelViscio, Alex Sugiura

An image of a man standing outside of a castle with his arms on his waist

PsychologyMarch 11, 2026

How The Traitors reveals the psychology behind lying

Kendra Pierre-Louis, Jackie Flynn Mogensen, Fonda Mwangi, Alex Sugiura

Conceptual image of an infectious disease spreading

Public HealthMarch 9, 2026

U.S. measles cases surge, AI powers wars, global warming is in a hurry

Kendra Pierre-Louis, Sushmita Pathak, Joseph Howlett, Alex Sugiura

An illustration of a woman and a man with a purple background and book cover between them

ConsciousnessMarch 6, 2026

Michael Pollan on why consciousness is a mystery—and why protecting it matters

Brianne Kane, Fonda Mwangi, Alex Sugiura, Kylie Murphy, Jeffery DelViscio, Kendra Pierre-Louis

Illustration of icons of artificial intelligence apps on a smartphone

Artificial IntelligenceMarch 4, 2026

The BBC tech journalist who achieved hot dog eating glory—by hacking AI

Kendra Pierre-Louis, Sushmita Pathak, Alex Sugiura

Discussions

What fun fact or other tidbit have you learned about beavers?

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What is the nerdiest or most unusual way you or someone you know has celebrated Pi Day?

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Popular Stories

The back of a French police officer.

DNAMarch 14, 2026

Identical twins on trial: can DNA testing tell them apart?

In a French criminal trial, conventional DNA analysis couldn’t distinguish between twin brothers, but emerging scientific methods could help in such cases

Rachel Fieldhouse, Nature magazine

A blackboard shows the digits of pi drawn out in chalk.

MathMarch 13, 2026

Mathematicians find one pi formula to rule them all

A mixture of AI and algorithms uncovered a hidden structure spanning 2,000 years of equations for pi

Lyndie Chiou

A globe of the Earth in motion

EarthMarch 13, 2026

Earth’s spin is slowing at an unprecedented rate, thanks to climate change

Rising sea levels are slowing Earth’s rotation, lengthening days by 1.33 milliseconds per century

Claire Cameron

A general view of Tehran with smoke visible in the distance after explosions were reported in the city.

Nuclear weaponsMarch 11, 2026

Iran was nowhere close to a nuclear bomb, experts say

Although President Trump has claimed Iran was weeks away from developing a nuclear weapon, much more work was needed for the country to do so

Dan Vergano

Several bright dots are shown moving together across a head-on view of a galaxy.

Milky WayMarch 12, 2026

The sun and thousands of its twins migrated across the Milky Way just in time

The sun rode a massive galactic migration wave to the Milky Way’s suburbs

Jacek Krywko

Calendar page with phrase Friday The 13th, closeup.

MathematicsMarch 13, 2026

Why Friday the 13th is a mathematical inevitability

No bad luck here—just lots of fascinating math that explains why the 13th of a month so often falls on a Friday

Manon Bischoff

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