- Culture

- Space Exploration

- Math

- Language

- Neuroscience

- Astronomy

- Parenting

- Mathematics

- Cancer

- Arts

- Artificial Intelligence

- Engineering

- History

Culture

- Being Wrong Is a Scientific Superpower: Oct 2025

- Contributors to Scientific American’s November 2025 Issue: Oct 2025

- Readers Respond to the June 2025 Issue: Oct 2025

OCT 14, 2025, 6:00 AM EDT | ARTICLE SOURCE

Being Wrong Is a Scientific Superpower

Snake oil, smuggling and a fundamental change in the way we understand life

By David M. Ewalt

Scientific American, November 2025

David M. Ewalt is editor in chief of Scientific American.

This article was downloaded from https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/being-wrong-is-a-scientific-superpower on Oct 30, 2025 at 7:25 PM EDT.

OCT 14, 2025, 6:00 AM EDT | ARTICLE SOURCE

Contributors to Scientific American’s November 2025 Issue

Writers, artists, photographers and researchers share the stories behind the stories

By Jen Schwartz

Lori Youmshajekian.

Svetlana Markosian

Jen Schwartz is a senior features editor at Scientific American. She produces stories and special projects about how society is adapting—or not—to a rapidly changing world.

This article was downloaded from https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/contributors-to-scientific-americans-november-2025-issue on Oct 30, 2025 at 7:25 PM EDT.

OCT 14, 2025, 6:00 AM EDT | ARTICLE SOURCE

Readers Respond to the June 2025 Issue

Letters to the editors for the June 2025 issue of Scientific American

By Aaron Shattuck

Scientific American, June 2025

Aaron Shattuck is a senior copy editor at Scientific American.

This article was downloaded from https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/readers-respond-to-the-june-2025-issue on Oct 30, 2025 at 7:25 PM EDT.

Space Exploration

- NASA Is Crucial to the U.S. Winning the New Space Race: Oct 2025

OCT 14, 2025, 6:00 AM EDT | ARTICLE SOURCE

The U.S. Won’t Win the New Space Race by Defunding NASA

The U.S. wants to remain a superpower in space. It can’t without supporting NASA

By The Editors

Martin Gee

This article was downloaded from https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/nasa-is-crucial-to-the-u-s-winning-the-new-space-race on Oct 30, 2025 at 7:25 PM EDT.

Math

- Mathematicians Question AI Performance at International Math Olympiad: Aug 2025

AUG 7, 2025, 7:00 AM EDT | ARTICLE SOURCE

AI Took on the Math Olympiad—But Mathematicians Aren’t Impressed

AI models supposedly did well on International Math Olympiad problems, but how they got their answers reminds us why we still need people doing math

By Emily Riehl

Lucadp/Getty Images

Emily Riehl is a mathematician at Johns Hopkins University, where she works on category theory, homotopy type theory and computer formalization. Her book Elements of ∞-Category Theory, co-authored with Dominic Verity, was published in 2022 by Cambridge University Press.

This article was downloaded from https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/mathematicians-question-ai-performance-at-international-math-olympiad on Oct 30, 2025 at 7:25 PM EDT.

Language

- Science Crossword: Organized Chaos: Oct 2025

OCT 30, 2025, 7:25 PM EDT | ARTICLE SOURCE

Science Crossword: Organized Chaos

By Aimee Lucido

Aimee Lucido makes crosswords part-time for several outlets and writes trivia full-time for Bloomberg's news quiz, Pointed. She is also the author of several books for kids, including Emmy in the Key of Code, Recipe for Disaster, and Pasta Pasta Lotsa Pasta. Lucido lives with her husband, daughter and dog in New York.

This article was downloaded from https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/science-crossword-organized-chaos on Oct 30, 2025 at 7:25 PM EDT.

Neuroscience

- You Don’t Remember Being a Baby, but Your Brain Was Making Memories: Jul 2025

JUL 28, 2025, 7:00 AM EDT | ARTICLE SOURCE

You Don’t Remember Being a Baby, but Your Brain Was Making Memories

Brain scans capture memory formation in babies, raising new questions about why people forget their earliest years

By Nick Turk-Browne edited by Daisy Yuhas & Madhusree Mukerjee

byakkaya/Getty Images

Nick Turk-Browne is Susan Nolen-Hoeksema Professor of Psychology and director of the Wu Tsai Institute at Yale University. He studies how the human brain learns and remembers.

This article was downloaded from https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/you-dont-remember-being-a-baby-but-your-brain-was-making-memories on Oct 30, 2025 at 7:25 PM EDT.

Astronomy

- What Are Light Echoes, and Why Do They Matter?: Aug 2025

AUG 8, 2025, 6:45 AM EDT | ARTICLE SOURCE

Echoes of Light Illuminate the Cosmos

Bizarre phenomena called light echoes create strange, shifting shapes seen in some telescopic images and help astronomers chart the heavens above

By Phil Plait edited by Lee Billings & Clara Moskowitz

Swirling interstellar dust is illuminated by a spherical pulse of light emitted from a red supergiant star in this Hubble Space Telescope image showing the progression of a light echo.

NASA and the Hubble Heritage Team (AURA/STScI)

Phil Plait is a professional astronomer and science communicator in Virginia. His column for Scientific American, The Universe, covers all things space. He writes the Bad Astronomy Newsletter. Follow him online.

This article was downloaded from https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-are-light-echoes-and-why-do-they-matter on Oct 30, 2025 at 7:25 PM EDT.

Parenting

- The Benefits of Raising Conscientious Kids: Jul 2025

JUL 7, 2025, 4:00 PM EDT | ARTICLE SOURCE

The Benefits of Raising Conscientious Kids

Being conscientious will serve kids in the long run. Here are some tips to help them learn that trait

By Jasmine Mote edited by Megha Satyanarayana

Boris Zhitkov/Alamy Stock Photo

Jasmine Mote is a licensed clinical psychologist and a research assistant professor of occupational therapy at Boston University. She received her Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley. She writes Mental Healthy, a newsletter covering mental health science on pregnancy, parenting and everything in between. Follow her on Bluesky @jmote.bsky.social

This article was downloaded from https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-benefits-of-raising-conscientious-kids on Oct 30, 2025 at 7:25 PM EDT.

Mathematics

- What Is the Luhn Algorithm? The Math Behind Credit Card Transactions: Aug 2025

AUG 12, 2025, 11:30 AM EDT | ARTICLE SOURCE

The Math Trick Hidden in Your Credit Card Number

Find out how this simple algorithm from the 1960s catches your typos

By Jack Murtagh edited by Jeanna Bryner

Isabel Pavia/Getty Images

Jack Murtagh is a freelance math writer and puzzle creator. He writes a column on mathematical curiosities for Scientific American and creates daily puzzles for the Morning Brew newsletter. He holds a Ph.D. in theoretical computer science from Harvard University. Follow him on X @JackPMurtagh

This article was downloaded from https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-is-the-luhn-algorithm-the-math-behind-secure-credit-card-numbers on Oct 30, 2025 at 7:25 PM EDT.

Cancer

- Workouts Help to Treat Cancer and Improve Survival: Oct 2025

OCT 14, 2025, 6:00 AM EDT | ARTICLE SOURCE

How Exercise Helps Treat Cancer

Workouts seem to release body chemicals that improve cancer survival and limit recurrence

By Lydia Denworth edited by Josh Fischman

Jay Bendt

Lydia Denworth is an award-winning science journalist and contributing editor for Scientific American. She is author of Friendship: The Evolution, Biology, and Extraordinary Power of Life's Fundamental Bond (W. W. Norton, 2020) and several other books of popular science.

This article was downloaded from https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/workouts-help-to-treat-cancer-and-improve-survival on Oct 30, 2025 at 7:25 PM EDT.

Arts

- Poem: ‘In Reality’: Oct 2025

OCT 14, 2025, 6:00 AM EDT | ARTICLE SOURCE

Poem: ‘In Reality’

Science in meter and verse

By Jennifer Maier edited by Dava Sobel & Clara Moskowitz

Masha Foya

Jennifer Maier’s collections include Now, Now (2013) and The Occupant (2025), both published by the University of Pittsburgh Press. Maier is a professor of modern literature and poetics at Seattle Pacific University.

This article was downloaded from https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/poem-in-reality on Oct 30, 2025 at 7:25 PM EDT.

Artificial Intelligence

- Why AI ‘Therapy’ Can Be So Dangerous: Aug 2025

AUG 13, 2025, 12:10 PM EDT | ARTICLE SOURCE

Why ChatGPT Shouldn’t Be Your Therapist

Using AI chatbots for “therapy” is dangerous, mental health experts say. Here’s why

By Allison Parshall edited by Dean Visser & Clara Moskowitz

Shideh Ghandeharizadeh

Allison Parshall is associate editor for mind and brain at Scientific American.

This article was downloaded from https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-ai-therapy-can-be-so-dangerous on Oct 30, 2025 at 7:25 PM EDT.

Engineering

- A Human on a Bicycle Is among the Most Efficient Forms of Travel in the Animal Kingdom: Oct 2025

OCT 14, 2025, 6:00 AM EDT | ARTICLE SOURCE

A Classic Graphic Reveals Nature’s Most Efficient Traveler

A famous graphic, now updated, compares locomotion in the animal kingdom

By Allison Parshall & DTAN Studio edited by Jen Christiansen & Clara Moskowitz

DTAN Studio

Allison Parshall is associate editor for mind and brain at Scientific American.

DTAN Studio is a design and creative studio based in Berlin. They specialize in using digital tools to reclaim traditional techniques.

This article was downloaded from https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/a-human-on-a-bicycle-is-among-the-most-efficient-forms-of-travel-in-the on Oct 30, 2025 at 7:25 PM EDT.

History

- November 2025: Science History from 50, 100 and 150 Years Ago: Oct 2025

OCT 14, 2025, 6:00 AM EDT | ARTICLE SOURCE

November 2025: Science History from 50, 100 and 150 Years Ago

Curveballs; poison wallpaper

By Mark Fischetti

1975, Pupil Perception: "Photographs of two women were retouched so that each woman had large pupils in one photograph and small pupils in the other. Male subjects were shown eight different pairs of the photographs and were asked in which picture did the woman appear to be more sympathetic, selfish, happier, angrier and so on. When the question concerned a positive attribute, subjects tended to choose the woman with the large pupils; for a negative attribute, they tended to choose the small pupils."

Scientific American, Vol. 233, No. 5, November 1975

Mark Fischetti has been a senior editor at Scientific American for 19 years and covers sustainability issues, including climate, environment, energy, and more. He assigns and edits feature articles and news by journalists and scientists and also writes in those formats. He was founding managing editor of two spin-off magazines: Scientific American Mind and Scientific American Earth 3.0. His 2001 article “Drowning New Orleans,” predicted the widespread disaster that a storm like Hurricane Katrina would impose on the city. Fischetti has written as a freelancer for the New York Times, Sports Illustrated, Smithsonian, and many other outlets. He co-authored the book Weaving the Web with Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web, which tells the real story of how the Web was created. He also co-authored The New Killer Diseases with microbiologist Elinor Levy. Fischetti has a physics degree and has twice served as Attaway Fellow in Civic Culture at Centenary College of Louisiana, which awarded him an honorary doctorate. In 2021 he received the American Geophysical Union’s Robert C. Cowen Award for Sustained Achievement in Science Journalism. He has appeared on NBC’s Meet the Press, CNN, the History Channel, NPR News and many radio stations. Follow Fischetti on X (formerly Twitter) @markfischetti

This article was downloaded from https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/november-2025-science-history-from-50-100-and-150-years-ago on Oct 30, 2025 at 7:25 PM EDT.

Table of Contents

Scientific American: November 2025 Vol. 333, Issue 4

Culture

Being Wrong Is a Scientific Superpower: Oct 2025

Contributors to Scientific American’s November 2025 Issue: Oct 2025

Readers Respond to the June 2025 Issue: Oct 2025

Space Exploration

NASA Is Crucial to the U.S. Winning the New Space Race: Oct 2025

Math

Mathematicians Question AI Performance at International Math Olympiad: Aug 2025

Language

Science Crossword: Organized Chaos: Oct 2025

Neuroscience

You Don’t Remember Being a Baby, but Your Brain Was Making Memories: Jul 2025

Astronomy

What Are Light Echoes, and Why Do They Matter?: Aug 2025

Parenting

The Benefits of Raising Conscientious Kids: Jul 2025

Mathematics

What Is the Luhn Algorithm? The Math Behind Credit Card Transactions: Aug 2025

Cancer

Workouts Help to Treat Cancer and Improve Survival: Oct 2025

Arts

Poem: ‘In Reality’: Oct 2025

Artificial Intelligence

Why AI ‘Therapy’ Can Be So Dangerous: Aug 2025

Engineering

A Human on a Bicycle Is among the Most Efficient Forms of Travel in the Animal Kingdom: Oct 2025

History

November 2025: Science History from 50, 100 and 150 Years Ago: Oct 2025