Author: Scientific American

A small number of fast-moving wildfires cause almost all the property damage by forcing firefighters to focus on saving lives

A new United Nations expert study of the effects of nuclear war would spur informed and inclusive global debate on what nuclear war means for people and the planet today

These therapies dampen fears absent direct exposure—no need to be in the room with a live tarantula

We cover a 3.26-billion-year-old meteorite impact, the spread of bird flu and a scurvy case study that serves as a cautionary tale in this week’s news roundup.

A special spacecraft will guide the space station through Earth’s atmosphere, but what about other large pieces of space debris?

Convicted of a crime that never happened, Roberson’s case is a prime example of how the U.S. legal system often fails to recognize advances in scientific knowledge

The world is well on track to blow past a goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius that many countries have put at the center of their climate efforts

The Whip-Poor-Will’s shrill, death-proclaiming song populates the works of Stephen King and H.P. Lovecraft. But the bird itself has fallen on hard times. Could it become a ghost of Halloweens past?

We can anticipate many false claims as we approach the U.S. presidential election—including untrue allegations of mass voting by noncitizens or of “suspicious vans” outside polling booths—and should quickly counter them, a misinformation expert says

New rolling, hopping robots navigate via fungus