How the discovery of altermagnets could change physics and computing
Expensive versus affordable binoculars—what’s the difference?
Binoculars and other far-range optics span a gamut of price points. Here’s what separates top-tier from entry-level
The engineering marvels hidden inside six-figure watches
Modern luxury watches can be traced back to one of Napoleon Bonaparte’s younger sisters
How chemists engineer the signature smells of luxury perfumes
At Givaudan and IFF, chemists build—and safeguard—new aroma molecules tightly linked to emotion and memory
An asteroid extinguished all the dinosaurs except for birds. Here’s why
Scientists finally understand why birds were the only dinosaurs to pull through the end-Cretaceous mass extinction
Math puzzle: A disassembly job
Take apart the grid in this math puzzle
The baffling ecological disaster that’s killing America’s freshwater mussels
Biologists are racing to save America’s freshwater mussels—the water-filtering keystone species that once filled the country’s rivers and streams—from extinction
Readers respond to the January 2026 issue
Letters to the editors for the January 2026 issue of Scientific American
Poem: ‘How I Became a Spitfire Pilot during My Cataract Operation’
Science in meter and verse
How cosmic rays are helping mining companies find critical minerals underground
As rich ore gets harder to find, the mining industry is using subatomic particles to map rock deep underground