Creatine does help build muscle, but social media claims for methylene blue dye are way overblown
Unlikely paths to discovery
Sometimes innovation can be traced back to bizarre places: a muddy streambed, a volcanic ash field or even a hotel-company boardroom
May 2026: Science History from 50, 100 and 150 Years Ago
Synchronous fireflies; Grand Canyon fossil footprints
How to build a space hotel
With the rise of private orbital habitats, vacations in space are becoming a real possibility for the ultrawealthy
DARPA built an AI to fact-check enemy weapons claims
The SciFy program tests whether adversaries’ most outlandish scientific claims add up or fall apart
Mathematicians created an ‘impossible’ shape that shouldn’t exist
Scientists have designed a new kind of paradoxical shape
How two mathematicians solved a cryptography mystery
The Diffie-Hellman key exchange secures everything from your text messages to government secrets
Science crossword: Hot stuff
Play this crossword inspired by the May 2026 issue of Scientific American
New evidence links heart disease to inflammation—and drugs can stop it
Immune system overreactions may be the true culprit of cardiac illness—and lifesaving drugs can calm them down
The moon’s oldest and darkest craters could be hiding the most water ice. That’s good news for future astronauts
New research shows that craters near the moon's south pole that have been in permanent shadow the longest are more likely to contain the most water ice.