🎉 We’re thrilled to announce the winners of our #SciAmInTheWild contest! Our staff voted, and the results are in—congratulations to the winners and honorable mentions featured here!

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) continues to affect infants and older and immunocompromised people around the world. These graphics reveal where the burden lies and what the effects of immunizations are

The year 2023 marked the debut of groundbreaking innovations to prevent severe RSV infections in infants. Now protected babies are way less likely to develop severe infections or to end up in the ICU

Abigail Echo-Hawk, a preeminent Native American public health expert, discusses RSV, “data genocide” and positive change driven by Indigenous storytelling

A tragic RSV vaccine trial in the 1960s set the field back for decades. Here’s how scientists finally made breakthroughs in RSV immunization

The journey toward an RSV vaccine for children has been wrought with tragedy and setbacks. But six decades after scientists embarked on that path, they are nearing the finish line

American Indian and Alaska Native infants experience the highest rates of RSV-related hospitalization in the U.S., but a breakthrough immunization is helping to close the gap

RSV is the leading cause of infant hospitalizations in the U.S. But that could soon change as research advances lead to new preventative drugs for everyone

BookTok loves marginalia and neuroscience is down for it: 🧪 💙📚 www.scientificamerican.com/article/go-a...

Hot, small and old—exoplanet TOI-561 b is just about the worst place to look for alien air. Scientists using JWST found it there anyway

The common pain reliever is safe when used as directed, research shows. But scientists remain puzzled by one aspect: how it reduces pain and fever

To celebrate Scientific American’s 180th anniversary, we invited readers to place our magazine covers in the wild. See our staff’s favorite submissions

Our investigation into disappearance of Shiid-birood (“the iron rock”) reveals a journey of lies, smuggling and possibly death across the seamy world of black market collecting.

Trump and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. plan to tie Tylenol use during pregnancy and folate deficiencies to rising autism rates—but the evidence is thin

Does taking Tylenol during pregnancy increase risk of autism? The evidence is thin—and entirely correlational. Here's what to know. @sciam.bsky.social 🧪 www.scientificamerican.com/article/does...

"The fate of the cosmic cannonball is now anyone’s guess," writes @danvergano.bsky.social for @sciam.bsky.social

The San Francisco Bay Area was rattled early this morning by a magnitude 4.3 earthquake along the Hayward fault line

Seemingly contradictory materials are trapped together in two glittering diamonds from South Africa, shedding light on how diamonds form

For families like Juli’s that have been left with a grim diagnosis and few options, lifestyle changes bring a much needed sense of hope and agency. But researchers worry about overpromising on the efficacy of these changes, especially for people already experiencing dementia symptoms.

How a space rock vanished from Africa and showed up for sale across an ocean

A revamped CDC advisory committee faces vaccine debates, studies reveal brain changes in athletes, and climate change drives deadly heat waves across Europe.

New research shows that wherever human populations mix, their languages blend as well

I love this whole wonderfully evocative thread about Ötzi the Iceman and his final journey so much 😍😭🧪

We've reached 6,000 confirmed exoplanets! I talked with @aussiastronomer.bsky.social about where things go from here. (A great graphic by @unamandita.bsky.social visualizes the amazing jumps in planet finds since the first ones were confirmed in the 1990s.)

TikTok and Instagram readers FTW! Annotating your books is cool and Science™️ agrees! Also, shout out to Copy Dept. for letting me sneak a #GirlmoreGirls reference in here 😉📚 www.scientificamerican.com/article/go-a...

A powerful 7.8-magnitude aftershock off Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula from July's 8.8-magnitude earthquake is raising concerns about possible tsunami impacts, although risk appears to be waning

These dogs can extend words to new objects based on function the way children do in early language learning

This meeting is starting now if you want to listen live and see what unfolds 🧪

A CDC advisory panel is meeting today and tomorrow to discuss changes to the vaccine schedule for MMRV, Hep B and COVID vaccines. Here's how it could threaten vaccine protection, by @meghanbartels.bsky.social and @andreatamayo.bsky.social: www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-...

Meet Arya, a very good girl who knows "pizza" means delicious, and also the difference between pull toys and throw toys. Click to see her with several of her favorite toys, pull and throw alike. 🧪 www.scientificamerican.com/article/dogs...

A lot is riding on this week's tense CDC ACIP vaccine recommendation meetings. Day 1: MMRV and hep B vax Day 2: COVID vax @meghanbartels.bsky.social and @andreatamayo.bsky.social breakdown what to look out for @sciam.bsky.social. 🧪 Follow updates here: www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-...

Three vaccines are on the agenda for this week’s meeting of ACIP, the CDC’s key advisory panel on immunization: the combined measles, mumps, rubella and varicella vaccine, the hepatitis B vaccine and COVID vaccines

These hobbyists use GPS coordinates to hunt for secret prizes around the world

Confused by patchwork COVID vaccine guidelines across states? @sciam.bsky.social has a map with the latest info from the National Alliance of State Pharmacy Associations. We'll keep tracking updates. 📊 @unamandita.bsky.social ✏️ @jaimieseaton.bsky.social. www.scientificamerican.com/article/covi...

With federal vaccine guidance under fire, states are forging their own immunization paths

Chimpanzees get a surprising amount of alcohol from the fruit they eat. This discovery might bolster the "drunken monkey hypothesis" for humanity's love of liquor 🧪🍸

Wild chimps ingest the equivalent of multiple alcoholic beverages a day

U.S. Vaccine Guidance Is in Chaos, Fired CDC Director Tells Senators “The administration has totally lost its credibility,” one public health expert says, of the hearing. “People will die. People will suffer.” www.scientificamerican.com/article/vacc...

Former CDC chief Susan Monarez testified that Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., had demanded she rubber-stamp recommendations from his remade vaccine panel

I love how this feature uses graphics to explain the latest thinking on possible Alzheimer's causes and the many treatment targets. @sciam.bsky.social @jenchristiansen.com @estherlandau.bsky.social

New dome-headed dino just dropped. 🧪 (Very fun story by @jack-tamisiea.bsky.social)

A newly discovered dinosaur species has been identified from a fossil unearthed in Mongolia that represents the most complete pachycephalosaur specimen yet found

Congratulations, you've just lived through the three hottest summers on record 🫠 But with greenhouse gas emissions still piling up in the atmosphere, those records probably won't stand for terribly long. 🧪 (graphic by @unamandita.bsky.social)

Scientists are uncovering how your gut might be shaping your thoughts, feelings and cravings.

Climate-fueled heat has caused thousands of excess deaths over the past three summers, which were the three hottest on record

After nearly 40 years of global efforts, the ozone hole over Antarctica is continuing to heal

Breakthrough therapies, new diagnostics and preventive measures for fighting a devastating disease

A more circular economy in textiles is a good look for the planet

Tiny fossils hint at when birds began making their mind-blowing journey to the Arctic to breed

More than 13.8 million Americans could have Alzheimer’s by 2060, and at the rate care facilities are closing, many of them will have nowhere to go. Regina Shih of the State Alzheimer’s Research Support Center (StARS) wants to help solve that problem