Scientific American Magazine Vol 329 Issue 5

Scientific American

Volume 329, Issue 5

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Features

The Most Shocking Discovery in Astrophysics Is 25 Years Old

A quarter of a century after detecting dark energy, scientists are still trying to figure out what it is

Behind the Scenes at a U.S. Factory Building New Nuclear Bombs

The U.S. is ramping up construction of new “plutonium pits” for nuclear weapons

Who Would Take the Brunt of an Attack on U.S. Nuclear Missile Silos?

These fallout maps show the toll of a potential nuclear attack on missile silos in the U.S. heartland

Too Many Schools Are Misdiagnosing Dyslexia

Changing how dyslexia is diagnosed could help many more children learn to read

Inside the $1.5-Trillion Nuclear Weapons Program You've Never Heard Of

A road trip through the communities shouldering the U.S.’s nuclear missile revival

Departments

Advances
This Molecule Is a Nanoscale Bulldozer
The Oldest Deep-Sea Fish Discovered in Fossil Traces
Earth's Earliest Rocks Forged by Colliding Tectonic Plates
These Male Stick Insects Aren't 'Errors' After All
Machine Learning Creates a Massive Map of Smelly Molecules
Drones and AI Could Locate Land Mines in Ukraine
Newfound Hybrid Brain Cells Send Signals like Neurons Do
Are Children's Books Improving Representation?
Zapping Plastic Waste Can Produce Clean Fuel
Scientists Sequence DNA from a 3,000-Year-Old Brick
Air Pollution Is Really Dangerous, Even More New Evidence Shows
Science News Briefs from around the World: December 2023
What Is Benford's Law? Why This Unexpected Pattern of Numbers Is Everywhere
Reviews
Understanding Consciousness Is Key to Unlocking Secrets of the Universe
How Forest Mythology Leads to Preservation--And Plunder
The Science of Health
Short Naps Have Major Benefits for Your Mind
Letters
Readers Respond to the July/August 2023 Issue
From the Editor
Dyslexia, Dark Energy and a New Arms Race
Meter
Poem: 'In Conversation with Elizabeth Fulhame'
Observatory
The Ivy League Gets Attention, but Public Universities Are Far More Important
50, 100 & 150 Years Ago
December 2023: Science History from 50, 100 and 150 Years Ago
The Science Agenda
The U.S.'s Plans to Modernize Nuclear Weapons Are Dangerous and Unnecessary
Graphic Science
COVID Caused a Baby Bump when Experts Expected a Drop. Here's Why
Q&A
Unregulated AI Will Worsen Inequality, Warns Nobel-Winning Economist Joseph Stiglitz
Mind Matters
Stop Trying to 'Find' Your Passion--There's a Better Way to Love What You Do
Forum
Chatbot Honeypot: How AI Companions Could Weaken National Security
The Universe
Moon Landing Denial Fired an Early Antiscience Conspiracy Theory Shot