Why Birds Sing So Differently
ADVERTISEMENT Nautilus Members enjoy an ad-free experience. Log in or Join now . Zoology A comic explains the highs and lows of birdsong By Mikael Angelo Francisco May 20, 2025
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The Largest Iceberg on Earth Is Stuck
Sign up for the free Nautilus newsletter: science and culture for people who love beautiful writing. The full Nautilus archive • eBooks & Special Editions • Ad-free reading The full
Larger, More Dangerous Hail Is Becoming More Common—Here’s Why
The following essay is reprinted with permission from The Conversation, an online publication covering the latest research. Hail the size of grapefruit shattered car windows in Johnson City, Texas. In
The End of the Universe Could Begin with a Quantum Bubble
Most people have never heard of vacuum decay, but if it happened it would be the biggest natural disaster in the universe. Sure, an asteroid could destroy a city or
The Universe’s First Light Could Reveal Secrets of the Cosmic Dawn
On what might have been the proudest day of Jack Burns’s long career in astronomy, he was sitting on a beach. Orbital dynamics and launch schedules wait for no one,
Surprising Ways That Sunlight Might Heal Autoimmune Diseases
Every morning Kathy Reagan Young steps out of the shower in her Virginia Beach home, towels off, dons a pair of protective goggles and stands nine inches from a light
Contributors to Scientific American’s June 2025 Issue
Jennifer N. R. SmithThe Social Lives of Mitochondria In 2020, on a trip to Devon, England, Jennifer N. R. Smith (above) went swimming in the sea. Just as night fell,
Ancient Maltese temples may have been schools for celestial navigation
Humans The alignment of some megalithic temples in Malta suggests they may have been used to teach sailors how to navigate by the stars By Taylor Mitchell Brown Facebook /
Astronomers double down on claim of strongest evidence for alien life
Space Are there aliens living on the exoplanet K2-18b? Some astronomers believe they have evidence for molecules on the planet that must have a biological origin, but others disagree By
Sea level will rise fast even if we limit global warming to 1.5°C
Rising seas will threaten many coastal cities Hugh R Hastings/Getty Images Limiting global warming to 1.5°C above the pre-industrial baseline won’t be enough to stop sea levels from rising by
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