American Scientist

Do Swimming Animals Mix the Ocean?

What began as a joke has led to new avenues of research in fluid mechanics and marine science.

Biology Technology Oceanography Zoology
The Science of Hi-Fi Audio

Despite great advances in quantifying sound quality, engineers are still struggling to satisfy the subjective ways listeners respond to music.

Environment
The Myxomycetes: Nature’s Quick-Change Artists

Slime molds thrive in a range of environments, displaying an unexpected beauty in a variety of forms and life cycle stages.

Biology Environment Ecology Forestry Natural History
Consciousness: The Road to Reductionism

Neuroscientific evidence increasingly shows that consciousness is a remarkable but explainable function of a machinelike brain.

Anthropology Biology Evolution Psychology Animal Behavior Natural History Rationalism
Creatures Both Serene and Deeply Strange

The nature-based sculptures of Ellen Jewett blend the familiar with the fantastical.

Anthropology Art Biology Communications Aesthetics Anatomy Botany Nature Conservation Zoology
Discovering the Urinary Microbiome

For more than a century, doctors thought urine was sterile. Now, microbiology breakthroughs are revolutionizing diagnosis and treatment of urinary tract infections.

Biology Medicine Microbiology
The Enduring Forest Gardens of the Ancient Maya

Maya agroforestry practices have persisted sustainably since the time of prehistoric civilizations.

Agriculture Anthropology Archaeology Ecology

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