
Return-to-Office Demands Don’t Benefit Employees or Businesses
Donald Trump has joined big firms in demanding workers end remote work. But the evidence suggests that hurts both workers and the work
Dan Vergano is senior opinion editor at Scientific American, where he writes the weekly column Argonaut. He has previously written for Grid News, BuzzFeed News, National Geographic and USA Today. He is chair of the New Horizons committee for the Council for the Advancement of Science Writing and a journalism award judge for both the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.
Return-to-Office Demands Don’t Benefit Employees or Businesses
Donald Trump has joined big firms in demanding workers end remote work. But the evidence suggests that hurts both workers and the work
NIH Funding Cuts Would Hobble U.S. Medical Research, Insider Says
“Laboratories would literally go dark,” says a medical research insider, if Trump administration cuts to NIH funding go through. Patients will suffer from lost medical advances, he tells Scientific American
Elon Musk Can Find His $2-Trillion Federal Spending Cut in Nuclear Weapons
DOGE’s Elon Musk should turn his $2-trillion hatchet to wasteful and perilous U.S. nuclear weapons modernization plans
The Real Reason People Don’t Trust in Science Has Nothing to Do with Scientists
“Propaganda works” is the real upshot of a survey showing lingering postpandemic distrust of science
Grumpy Voters Want Better Stories—Not Statistics
A social scientist looks at the portrait of U.S. voters, and voting, in the aftermath of the 2024 presidential election that put Trump into the White House
Your 2024 Election Rundown, from Health Care to Nuclear Proliferation
The outcome of the 2024 U.S. presidential election could reshape policies from health care at home to nuclear proliferation abroad
Trump’s Racist Rants against Immigrants Hide under the Language of Eugenics
Anti-immigrant rhetoric in the U.S. comes straight out of the playbook of eugenics, deeply dishonest scientism that falsely claims that criminality, poverty and a host of other ills are all genetically inherited
Humanity’s Origins Paint Our Ancestors as Lovers, Not Fighters
Fossil and gene discoveries paint an ever-more-intertwined history of humans combining with vanished species like Neandertals
The Next President Faces Tough Nuclear Weapons Deadlines
Whoever wins the 2024 presidential election will face heightened nuclear geopolitics, deadlines on nuclear deals with Russia and Iran and decisions on a $2-trillion weapons-modernization effort
The Next President Should End the ‘Senate’ Launch System Rocket
Rather than building an obsolescent, obscenely-over-budget jumbo rocket, NASA should turn to building truly innovative space technologies and plan a realistic lunar landing program
Elon Musk Owes His Success to Coming in Second (and Government Handouts)
The world’s richest man, Elon Musk, owes his superstar success to self-satisfied competitors who blew obvious opportunities
People with ‘Havana Syndrome’ Show No Brain Damage or Medical Illness
The largest and most comprehensive studies of ‘Havana Syndrome’ point to stress or group psychology as likely explanations for most “anomalous health incidents”
The Government’s Former UFO Hunter Found Something More Concerning Than Aliens
Sean Kirkpatrick looked into the skies and deep into government archives for extraterrestrials. What he found is, to him, more concerning than little green men.
‘Millennium Falcon’ Comet Sprouts Icy Wings as It Loops around the Sun
Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks, headed for its closest encounter with the sun next year, has started to heat up, leading to a cinematic outburst of icy volcanism