Anatomy of One of Canada s Worst and Most Costly Natural Disasters
Canadian officials taking stock of the deluge that occurred in mid-June in Alberta have started to characterize it as the worst flood in the province’s history.
Observations
Opinion, arguments & analyses from guest experts and from the editors of Scientific American
Satellite Gets First Look at Sun s Tail
Astronomers just got their first good look in the solar system’s rearview mirror. What they see is a magnetic tail that twists like a corkscrew.Although we tend to think of the sun as stationary with the planets orbiting about it, in fact the solar system is plowing through the galaxy at a million miles per hour...
Toxic Burn Pits at U.S. Marine Base in Afghanistan Threaten Health
Open-air pits in which toxic materials are burned are still being used at bases in Afghanistan, new data suggests.A report from the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction warns that at one 13,500-person Marine base in Helmand province in Afghanistan U.S...
Next Mars Rover Will Seek Out Signs of Past Life
NASA officials have revealed their vision for what comes after the wildly successful Curiosity rover on Mars. Think of it as Curiosity Plus. Using Curiosity’s design as a starting point, Mars 2020 (as it’s currently known) will be another rover digging around the surface of the red planet...
Are Pipelines Safer Than Railroads for Carrying Oil?
The glut of new oil in North America has been accompanied by a boom in moving that petroleum by train. Railway traffic of crude oil in tankers has more than doubled in volume since 2011—and such transport led to tragedy in the early hours of July 6...
Mystery Lingers around Origin of GM Wheat in Oregon
When the fresh wheat samples arrived at her lab this spring, Carol Mallory-Smith, a weed scientist, didn’t know what to expect. The concerned farmer who sent them had contacted her because a patch of wheat had refused to die after being treated with a powerful herbicide called Roundup...
Today the Earth Falls Towards the Sun
Notice anything different today? Is the sun looking a little smaller? Or the Earth moving a little slowly?Well, today is Aphelion Day.Around 11 A.M. Eastern, Earth passes through the point in its orbit that is farthest from the sun, a point called the aphelion...
Do Fireworks Resemble the True Sights and Sounds of the U.S. s Key Historical Battles?
After witnessing the British bombardment of Fort McHenry during the Battle of Baltimore on the night of September 13, 1814, Francis Scott Key was moved to immortalize the scene in what became the U.S...
Gravity-Defying, Self-Siphoning Metal Beads Explained [Video]
The effect is as astonishing as it is hypnotic: a chain of metal beads magically arcs above its container as the beads fall to the ground. The beads in the video, made by Steve Mould, who hosts several BBC science shows, are not magnetic, either...
Vote for the Best Summer Books on Science
Earlier this month, Scientific American editors and contributors published a list of this summer's best science books, collecting titles from the "Recommended" page in our magazine and the "Books" section of our website.Now we want to bring you closer to the authors of these books...
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