The Sciences
Measure Yourself by the Standard of the Capybara
We all know a lot of measurements about ourselves. You are some number of feet or meters tall. You weigh some number of pounds, kilograms, or stone.
Roots of Unity
Mathematics: learning it, doing it, celebrating it.
The Sciences
The Slowest Way to Draw a Lute
Last month, I went to a talk by mathematician Annalisa Crannell of Franklin and Marshall College called Math and Art: the good, the bad, and the pretty.
What T.S. Eliot Told Me about the Chain Rule
“We shall not cease from exploration And the end of all our exploring Will be to arrive where we started And know the place for the first time.” --from Little Gidding by T.S...
We Only Need to Fill Out 425 Brackets Each to Win Buffet’s Billion
Warren Buffett’s Bracket Challenge* has put even more of a spotlight than usual on March Madness, the annual NCAA basketball tournament.
The Sciences
A Different Pi for Pi Day
Tired of the circle constant? The prime counting function π(x) is an alternative way to celebrate everyone's favorite Greek letter that sounds like a dessert.
Math
The Math Wars, Lewis Carroll Style
In 1879, Charles Dodgson, better known as Lewis Carroll, published an odd little book called Euclid and his Modern Rivals (available for free at the Internet Archive).
The Sciences
Chasing the Parallel Postulate
The parallel postulate is a stubborn wrinkle in a sheet: you can try to smooth it out, but it never really goes away
The Sciences
Knotted Needles Make Knitted Knots
Mathematician and knitter sarah-marie belcastro uses math to inspire her knitting projects
Hyperbolic Quotes about Hyperbolic Geometry
“The treatise itself, therefore, contains only twenty-four pagesthe most extraordinary two dozen pages in the whole history of thought!” “How different with BolyaiJnos and Lobachvski, who claimed at once, unflinchingly, that their discovery marked an epoch in human thought so momentous as to be unsurpassed by anything recorded in the history of philosophy or of [...]..
Has Anyone Ever Flipped Heads 76 Times in a Row?
Tom Stoppard’s absurdist play Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead begins with one of them, Guildenstern (or is it Rosencrantz?), flipping coins.
Blog Index
@ScientificAmerican
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Anthropology in Practice
Exploring the human condition.
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Beautiful Minds
Insights into intelligence, creativity, personality, and well-being
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Budding Scientist
Everything you always wanted to know about raising science-literate kids
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Cross-Check
Critical views of science in the news
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Dark Star Diaries
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Dog Spies
Explore the science behind the dog in your bed
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Extinction Countdown
News and research about endangered species from around the world
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Eye of the Storm
The Science Behind Extreme Weather
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Frontiers for Young Minds
Science by and for kids ages 8-15
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Guest Blog
Commentary invited by editors of Scientific American
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Hot Planet
Climate science in a changing world
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Illusion Chasers
Illusions, Delusions, and Everyday Deceptions
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Life, Unbounded
Discussion and news about planets, exoplanets, and astrobiology
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Observations
Opinion, arguments & analyses from guest experts and from the editors of Scientific American
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Roots of Unity
Mathematics: learning it, doing it, celebrating it.
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Rosetta Stones
Adventures in the good science of rock-breaking.
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SA Visual
STAFFIllustrating science since 1845
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Talking back
STAFFA science blog, sans blague
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The Artful Amoeba
A Blog About the Weird Wonderfulness of Life on Earth
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Voices
Exploring and celebrating diversity in science.
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