Scientific American Magazine 2023-10-01

Timmy Broderick

Scientists are now growing mycelium, the fungal root network, into fire-retardant sheets to provide a safer, nontoxic way to protect buildings

Fungi Make Safer Fireproofing Material

Lucy Tu

Mammals munching on dinosaurs in China, Greenland&rsquo;s melted past, coral catastrophe in Florida, and much more in this month&rsquo;s Quick Hits

Science News Briefs from around the World: October 2023

Mark Fischetti

History: October 2023

Riley Black

A key genetic mutation&mdash;harmful in humans&mdash;may have opened the sky to bats

Mutated Gene That Causes Webbed Limbs in Humans May Have Given Bats Wings

Scientists accidentally discover metals that mend themselves without human intervention

Some Metals Mysteriously Heal Their Own Cracks

Carolyn Wilke

Male hellbender salamanders normally tend their young, but lately they&rsquo;ve been devouring them instead

Cannibalistic Dads May Be Contributing to Hellbender Salamander Declines

Lydia Denworth

New research shows any alcohol can harm your body, but the increased risk may not be huge

How to Figure Out if Moderate Drinking Is Too Risky for You

Jill Langlois

Tilapia skin&rsquo;s collagen can aid in healing burns, fixing heart valves, and more&mdash;and now it can be used for repairing corneas

Fish Skin Can Heal Other Animals' Eye Injuries

Leo DeLuca

An age-old remedy that was prescribed by Hippocrates may be a cheap alternative to antibiotics for those with chronic wounds

Ancient Honey-and-Vinegar Combo Could Actually Treat Infected Wounds

Amanda Hobbs

Sophie Bushwick

Matthew Twombly

Generative AI algorithms use probability to create visuals from noise

See How AI Generates Images from Text

Rachel Crowell

A battery-free GPS may change the game for tracking elusive animals

New Wildlife Tracker Powers Itself as Animals Walk, Trot and Run

Letters to the editors for the May&nbsp;2023 issue of Scientific American

Readers Respond to the May 2023 Issue

Simon Makin

Researchers have created the first nerve-controlled prosthetic hand that can be used in daily life

Above-Elbow Bionic Arm Can Control Every Finger

Amy Brady

Why we&rsquo;re seduced by nature&rsquo;s toxins, horror stories for winter solstice, and more books out this month

A Fictional Psychological Thriller about the Rise of AI

Naomi Oreskes

Awarding Rosalind Franklin a Nobel Prize posthumously for her role in DNA discovery is the honorable&mdash;and scientific&mdash;thing to do

Rosalind Franklin Deserves a Posthumous Nobel Prize for Co-discovering DNA Structure

Jonathan Katz

Poem: 'Message to My Beloved Sibling'

Susan Cosier

A molecular additive allows different kinds of plastic to be recycled together

New Chemical Process Offers Hope for Mixed-Plastics Recycling

Laura Helmuth

Geoengineering is happening, AI wants to talk with animals, and why we aren&rsquo;t going to live in space

Introducing Scientific American's Redesign, Newsletter and Podcasts

Phil Plait

When looking for life in space, we should broaden our horizons

We Need to Widen the 'Habitable Zones' Seen around Alien Stars

Jyoti Madhusoodanan

The most marginalized people are breathing the most polluted air, and improving it could improve health equity worldwide

Fixing Air Pollution Could Dramatically Improve Health Disparities

Allison Parshall

Hotspots beneath cities deform the ground, causing important infrastructure to crack under stress

Underground Climate Change Is Weakening Buildings in Slow Motion

Yessenia Funes

Robert D. Bullard reflects on the movement he helped to create

The Father of Environmental Justice Exposes the Geography of Inequity

Katherine Bourzac

These four researchers are highlighting environmental inequities and improving the health of their communities

People Who Are Changing the Environment One Community at a Time

Rachel Wu

Jessica A. Church

Older people show significant cognitive benefits from learning, provided they have the opportunity to do so

To Stay Sharp as You Age, Learn New Skills

The Editors

As climate change increases the number and severity of natural disasters, an investment in updated building codes will save billions in repairs

Building Codes Save Money and Lives

Jonathan O'Callaghan

Astronomers are piecing together the final moments of supernova 2023ixf and learning more about it than any other in recent history

Nearby Supernova Gives Unique View of a Dying Star's Last Days

Ashli Blow

The disease hits farmworkers and outdoor laborers disproportionately hard

Valley Fever Is a Growing Fungal Threat to Outdoor Workers

Lauren Gravitz

A special package explores problems and solutions to the geography of injustice

For Health Equity, Location Matters

Mario Livio

For centuries, scientific discoveries have suggested humanity occupies no privileged place in the universe. Now, however, studies of worlds beyond our solar system could place meaningful new limits on our existential mediocrity

How Far Should We Take Our Cosmic Humility?

Cassandra Willyard

In low- and middle-income nations, snakebite envenoming is more deadly than almost any other neglected tropical disease

More People Die from Venomous Snakebites Each Year Than Have Ever Died from Ebola

Melba Newsome

People of color, more than other groups, live in neighborhoods prone to excess heat and the illnesses that go with it

Discrimination Has Trapped People of Color in Unhealthy Urban 'Heat Islands'

Rebecca Boyle

Astrophysicist Aomawa Shields recounts her alternative career path in a new memoir about life, space and motherhood

Only 26 Black Women Have Ever Become Astrophysicists in the U.S. Here's One's Story

Sarah Scoles

Medical, financial and ethical hurdles stand in the way of the dream to settle in space

Why We'll Never Live in Space

Douglas Fox

Global warming is so rampant that some scientists say we should begin altering the stratosphere to block incoming sunlight, even if it jeopardizes rain and crops

It's Time to Engineer the Sky

Francesco Franchi

A broad genetic study has revised the prevailing narrative about how wine grapes spread around the world

Scientific American

October 2023

Features

Why We'll Never Live in Space

It's Time to Engineer the Sky

Wine's True Origins Are Finally Revealed

Artificial Intelligence Could Finally Let Us Talk with Animals

Departments