Laura Helmuth
Editor in Chief of Scientific American, @sciam.bsky.social Formerly at Washington Post, National Geographic, Slate, Smithsonian, Science. Past prez National Association of Science Writers. Birder
Pasteurization Kills Bird Flu Virus in Milk, New Studies Confirmwww.scientificamerican.com Flash pasteurization destroyed H5N1 viral particles that were highly concentrated in raw milk, confirming that standard techniques can keep dairy products safe from bird flu
Pasteurization Kills Bird Flu Virus in Milk, New Studies Confirmwww.scientificamerican.com Flash pasteurization destroyed H5N1 viral particles that were highly concentrated in raw milk, confirming that standard techniques can keep dairy products safe from bird flu
Vaccines Are the Safest Health Hackwww.scientificamerican.com Vaccines are a cornerstone of a healthy immune system—and a healthy life
Supreme Court’s ‘Chevron Deference’ Decision Could Make Science-Based Regulation Harderwww.scientificamerican.com The Supreme Court overturned Chevron deference, a 40-year legal principle that has shaped the role of government agencies. The outcome could affect medication approval, pollution regulation, and more
Why Hurricane Beryl Underwent Unprecedented Rapid Intensificationwww.scientificamerican.com Hurricane Beryl exploded in strength from a tropical depression to a Category 4 major hurricane unusually early in its development in part because of exceptionally warm ocean waters
AI Chatbots Seem as Ethical as a New York Times Advice Columnistwww.scientificamerican.com Large language models lack emotion and self-consciousness, but they appear to generate reasonable answers to moral quandaries
This 1920s Debate Explains Why So Many Americans Hate the News Mediawww.scientificamerican.com Brawls over the honesty of online and cable news today owe their origins to World War I and a debate that divides us still
Quack Cancer Diets Endanger People. Stick to Science-Backed Medicinewww.scientificamerican.com False cures and dangerous misinformation, from the misguided to the exploitative, surround cancer patients, with the capacity to do serious harm
Ancient Egyptian Scribes Suffered Back Pain, Toowww.scientificamerican.com The skeletons of scribes from ancient Egypt show deterioration from sitting and kneeling
Are Pets Really Good for Health?www.scientificamerican.com It turns out there’s little good evidence that pets benefit our physical or mental health
Here's What We Know about Stutteringwww.scientificamerican.com Stuttering is a complex neurodevelopmental condition, and learning about its causes will hopefully reduce the stigma surrounding it
SpaceX Wins $843-Million NASA Contract to Destroy the International Space Stationwww.scientificamerican.com The world will be watching—literally—as SpaceX tackles possibly what might be its highest-stakes endeavor to date: safely destroying the beloved International Space Station
People Who Are Fat and Healthy May Hold Keys to Understanding Obesitywww.scientificamerican.com “Heavy and healthy” can be a rare or common condition. But either way it may signal that some excess weight is just fine
Boeing’s Starliner Leaves Astronauts Stuck but Safe in Spacewww.scientificamerican.com On its first crewed flight, troubling technical glitches with Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft have left two astronauts in limbo onboard the International Space Station
Whales Are Dying but Not from Offshore Windwww.scientificamerican.com Politicians and nonprofit groups have blamed offshore wind turbines for whale deaths, but the science doesn’t support those claims—at all
Supreme Court’s ‘Chevron Deference’ Decision Could Make Science-Based Regulation Harderwww.scientificamerican.com The Supreme Court is considering the fate of Chevron deference, a 40-year legal principle that has shaped the role of government agencies. The outcome could affect medication approval, pollution regul...