Read our May 2024 Issue on Life in the Pyrocene

Dear Friend of Scientific American, Do you ever feel physically uncomfortable from unwanted noise? A bunch of new research shows that noise is more than just annoying – it can be dangerous. It's been linked to heart disease, sleep disruption, learning delays and of course hearing loss. We hope our graphics-rich feature on noise and health will help advance policies to reduce noise. Relatedly in this issue, we advocate for making cities more pedestrian-friendly (and less clogged with honking cars) and share the health benefits of spending time in nature. I hope you're enjoying a lovely springtime and are able to enjoy some peace and quiet outdoors. The strongest force in nature is the strong force, which keeps the quarks and neutrons and protons in atomic nuclei stuck together. It's also one of the most mysterious forces in nature, but physicists are finally starting to understand how it works. They're starting to measure just how strong it is (strong!) and how it falls off with distance. Three leading strong-force researchers explain how they've been able to test the strong force and describe the particle that carries it, the gluon. Many of us at Scientific American are birders, and we love sharing stories about how parrots are taking over the world, how birds use quantum physics to migrate, how they flutter their wings at their mates to say "after you," and why they have such skinny legs. In the May issue, a natural history researcher explains how feathers evolved and how they are specialized for different types of flying, feeding, hunting and showing off. I hope you are enjoying spring migration if you are into birds – and if you're not a birder yet, this is a great time of year to start. We are living in the pyrocene, the great age of fire. Here's how humanity shaped fire and fire shaped humanity across millennia, from our digestive tracts to our energy grids. Finally, tardigrades are some of the quirkiest and most robust animals in the history of life on Earth. They're basically indestructible (they've lived through exposure to space) and researchers just discovered one mechanism these adorably pudgy "water bear" creatures use to go into deep hibernation, almost like a fungal spore, to withstand any threat. Thanks for your support of Scientific American, and we all hope you enjoy the May issue. Laura Helmuth Editor-in-Chief Scientific American Read the Issue May Issue Highlights Quiet! Our Loud World Is Making Us Sick Experts describe ways to turn down the volume, from earbuds to smartphone apps that detect harmful noise levels. Read More   The Secret to the Strongest Force in the Universe New discoveries demystify the bizarre force that binds atomic nuclei together. Read More   Why Feathers Are One of Evolution's Cleverest Inventions Fossil and living birds reveal the dazzling biology of feathers. Read More   Fire Forged Humanity. Now It Threatens Everything Ancient prophecies of worlds destroyed by fire are becoming realities. How will we respond? Read More   Cute Little Tardigrades Are Basically Indestructible, and Scientists Just Figured Out One Reason Why Tardigrades are microscopic animals that can survive a host of conditions that are too extreme to ever occur on Earth—and scientists want to learn their secrets. Read More

Read the latest issue! How fire forged human civilization. Read Now

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