Health & Medicine
Are pig organs the future of transplantation?
Each year, thousands of people in the U.S. die waiting for donated organs. A new book shares how organs from other species could change that.
Featured Articles in this Issue
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Cover Story
Tear gas and pepper spray can have lasting health effects
The chemicals are widely used for crowd control, but their long-term health risks are poorly understood.
Reviews & Previews
Science Visualized
Animals
Intricate silk helps net-casting spiders ensnare prey in webs
Rufous net-casting spiders can tune the stiffness and elasticity of their webs thanks to loops of silk, scanning electron microscope images reveal.
The Rest is History
Science & Society
On moonshots and Minneapolis
Space exploration can bring people together and reflect deep societal divisions.
More Stories from the April 1, 2026 issue
- Earth
To make a ‘Snowball Earth,’ sci-fi moves fast. Geology is far slower
The Day After Tomorrow, Snowpiercer, Snowball Earth: Such end-of-days visions of a frozen Earth are fantastical … but can contain a snowflake of truth.
- Health & Medicine
GLP-1 microdosers are chasing longevity
Experimenters hope to harness the powerful effects of medications such as Ozempic and Wegovy at doses smaller than those studied most.
- Climate
Halting irreversible changes to Antarctica depends on choices made today
Antarctic Peninsula projections show accelerating ice loss, warming oceans and global sea level impacts tied to greenhouse gas emissions.
- Archaeology
This ancient pottery holds the earliest evidence of humans doing math
Flower designs on 8,000-year-old Mesopotamian pots reveal a “mathematical knowledge” perhaps developed to share land and crops, archaeologists say.
- Physics
A precise proton measurement helps put a core theory of physics to the test
After years of confusion, a new study confirms the proton is tinier than once thought. That enables a test of the standard model of particle physics.
- Genetics
AI tool AlphaGenome predicts how one typo can change a genetic story
The tool helps scientists understand how single-letter mutations and distant DNA regions influence gene activity, shaping health and disease risk.
- Paleontology
Fossilized vomit reveals 290-million-year-old predator’s diet
The regurgitated material from before the time of dinosaurs provides a rare window into the feeding habits of a prehistoric hunter.
- Physics
Physicists dream up ‘spacetime quasicrystals’ that could underpin the universe
Quasicrystals are orderly structures that never repeat. Scientists just showed they can exist in space and time.
- Ecosystems
Food chains in Caribbean coral reefs are getting shorter
Shorter food chains could mean reefs are less able to weather changes in food availability, threatening an already vulnerable ecosystem.
- Earth
Earth’s core may hide dozens of oceans of hydrogen
Hydrogen reserves in Earth’s core large enough to supply at least nine oceans may influence processes on the surface today.
- Neuroscience
The right sounds may turn sleep into a problem-solving tool
Lucid dreamers who heard puzzle-linked soundtracks while sleeping were more likely to solve those unsolved problems the next day.
- Animals
A bonobo’s imaginary tea party suggests apes can play pretend
Apes, like humans, are capable of pretend play, challenging long-held views about how animals think, a new study suggests.
- Physics
A Greek star catalog from the dawn of astronomy, revealed
Researchers are using X-rays to discover invisible markings left on ancient parchment containing information from the Greek astronomer Hipparchus.
- Health & Medicine
Daily cups of caffeinated coffee or mugs of tea may lower dementia risk
A long-term observational study found a link between the amount of tea and caffeinated coffee people drank and the risk of dementia.
- Space
Seismometers can track falling space junk
As the threat of falling spacecraft increases, using earthquake sensors to detect the effects of their sonic booms could better map trajectories.
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Math puzzle: Fresh gridflowers
Solve the math puzzle from our April 2026 issue, where we plant floras to celebrate an upcoming nuptial.
