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Please make sure you are signed in to scientificamerican.com.

Users of scientificamerican.com need a subscription to get access to our articles. If you are not a paid subscriber you may be offered a limited number of articles to view, and you may be offered limited additional content if you sign up for our newsletters. With a subscription, you will receive online access to the issues as well as news, videos, opinion articles and podcasts.

To learn more about our subscriptions, click here.

Please email us if you have questions or feedback.

We accept Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Discover credit cards. Print subscribers may pay by check or money order drawn in USD. For information about paying by check, please email us.

We support the latest operating systems, and the latest versions of the following browsers, set to accept all cookies:

Chrome/Mobile Chrome

Firefox

Safari/Mobile Safari

Android

Microsoft Edge

On a desktop, laptop, or mobile browser, the sign in is on the upper right of the screen.  Click on the user symbol, then click on Sign In.

Next, click “I don’t have an account” on the bottom of the sign in window. Enter your first and last names, email address, enter a password, and click the “Create Account” button.

In the app, tap the “Settings” icon on the lower right. Tap Sign In at the top, then tap “I don't have an account” on the bottom of the sign in window. Enter your first and last names, email address, enter a password, then tap the “Create Account” button.

On a desktop, laptop, or mobile browser, the sign in is on the upper right of the screen.  Click on the user symbol, then click on Sign In.

In the app, Scientific American subscribers sign in by tapping the Settings button on the lower right.  In-app subscribers (Apple or Google Play customers) do not sign into the app.

On a desktop, laptop, or mobile browser, the sign in is on the upper right of the screen.  Click on the user symbol, then click on Sign In.

Next, click on “I forgot my password.” Enter your email address and click the Reset button. You will receive an email with a link to update your password (please check your spam or junk folder if you do not see it in your inbox).

In the App:  Tap the Settings button on the lower right of the app.  Tap Sign In. Tap “I forgot my password.” Tap the email field to enter your email and tap the Reset button. Enter your email address and click the Reset button. You will receive an email with a link to update your password (please check your spam or junk folder if you do not see it in your inbox).

On a desktop, laptop, or mobile browser, the sign in is on the upper right of the screen. Click on the user symbol, then click on Sign In.

The user symbol will change to a color circle with your initials. Click on this, then click on My Account. Click on the Profile tab, change your email address, and click the “Save Changes” button.  Mobile browsers can scroll the tab menu horizontally to find the Profile tab on the right.

In the App: At this time, you cannot change your email address in the app.  Please go to scientificamerican.com and sign in to change your email address.

If you are using a desktop, laptop, or mobile browser, sign in to scientificamerican.com and then scroll down until you see the latest issue on a charcoal background.  Click on Explore Archive.

At the top of the Archive are two different timeline menus to navigate to specific decades and years. Click on issues in the Archive to go to that issue's download page. 

If you are using the app, tap the Magazines icon on the bottom to go to the app Archive. Issues with a checkmark cloud are downloaded. Issues with a down arrow cloud are not downloaded. Tap the down arrow cloud to download the issue. Please note, the app archive contains issues from the last few years only.

Scientific American welcomes your feedback!  Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Tiktok, Reddit and YouTube to comment on articles, news and videos.  Where a comments forum is offered, we ask that you follow our Community Guidelines. 

Scientific American reserves the right to delete comments and revoke commenting privileges from the site and social media pages without notice.

Letters to the Editor can be sent in an email, or to the following address:

Scientific American
Letters to the Editor
1 New York Plaza
Suite 4600
New York, NY 10004