Glen Taylor came because he was being plagued by spirits. While his two daughters wandered the stations set up for Identification (ID) Day in the Grand Gallery of the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH), Glen waited in line for Anibal Rodriguez and Nell Murphy, who were staffing the anthropology table. He cradled an ornate [...]

That’s right! After a bit of a delay, the #NYCSciTweetUp is back! Save the date for March 29th, at the Peculier Pub in NYC. Updated details will be posted on the Facebook page (as they always are). And as per the norm, for more information you can always: Read “What Is: #NYCSciTweetUp” Follow the #NYCSciTweetUp hashtag on Twitter [...]

I have three beautiful nieces. One is thirteen, one just turned two, and the littlest one will be celebrating her first birthday on Friday. They’re all experiencing various stages of change and undergoing assorted adjustments. The thirteen-year-old is in middle school, and is negotiating a new social landscape with both her friends and her parents. [...]

Tomorrow the #NYCSciTweetUp and The Story Collider will partner for an evening of science, stories, and beer! The Story Collider invites people to share the roles that science has played in their lives. From humble beginnings like the #NYCSciTweetUp, The Story Collider has grown immensely, attracting a diverse showing that highlights the broad, and sometimes [...]

It’s almost time! Will you be there? Next Tuesday, the #NYCSciTweetUp and The Story Collider will partner for an evening of science, stories, and beer! The Story Collider invites people to share the roles that science has played in their lives. From humble beginnings like the #NYCSciTweetUp, The Story Collider has grown immensely, attracting a [...]

Edit: The Story Collider is a ticketed event. The cost to attend is $8.00 and tickets can be purchased at The Story Collider website. At the door, the price to attend will be $10.00. There is no fee to attend the #NYCSciTweetUp.   Like science? Like stories? Well, hold on to your beakers and field [...]

Every single day, all across the globe, extraordinarily creative and talented students sit in our classrooms bored out of their minds. These budding innovators may differ drastically in what particular domain captivates their attention, whether it’s science and engineering, architecture and design, arts, music and entertainment, business and finance, law, or health care. Nevertheless, as Richard Florida [...]

  Two graduate students from the City University of New York’s  NOAA-CREST program showed me this simple experiment, above, for young kids. The three of us volunteered at an Earth Day fair at a New York City elementary school on Friday, and kids were mesmerized by it. It illustrates the concepts of accretion — when [...]

Earlier this week The New York Times profiled the director of the M.I.T. Museum and founder of the Cambridge Science Festival, John Durant. The piece mentioned that science festivals have been multiplying across the country; last year there were more than 20. According to the Times: “A science festival has more in common with a film, [...]

A new report from the Thomas B. Fordham Institute paints a grim picture of state science standards across the United States. But it also reveals some intriguing details about exactly what’s going wrong with the way many American students are learning science. Standards are the foundation upon which educators build curricula, write textbooks and train [...]

Got a Jack-O-Lantern that’s past its prime? In the story below, Rose Eveleth reports on one creative way of tossing it. David Bodmer is the Robotics Engineering teacher at Mt. Olive High School in Flanders, New Jersey. Every year he leads a team of students in a nation-wide robotics competition. But last year they started [...]

Several Scientific American staffers recently flew out to Mountain View, Calif. for the culmination of Google’s first annual science fair. SA was an event sponsor, and editor-in-chief Mariette DiChristina served as a judge and as the awards dinner host. We were impressed with all 15 finalists: they were bright, engaging, articulate – and, of course, [...]

Say what you will about Sam Harris, the man’s got guts. In The End of Faith (W. W. Norton, 2005) and Letter to a Christian Nation (Knopf, 2006), Harris, a neuroscientist, rejects the notion that science and religion can coexist. We can’t believe in science, Harris says, and still believe in supernatural beings that part [...]

When my 18-year old self walked into a tattoo parlor on South Street in Philadelphia, I had no idea I was joining a movement of tattooed scientists, embellishing their bodies with symbols of their passions. My little chickadee, a bird that continues to fascinate me despite its commonness, now inspires jabs of “put a bird [...]

Erica Feuerbacher smiles when she talks, and why shouldn’t she? As a doctoral candidate at the University of Florida with the Canine Cognition and Behavior Lab, she spends a lot of time with dogs (or at least dogs in the form of data). Through her research, she meets many, many, many dogs, some of whom [...]

For the past few days we’ve covered some of the scientists on board through their PI’s: Kay Bidle, Jack DiTullio and Rachel, Petey and Jacob, Marco Coolen and Cherel, Anna Martins, Assaf and his gang. But there are still some scientists you haven’t met yet. Let’s go alphabetically. Benjamin Bailleul is a physicist turned physical [...]

We’re in a new location now after a few days of steaming around looking for Ehux. Plankton hunting is a science, but I’ve learned that it’s also an art. The team uses really high tech satellite data to point them in the right direction. Satellites can measure chlorophyll content of the water, currents and the [...]

Editor’s note: Marine geophysicist Robin Bell is leading an expedition to Antarctica to explore a mysterious mountain range beneath the ice sheet. Following is the nineteenth of her updates on the effort as part of ScientificAmerican.com’s in-depth report on the "Future of the Poles." AGAP SOUTH CAMP, ANTARCTICA–The camp skiway is a three-mile long strip [...]

When I glossed over the list of Nobel laureates that attended the Lindau meetings in the first few decades, I was ashamed to discover that I only recognized a few. And when I did, it was rarely because I was familiar with the laureate or his work. I only knew the Nobel laureate   Otto [...]

Arthur Stanley Eddington was an interesting fellow. The English astrophysicist who photographed the solar eclipse that validated Einstein’s theory of general relativity was also a Quaker, a pacifist, and a clever popular writer. In his 1928 book The Nature of the Physical World [1] he began by noting that he had before him two tables: [...]

Cheese is an everyday artifact of microbial artistry. Discovered accidentally when someone stored milk in a stomach-canteen full of gut microbes, acids, and enzymes thousands of years ago, cheesemaking evolved as a way to use good bacteria to protect milk from the bad bacteria that can make us sick, before anyone knew that bacteria even [...]

Sometimes one gets a sinking feeling. Here we are on the cusp of so very many things in science, from finding other Earths, to understanding the extraordinary organisms right under our noses, and even detecting the fundamental particles that help build all that we see. We are also in the midst of an incredible flourishing [...]

Scientific illustration has a long and noble history, from ancient depictions of celestial forms to Leonardo Da Vinci’s extraordinary drawings of anatomy and invention, to the latest computer-generated animation splashed across CNN or – perhaps with more reflective thought – the cinematic screens of the world’s great science museums. In English the word ‘illustrate’ has [...]

In 1993, Americans elected the first physicist to Congress: Vern Ehlers, a Republican from Michigan. Just six years later, former assistant director of Princeton’s Plasma Physics Laboratory, Rush Holt, a Democrat from New Jersey, joined him. And in 2008, Fermilab physicist and Illinois Democrat Bill Foster joined them, only to lose re-election in 2010 before [...]

“Global society operates as a network of creativity and innovation.”–John Sexton, writing in Scientific American. In the October 2012 issue, we publish our Global Science Scorecard, a ranking of nations on how well they do science—not only on the quality and quantity of basic research but also on their ability to project that research into [...]

Photosynthesis is the single most important transformation on Earth. Using the energy in sunlight, all plants—from single-celled algae to towering redwoods—knit carbon dioxide and water into food and release oxygen as a byproduct. Every year, humanity uses up roughly 40 percent of the planet’s photosynthesis for our own purposes—from feeding a growing population to biofuels. [...]

As my Amtrak train rolled past the “Lancaster” sign, the window view alighted on the upright figure of an Amish farmer and his mule-team-pulled hand plow, working the verdant Pennsylvania land just as his forefathers have done here for more than two centuries. I remembered that I was only some 33 miles from Dover, Pa., [...]

Yesterday I asked: what is the best pop science song of all time? Here’s where we stand: on the shoulder of giants (with apologies to Sir Isaac). One of those giants is Ryan Reid, our digital art guru, who not long ago did a wonderful post on 10 songs inspired by science. So one answer [...]

Yesterday we ran a story about calculations that confirmed earlier news that physicists may be on the verge of discovering the existence of the Higgs boson, which, if it turns out to be true, would be one of the biggest science stories of all time. What concerns me here, though, is not science so much [...]

The touching stories that advocacy groups are so good at telling—the 49-year old mother whose breast cancer was detected by an early mammogram before it had spread; the 60-year-old neighbor who had a prostate tumor removed thanks to a routine PSA test—should inspire scientists to use anecdotes of their own, argue two doctors from the [...]

Seven scientists, mostly in molecular biology and genetics, received the National Medal of Science, and five innovators were awarded the technology version, the White House announced this week. “Each of these extraordinary scientists, engineers, and inventors is guided by a passion for innovation, a fearlessness even as they explore the very frontiers of human knowledge, [...]

Since the turn of the 21st century, the number scientific papers published predominantly by Chinese researchers in any of the Nature journals has risen from six to nearly 150 according to a new index published by Nature on May 12. (Scientific American is part of Nature Publishing Group.) Campuses such as Tsinghua University and Peking [...]

As a kid, I often spent an afternoon after a big rain storm with my brothers tromping down to a local drainage stream to see what the water had washed in. And it wasn’t unusual to find us sitting around the kitchen table with our hands coated in a green, oozy cornstarch-and-water mixture, wondering at [...]

Shallow-water octopuses can be difficult enough to find. They camouflage against corals, hide in holes and generally make themselves scarce. But researchers can at least attempt to observe and collect them by snorkeling, diving or skimming nets and bottom trawls. The rest of the vast, dark ocean, however, presents a much larger sampling challenge. So [...]

Of the hundreds of known octopus species, most are anti-social, practice safe sex (to avoid getting eaten by a mate) and lay just one clutch of eggs before dying. The poorly understood larger Pacific striped octopus, however, seems to break from these conventions: They are somewhat social, they mate face-to-face, and the females produce multiple [...]

Look out, North Carolina — Texas is not going to let you run away with the title of State Most Shamefully Committed to the Stupid Political Ruination of Science. Despite North Carolina’s impressive recent yearlong streak of stunning science-related legislative psychosis — from legislating against the sea itself to removing scientists from scientific commissions to [...]

I don’t have time for this. I am busy. I am on deadline for a project that actually pays the money that puts the macaroni and cheese in my children’s mouths. So as much as I love this blog I don’t have time to update right now. Except here goes. North Carolina? You remember: the [...]

On January 30, Plugged In’s unquenchable interest in infrastructure expressed itself in an actual tour of an infrastructure system itself. As part of ScienceOnline2013, the fabulous science/scientist/communications convention/festival/love-in held every year in my own city of Raleigh,  I led a tour of the stormwater tunnels beneath the city of Raleigh. I know all about these [...]

So you thought the nuttiest thing we did in North Carolina this week was appoint a director of child development and early education who was against … um, early education. What’s wrong with you: have you never heard of North Carolina before? This is the NEW North Carolina, with a new governor and bulletproof majorities [...]

In North Carolina, as you well know, we like our science with a side of crazy. The old Flying Burrito Brothers tune says, “The scientists say it’ll all wash away, but we don’t believe them anymore,” and we love our country music here, so we made quite a splash with the legislative nuh-unhs about sea [...]

In Raleigh, the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences has been building its Nature Research Center, a brand new extension to the museum focusing not just on science but on how science is done. It’s all awesome, and it opens today, April 20. You could talk all day about it — and, full disclosure, as [...]

Okay, so we all had a swell time: the floor starts jiggling like a jello-mold, and those of us who didn’t run outside ran to Twitter, and it was on. Within seconds we were linking to the USGS site, the sites for the impenetrable Richter Scale and the simple, purely descriptive Modified Mercalli Scale (“III. Vibrations similar [...]

I love Paris. I love science films. Oh, to watch science films in Paris! This is possible due to the Pariscience International Film Festival, to be held October 3-8, 2013. Take a look at this beautiful segment from the documentary, Hummingbirds-Jewelled Messengers: This film won the Buffon award (who’s Comte de Buffon?) at the 2012 [...]

I am writing this to you from New Delhi, India as I am here with the International Reporting Project as a New Media Specialist! We have been in the crowded, bustling, port city of Mumbai, the central city of Nagpur (home of several tiger refuges), the rural village area of Gadchiroli, and finally to the [...]

Back in October, I opened my email to find an interesting invitation for me to apply for a trip to India as part of a special International Reporting Project bloggers’ trip focusing on child survival and related issues of health and development. The trip described in full “The trip will focus on issues of child [...]

When a high speed object collides with force, we tend to focus on the spectacular (yet potentially devastating) view from a macro scale, but Duke scientists have been researching what that incredible energy transfer looks like at the level of sand and dirt size particles. “High-speed video of projectiles slamming into a bed of disks [...]

Dogs are great at learning things. They love to be taught how to fetch, roll over, and heel, for instance. You can also teach them physics. Physicist Chad Orzel has proven this with his two books “How to Teach Physics to your Dog” and the more specialized, “How to Teach Relativity to Your Dog“. Here, [...]

What a reddit find! Physics student Tim Blais has begun an odyssey of creating harmonically enjoyable science-packed song videos! On his Facebook page, he describes it as “An educational and utterly nerdy online video project.” I’m all for that! On his about page, we read: “A Capella Science is an online video project by Tim [...]

This is a follow up to my last post about Science Video Brainstorming. Thank you everyone who has kindly donated toward my trip to VidCon 2012! I have enough for a plane ticket! Please continue your generous donations in any amount so I can have a place to stay and food to eat! Recall that [...]

Looks like I’m in for a great summer full of science video goodness! At the end of June, both Carin and I will be heading to an unconference (taking a clue from Bora from Science Online) called BrainSTEM at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Canada (maybe I’ll get to wave at Stephen Hawking!)  We will be [...]

Before everyone gets their feathers ruffled that this casting call is looking for a male, just know he is to be a co-host to a female. Now that that is clear….. SEEKING CO-HOST FOR MAJOR CABLE NETWORK Major Cable Network dedicated to Nature, Science and Exploration, is currently casting a Co-Host for new project examining [...]

Mid-February, I took a science-themed trip to Chicago. I absolutely had to visit the new orphaned baby otter adopted by the Shedd Aquarium. I also could not turn down a chance to offer a one year happy birthday greeting to the two toed sloth born at Lincoln Park Zoo last year around Valentine’s Day. First, [...]

I never noticed how hard it was to get around with wheels until I had a stroller to push. Stairs and curbs are everywhere, and taking the most direct route is never an option – retrofitted buildings either tuck handicapped entrances around the sides of buildings or require you to zig and zag before you [...]

There’s an interesting website that just launched recently that focuses on the infographic. It’s called Visual.ly, and one of its goals is to provide a platform for designers to upload their best infographics and get noticed. It’s an interesting concept that, among other things, makes for a great procrastination tool as you sift through their [...]

The intersection of science and art is bustling with activity. With this weekly-ish post, we’ll try to keep you abreast of the most happenin’ happenings around the country. Don’t miss out! SCIART LECTURES/EVENTS Beacon, NY’s Annual Open Studio Event (Beacon, NY) September 24-25, 2011; 12-6pm | Take a tour of scientific illustrator Chris Sanders‘ and [...]

In researching the carbon cycle recently, I came across the diagram above illustrating how carbon cycles through the atmosphere and into the ocean, through shells and rock, then magma only to be spewn out as gas into the atmosphere again via volcanoes. I thought it did a nice job of conveying the information, but I [...]

This time of year seems to carry many deadlines for exhibitions and imagery contests. I thought it might help to list a few of the competitions I know about with their deadlines for submission so that you scienceart peeps could submit the schpectacular work I know you’re sitting on. If you know of any I’m [...]

I recently came across this beautiful illustration of Umoonasaurus from a 2006 paper by Kear et. al, describing a new species of plesiosaur found in opal deposits in Australia (opalescent dinosaurs? Dream come true!!!) The illustration immediately caught my eye but the article I accessed failed to credit the artist (inconsistency in crediting artists and [...]

There have been a whole slew of articles about the merits of eating bugs lately. The Atlantic, The New York Times, and The New Yorker have all run articles within the last month on various people in Europe and the US who are trying to reverse our deep aversion to entomophagy, the practice of eating [...]

Paleontologists: honk if this has happened to you. A one-of-a-kind fossil is discovered in “Eastern Mozamberia.” Rumors fly at conferences about its importance and everyone eagerly awaits the publication that will introduce it to the world. Years pass. Still waiting. The scientist who is sitting on the data is notoriously tight-lipped and won’t let anyone [...]

When you think of chemistry, no doubt images of scientists in white lab coats swirling beakers and test tubes come to mind. Ever wonder where those beakers and test tubes originated? If your answer is a big science catalog like Fisher Scientific or Chemglass or the like, you’re probably right… some percentage of the time. [...]

Before you draw conclusions from my recent post that I am some bitter photography-hater, I want to set the record straight. I am not a photography-hater (although I reserve the right to be a stock-photography-stealing-good-illustration-opportunities hater), and to prove it to you, I want to introduce you to the future of photography. I recently got [...]

That is the title of a new book by two quantitatively oriented sociologists. The Harvard University Press offering goes beyond the reflexive and often  pessimistic assumptions that often imbue discussions about future prospects for U.S. science and technology.  Xu Xie of the University of Michigan and Alexandra A. Killewald of Harvard answer the self-posed query [...]

In 1915, an exceptionally bright Italian youngster walked the two miles from his home to the Campo dei Fiori in Rome to hunt for science books in the weekly market fair. His step was determined and his face was grim. His countenance hid the fact that he was trying to recover from a great tragedy, [...]