Observations
Masks and Emasculation: Why Some Men Refuse to Take Safety Precautions
They think it makes them look weak, and avoiding that is evidently more important to them than demonstrating responsible behavior
Blogs
Observations
How a Landmark Physics Paper from the 1970s Uncannily Describes the COVID-19 Pandemic
Phil Anderson’s article “More Is Different” describes how different levels of complexity require new ways of thinking. And as the virus multiplies and spreads, that’s just what the human race desperately needs...
Observations
The Fight against COVID-19 Threatens to Cause Collateral Health Damage
The pandemic is no excuse to abandon chronic disease management and prevention
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Carnivorous Plants in 3D: The Stuff of Horror Films!
Professor Enrico Coen from the John Innes Centre (an independent research facility specializing in plant science and microbiology) has been awarded €2.5M EU funding to explore the growth and evolution of carnivorous plants...
Can a Single Brain Cell "Think"? If So, What Does That Imply about the "Neural Code"?
My previous post suggested that two big, ambitious brain-mapping initiatives in Europe and the U.S. might be premature, given that scientists know so little about how physiological processes in the brain generate perceptions, memories, emotions, decisions and other components of the mind...
Historical contingency and the futility of reductionism: Why chemistry (and biology) is not physics
The reductionist zeitgeist of physics cannot “explain” chemistry any more than “entropy” explains the inexorable march of life from birth to death. It’s important to understand what we mean when we say that physics cannot explain chemistry...
Oil Addiction, Not Fracking, Caused the 2011 Oklahoma Earthquakes
Earthquakes have become more than 10 times more common in normally quiescent parts of the U.S., such as Ohio and Oklahoma, in the past few years. Given the simultaneous uptick in fracking—an oil and gas drilling technique that involves fracturing shale rock deep underground with the use of a high pressure water cocktail—it's common to suspect a link...
What is the rightful place of science in society, in minority communities?
In President Barack Obama's 2009 Inauguration Speech, he vowed "to restore science to its rightful place" in society. Hearing those words from him filled me with an excitement and eagerness to do and share science more than before...
Synthetic Classification: The Evolution of Imaginary Animals
Darwin's sketch of an evolutionary tree under the heading "I think" is a powerful and enduring image of his theory evolution by natural selection. Phylogenetic trees--branching diagrams that show the relationships between organisms and their evolution from a common ancestor--are now a standard image in biology texts used to situate an organism in biological space and time...
A Photo Safari at the San Diego Zoo
#PHD2013 is getting closer and closer. In the meantime, here are some more portraits of San Diego Zoo residents, following on from last week's post.Here's an angolan colobus monkey, with some bits of breakfast stuck to its face.An African Grey Parrot, a conspecific of the famous Alex.A menacing Steller's Sea Eagle, the best of all of Steller's birds, according to John McCormack...
Hacking the Planet
Video of the Week #85, March 27th, 2013: From: Hacking the Planet Interview by Brian Malow at But Seriously... . Source: Science Comedian Brian Malow on YouTube A science comedian, a former Scientific American editor, and the senior science correspondent for the Huffington Post walk into a bar.....
‘Extinct’ Indian Gecko Rediscovered After 135 Years
In 1877 a British lieutenant colonel and naturalist named R.H. Beddome looked under a rock in the Indian state of Orissa and discovered a new gecko species.
Pioneering Women in the Geosciences: Introduction
When asked for early geologists, all of us can rattle off names. Some of us may remember Nicolas Steno, the father of stratigraphy. We certainly mention James Hutton (father of deep time) and Charles Lyell (father of modern geology)...
Blog Index
@ScientificAmerican
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Anecdotes from the Archive
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Anthropology in Practice
Exploring the human condition.
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Beautiful Minds
Insights into intelligence, creativity, personality, and well-being
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Budding Scientist
Everything you always wanted to know about raising science-literate kids
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Cross-Check
Critical views of science in the news
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Dark Star Diaries
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Dog Spies
Explore the science behind the dog in your bed
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Extinction Countdown
News and research about endangered species from around the world
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Eye of the Storm
The Science Behind Extreme Weather
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Frontiers for Young Minds
Science by and for kids ages 8-15
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Commentary invited by editors of Scientific American
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Hot Planet
Climate science in a changing world
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Illusion Chasers
Illusions, Delusions, and Everyday Deceptions
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Life, Unbounded
Discussion and news about planets, exoplanets, and astrobiology
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Observations
Opinion, arguments & analyses from guest experts and from the editors of Scientific American
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Roots of Unity
Mathematics: learning it, doing it, celebrating it.
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Rosetta Stones
Adventures in the good science of rock-breaking.
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SA Visual
STAFFIllustrating science since 1845
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Talking back
STAFFA science blog, sans blague
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The Artful Amoeba
A Blog About the Weird Wonderfulness of Life on Earth
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Voices
Exploring and celebrating diversity in science.
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