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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Alternative energy: The "wave" of the future?
The crux of the global warming crisis is how to reduce energy-related carbon dioxide emissions while keeping the lights on. A new In-Depth Report by ScientificAmerican.com takes a look at future technologies that might help...
The E-mail from hell: Had fun last night, may have given you an STD
If the Web is such an effective dating vehicle, why not also use it to alert the participants of the consequences of hookups gone bad? That's the idea behind inSPOT, which uses short and not so sweet electronic postcards to quickly spread, so to speak, the news that a partner has a sexually transmitted disease (STD)...
Study clears acrylamide of gastrointestinal cancer link
Lovers of foods cooked at high temps will be happy to know that a new study indicates a chemical called acrylamide, which forms in French fries, chips, cereals, coffee, cakes and other palate-pleasers, apparently does not raise the risk of gastrointestinal cancer...
Spinal cord stem-cell trial could start soon, report says
A clinical trial that would test the use of embryonic stem cells to treat spinal cord injury could begin within three months. The Scientist is reporting that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) may lift its hold on a trial sponsored by California biotech Geron Corp...
Could a mild flu pandemic prevent a more deadly one?
A mild first wave of flu pandemic could reduce deaths from a future outbreak of more severe infection, a new analysis suggests.
A review of the effects of the 1918 flu pandemic on American soldiers and British sailors and civilians found that people who were infected during the first, milder spring and summer wave had a 35 percent to 94 percent lower risk of catching the more severe strain than those who weren't infected earlier...
Presidential health: "Need to know" is subjective
How much do voters need to know about a presidential candidate's health, and what information should politicians be obligated to share?
The New York Times takes an in-depth look at those questions today, concluding that candidates are sharing less medical information now than in some recent elections, despite candidates' previous health concerns...
Queen Latifah, science geek? That's the buzz
Here at Scientific American , we’re quite proud of our 163-year history. We especially like to point out that nearly 140 Nobel Prize winners have written for us – including three of those who won last week...
If I could turn back time, I'd buy Einstein's watch
Is a wristwatch worth more than half a million dollars? If it belonged to Albert Einstein, the answer isn't relative.
An anonymous bidder has coughed up $596,000 for a gold wristwatch worn by the physicist whose special theory of relativity proposed that time slows down or speeds up depending on how fast things are moving...
Rein in lead, EPA tells states
For the first time in 30 years, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has tightened limits on lead emissions, a move that will require states to crack down on polluters that spew more than 1,300 tons of the metal annually...
"Radical change" needed for storm water disposal program
Federal environmental regulators must make "radical change" to the U.S. storm water program to clean up the nation's water and reverse degradation, a new report says.
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