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
Recent Posts
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Sickle-cell anemia can lead to lower IQ scores, study shows
Symptoms of sickle-cell anemia often include severe pain and other major medical complications, but a new study shows that the disease might also decrease cognitive abilities in young and middle-aged adults...
Balls rolling uphill (or so it would appear) win Best Illusion of the Year honors
To construct the deceptive contraption he would enter in an international illusion contest, Kokichi Sugihara contravened a deeply held intuition: gravity works.
Orcas Spotted Off of LA Coastline
Though they are routinely found in the waters off of California, large marine mammals like killer whales don’t usually come so close to shore – it seems they prefer to stick to the farther side of the channel islands...
Editor’s Selections: Visual Illusions, Oversharing on the Web, and Magical Healing Mice
Here are my ResearchBlogging Editor’s Selections for this week. This week, Psychology and Neuroscience blogging brings us some fantastic science, as always.
Another New Scibling
Deborah Blum has plugged herself into the Borg, and brought her blog Speakeasy Science along with her for the ride. She says: Although my most recent book, The Poisoner’s Handbook, is about murder and the invention of forensic toxicology in the early 20th century, my earlier works have focused on primate research, the science of [...]..
Schizophrenia shares genetic links with autism, genome study shows
Schizophrenia involves some of the same genetic variations as autism and attention deficit disorders, a new whole-genome study has confirmed.
Schizophrenia, which affects about 1.5 percent of the U.S...
Monday Pets: How Do Dogs Learn New Words?
…and what can word-learning in dogs teach us about the evolution of language in humans? What is involved in the learning of a single new word?
Reggie The Alligator Gets It On
Figure 1: Reggie the Alligator, in 2007. (source) Reggie is getting a girlfriend.
Rule #1: Giving Talks
[Data collection fortnight ends today. And then we shall return to our regularly scheduled programming. Until then, here's Rule #1, from the archives.] If you are giving a talk, or teaching a class, or are otherwise responsible for transmitting content from your brain to other peoples’ brains, you should be able to give that talk [...]..
Out, damn'd decision: Hand washing helps us live with our choices
Shakespeare's Lady Macbeth could never wash away the guilt of murder from her hands, but research has shown that the simple act of hand washing—or even using a wipe—can in fact help people clean their conscience of dirty deeds...
Blog Index
@ScientificAmerican
STAFFBehind the scenes at Scientific American
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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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Guest Blog
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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