Mind
Minding Our Children s Minds
One of the toughest parts of raising children is helping them leap the emotional and intellectual hurdles of life. As parents, we try to ease their pain when friends snub them.
Streams of Consciousness
The scoop on how we think, feel and act
Mind
Educating Character and Other Lessons from Scientific American MIND
I am happy to be breaking my silence of recent weeks with a preview of the September/October issue of Scientific American Mind . As the summer begins its slow resignation and people anticipate the start of school, our pages revive the ongoing societal debate about the best way to teach our kids...
Sustainability
Star Filmmakers Found in Unlikely Spot
In Tyson Schoeber’s class at Nootka Elementary School in Vancouver, 15 fourth through seventh graders struggle to read, write or do math at a level near that of their peers in other classes...
Health
When Sleeping Turns Deadly and Other Strange Tales from Scientific American MIND
The July/August issue of Scientific American Mind made its debut online late last week. Here I divulge some of the more surprising and useful lessons from its pages.
Health
Why Wearing Fakes Makes Us Cheat More [Excerpt]
Think donning an Armani knockoff or phony Prada only hurts the fashion industry? Take another look in the mirrorBy Dan Ariely* This e-book chapter is excerpted from The (Honest) Truth about Dishonesty, by Dan Ariely (HarperCollins Publishers, 2012)...
Health
Why Are There No Biological Tests in Psychiatry?
Part 5 of a 5-part seriesBy Allen Frances*When the third edition of psychiatry’s manual of mental illness, the DSM-III, was published 30 years ago, there was great optimism it would soon be the willing victim of its own success, achieving a kind of planned obsolescence...
Health
The Gloom-and-Doom Disease: Should Woody Allens Have a Home in the Manual of Mental Illness?
Part 4 of a seriesDepression and anxiety are like a pair of warring siblings. Both are disruptive and trying. They don’t want each other’s company, but are stuck together by virtue of the same parentage...
Health
Trouble at the Heart of Psychiatry s Revised Rule Book
By Edward Shorter*Part 3 in a seriesOne might liken the latest draft of psychiatry's new diagnostic manual, the DSM-5, to a bowl of spaghetti. Hanging over the side are the marginal diagnoses of psychiatry, such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and autism, important for certain subpopulations but not central to the discipline.At the center of the spaghetti bowl are the diagnoses at the heart of psychiatry: major depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder.There has been enormous commentary in the media and in professional journals about proposed changes in the strands hanging over the side, such as lumping different forms of autism together in an autism spectrum diagnosis...
Health
Science Remains a Stranger to Psychiatry's New Bible
By Ferris Jabr*Part 2 of a seriesIn the offices of psychiatrists and psychologists across the country you can find a rather hefty tome called the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders (DSM).The current edition of the DSM, the DSM-IV, is something like a field guide to mental disorders: the book pairs each illness with a checklist of symptoms, just as a naturalist's guide describes the distinctive physical features of different birds...
Health
Psychiatrists Are About to Shift the Boundaries between Sane and Insane
We will soon find ourselves plagued by new forms of distress. No, it’s not the economy. It’s not that we are all becoming socially isolated because of Facebook (though it’s possible we are)...
Blog Index
@ScientificAmerican
STAFFBehind the scenes at Scientific American
Read
Anecdotes from the Archive
STAFF
Read
Anthropology in Practice
Exploring the human condition.
Read
Beautiful Minds
Insights into intelligence, creativity, personality, and well-being
Read
Budding Scientist
Everything you always wanted to know about raising science-literate kids
Read
Cross-Check
Critical views of science in the news
Read
Dark Star Diaries
STAFF
Read
Dog Spies
Explore the science behind the dog in your bed
Read
Extinction Countdown
News and research about endangered species from around the world
Read
Eye of the Storm
The Science Behind Extreme Weather
Read
Frontiers for Young Minds
Science by and for kids ages 8-15
Read
Guest Blog
Commentary invited by editors of Scientific American
Read
Hot Planet
Climate science in a changing world
Read
Illusion Chasers
Illusions, Delusions, and Everyday Deceptions
Read
Life, Unbounded
Discussion and news about planets, exoplanets, and astrobiology
Read
Observations
Opinion, arguments & analyses from guest experts and from the editors of Scientific American
Read
Roots of Unity
Mathematics: learning it, doing it, celebrating it.
Read
Rosetta Stones
Adventures in the good science of rock-breaking.
Read
SA Visual
STAFFIllustrating science since 1845
Read
Talking back
STAFFA science blog, sans blague
Read
The Artful Amoeba
A Blog About the Weird Wonderfulness of Life on Earth
Read
Voices
Exploring and celebrating diversity in science.
Read
