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Scientific American

October 5, 2010

Editor’s Selections: Choosing Mates, Junk Food, Birth Control, and ADHD

Here are my Research Blogging Editor’s Selections for this week: “So, sometimes we settle for less than George Clooney or Heidi Klum.” Casey Rentz at The Lay Scientist asks do we REALLY want what we say we want, when it comes to choosing mates?

By Jason G. Goldman

This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American

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Here are my Research Blogging Editor's Selections for this week:

  • "So, sometimes we settle for less than George Clooney or Heidi Klum." Casey Rentz at The Lay Scientist asks do we REALLY want what we say we want, when it comes to choosing mates?

  • Travis Saunders of Obesity Panacea asks: Which Results in Healthier Food Purchases: Junk Food Tax or Health Food Subsidy?

  • Do birth control pills really change the brains of women? Or is it just scare-mongering? Scicurious of Neurotic Physiology investigates the question.

  • Genes for ADHD, eh? The Neuroskeptic writes, "These genes don't so much cause ADHD, as protect against all kinds of problems, if you have the right variants. If you don't, you might get ADHD, but you might get something else, or nothing, depending on... we don't know."

Jason G. Goldman is a science journalist based in Los Angeles. He has written about animal behavior, wildlife biology, conservation, and ecology for Scientific American, Los Angeles magazine, the Washington Post, the Guardian, the BBC, Conservation magazine, and elsewhere. He contributes to Scientific American's "60-Second Science" podcast, and is co-editor of Science Blogging: The Essential Guide (Yale University Press). He enjoys sharing his wildlife knowledge on television and on the radio, and often speaks to the public about wildlife and science communication.

More by Jason G. Goldman