Category Archives: SciAm

On the Guest Blog – two posts today.

First, in a response to an SA article that was perhaps a little bit too optimistic, Joseph A. Dick offered a detailed analysis – Helium Hokum: Why Airships Will Never Be Part of Our Transportation Infrastructure

Charles Q. Choi nabbed a big name today – Too Hard for Science? E. O. Wilson–A Vertical Map of Life on Earth.

Over on the Expeditions blog, Wendy Whitcombe – one of the students in the Problems Without Passports course – penned her first post: Some History Should Not Repeat Itself

And on the Anecdotes from the Archive, Mary Karmelek discovered another gem in the SciAm archives: How to Find the True Shape of a Soldier.

Read, comment, share…

On the Guest Blog, we are continuing our philosophical week of sorts, with: The Politics of the Null Hypothesis by Stephanie Zvan.

On the Expeditions blog: The South Pacific Islands Survey–We’re in the Cook Islands!By Lindsey Hoshaw.

Enjoy, comment, share…

Cool, new stuff…

This morning, John Wilkins penned The Evolution of Common Sense, on the Guest Blog.

Do (non-human) animals commit suicide? Mary Karmelek wonders, in Was This Gazelle’s Death an Accident or a Suicide?, on the ‘Anecdotes from the Archive’ blog.

And on the Expeditions blog, Jim Haw continues with the Problems without Passports class – The Endangered Endemics and the Aggressive Invader.

As always: read, comment, share…

First, on the Guest Blog – three posts today:

Too Hard for Science?–Journey to the Core of the Earth By Charles Q. Choi – A grapefruit-size probe could help solve mysteries right beneath our feet.

The Data Are In Regarding Satoshi Kanazawa By Khadijah Britton – A Hard Look at Last Week’s “Objective Attractiveness” Analysis in Psychology Today.

Physics and the Immortality of the Soul By Sean M. Carroll – watch the commenters squirm!

On the Expeditions blog:

The South Pacific Islands Survey–Our First Student Questions! By Lindsey Hoshaw.

And some other recent posts are getting a lot of play on Twitter and being linked elsewhere:

On Cross-Check: The Genuine Articles: Why I’m Upbeat about Science Journalism’s Future By John Horgan.

On Anecdotes from the Archive: In 1892 Live Music Was Just a Phone Call Away By Mary Karmelek.

On Bering in Mind: Sex, Sleep and the Law: When Nocturnal Genitals Pose a Moral Dilemma By Jesse Bering.

Enjoy, comment, share…

Fun! Two posts on the Guest Blog and two on the Expeditions blog – something for everyone:

The South Pacific Islands Survey–5 Things You Didn’t Know about Life on a Boat by Lindsey Hoshaw.

Levees and the illusion of Flood Control [Explainer] by Anne Jefferson.

Problems without Passports: Scientific Research Diving at U.S.C. Dornsife–Why Guam? by Jim Haw.

Too Hard for Science? An Early Warning System for Killer Asteroids by Charles Q. Choi.

Read, enjoy the weekend, post comments, share on social networks…..

Addendum – more posts later in the day:

On the Guest Blog – Curing Paralysis–Again by R. Douglas Fields.

On Bering in Mind – Sex, Sleep and the Law: When Nocturnal Genitals Pose a Moral Dilemma by Jesse Bering.

And on Anecdotes from the Archive – In 1892 Live Music Was Just a Phone Call Away by Mary Karmelek.

There are two new posts – one yesterday and one today:

On the Guest Blog, Kristina Bjoran who just graduated from the MIT Science Writing program, wrote Looking for Empathy in a Conflict-Ridden World, a nuanced look at brain imaging research.

And on the Expeditions blog, we are adding a second, simultaneous field research journey – Problems Without Passports: Scientific Research Diving at USC Dornsife – Getting Ready for Guam and Palau.

Enjoy, comment, share…

Two new posts today…

On the Guest Blog, Lynda Sharpe asks, wonderfully, So You Think You Know Why Animals Play…

And on the Expeditions blog, Lindsey Hoshaw writes from the middle of the ocean – The South Pacific Islands Survey–Pop Quiz.

Read, comment, share…

Two new posts today.

On Expeditions blog, Lindsey Hoshaw continues the daily dispatches, now with first research findings – The South Pacific Islands Survey–We discover what’s floating in the Pacific Ocean!

And on the Guest Blog, Charles Choi interviewed me – Too Hard for Science? Bora Zivkovic–Centuries to Solve the Secrets of Cicadas

Read, enjoy, comment and share…

There is a new post on the Scientific American Guest Blog today:

Flying in the Coffin Corner–Air France Flight 447 by Keith Eric Grant.

Also, on the Expeditions blog, Lindsey Hoshaw continues her dispatches – The South Pacific Islands Survey–Forecast: Stomach Turbulence

Read, comment, share….

I would be remiss if I did not proudly announce that Scientific American received the 2011 National Magazine Award (so-called ‘Ellies’) for general excellence. If I understand correctly, SciAm never won one of these, and was not even nominated in the past 27 years. This year, out of two nominations, we won one. The excitement in the office, even from the telecommuting distance, is palpable.

This is a great time to be working at SciAm – a fantastic team, with a fantastic leader, with vision and courage to always experiment and explore the new media ecosystem.

Now, as I understand the way it works, the Award has to be given to a particular issue or set of issues of a print magazine. I think SciAm won this for its September, November and December issues of 2010 (after the redesign of the print magazine). But the strength of the organization is not just in the print magazine, but in all sorts of things that are pulled together and feed back on each other – the fantastic website, the print (and online) magazine, the sister-publication SciAm MIND, the international editions, the popular multimedia (especially podcasts), the blogs (more to come), explainers, in-depth reports, the 166-years of archives (just added 1910-1947 to the archive collection – all of it will be available soon), iPhone and iPad apps, special editions and books, the education efforts, including the citizen science and Bring Science Home projects, involvement in offline events and projects, and vigorous participation by everyone in the social media.

Now, back to regular programming….

On the Expeditions blog, we say goodbye to the Catlin Arctic Survey – Going home – and say hello to the new field trip – The South Pacific Islands Survey – Destination: The Cook Islands! – dispatches from the garbage patch by
Lindsey Hoshaw.

On the Guest Blog, a new post by Diana Gitig: When, and Why, Did Everyone Stop Eating Gluten?

And, since I was traveling and could not post this, you may have missed two of Charles Choi’s posts – Too Hard for Science? Simulating the Human Brain and Too Hard for Science? Dean Kamen–Defying Gravity

Read, enjoy, comment and share….

There are two new posts on the Scientific American Guest Blog, one posted last night, the other one just a few minutes ago, both related to the science behind the capture and death of Osama bin Laden:

Threat of Future Cyber Attacks by Al Qaeda Remains Low by Scott Borg.

Did Rapid DNA Analysis Verify Osama Bin Laden’s Death? by Susanna Speier.

Read, comment, share…

This was an incredibly busy day on Scientific American website! And I was offline most of the time, in flight to Boston, praising the technology that lets us schedule blog posts in advance.

First, take a look at a redesigned homepage. Like?

There were at least three big themes on the site today….

First, the news of the death of Osama bin Laden prompted us to take a look at the scientific angles to the story. You can see the collection of articles in our In-Depth Report: Osama bin Laden: The Science of His End. Included in the collection are some articles from the archives, but also several new ones:

How Do You ID a Dead Osama? By Christie Wilcox.

Off the Grid: A High Tech Military Deployed the Ancient Art of Stealth to Capture Their Man By Gary Stix.

Bin Laden’s Death Might Not Pose a New Threat By Fred Guterl.

How Biometrics Helped to Identify the Master Terrorist By Christine Gorman.

Appointment in Abbottabad podcast by Steve Mirsky.

The second big theme of the day is the new Education page and the new Citizen Science program at Scientific American:

Welcome to Scientific American’s Citizen Science Initiative! By Larry Greenemeier.

Welcome to ‘Bring Science Home’ by Katherine Harmon.

It’s a Solid… It’s a Liquid… It’s Oobleck! by Katherine Harmon.

Kids Learn Better When You Bring Science Home By Peggy Ashbrook.

The third big theme of the day are ocean currents and what we learned about them by tracking (often through citizen scientists) floating plastic toys:

Slabs, Sneakers, Gyres and the Grotesque by Matthew Garcia.

Overboard: 28,000 toys and one man, lost at sea by Lindsey Hoshaw.

A True Duck Hunt: interview with Donovan Hohn by David Manly.

How Does a Floating Plastic Duckie End Up Where It Does? By Eric Heupel.

Finally, our twice-a-week topic is back again today, bringing the number of posts on the Guest Blog up to seven, the record number for a single day: Too Hard For Science? Recreating What Killed Pompeii by Charles Choi.

As always: read, enjoy, comment, share…

There are two new posts on the Scientific American Guest Blog:

Animal emotion: When objectivity fails by Kristina Bjoran.

Superfetation: Pregnant while already pregnant by Khalil A. Cassimally.

Read, comment, share….

Two new posts on the Scientific American Guest Blog.

First, today, Man discovers a new life-form at a South African truck stop By Rob Dunn

And yesterday: Too Hard for Science? A digital panopticon By Charles Q. Choi.

Read, comment, share…

As I was traveling, I did not have the time to post about this at the time, but there were two posts on the Scientific American Guest Blog on Friday:

Trains, nukes, marriage, and vaccines (and anything else): Why the facts don’t matter By David Ropeik.

Too Hard for Science? Philip Zimbardo–creating millions of heroes By Charles Q. Choi.

As always: read, comment, share…

There are two new posts on the Scientific American Guest Blog.

In Too Hard For Science? The Adventures of a Biomolecule in a Cell, Charles Q. Choi interviews Jeanne Garbarino.

That was last night. But this morning, Justine Larson published Blaming parents: what I’ve learned and unlearned as a child psychiatrist.

Enjoy, comment, share…

Today on the Scientific American Guest Blog, David Manly is back with a new amazing story – Regeneration: The axolotl story.

Enjoy, comment, share….

Today on the Scientific American Guest Blog, an intriguing question: Bambi or Bessie: Are wild animals happier? by By Christie Wilcox.

Your thoughts? Post in the comments. Share on social networks…

There are two new posts today on the Scientific American Guest Blog:

Dear Chemists by David Ropeik.

Too Hard For Science? The Sense of Meaning in Dreams by Charles Q. Choi.

As always: read, comment, share…

Today on the Scientific American Guest Blog we have a very cool infographic, designed by Lena Groeger as part of her work at Studio 20, trying to build better Explainers. It is Radiation levels explained: An exposure infographic.

Check it out, read, comment, share with friends….

Today was World Health Day dedicated to antibiotic resistance. So we had two posts on the Scientific American Guest Blog on this topic today.

First was Short Story Science: Lenina Versus the Pneumococcus by Cindy Doran.

And then, World Health Day: Combat Drug Resistance by Gozde Zorlu.

Read, comment, share….

We are starting the week with two posts on the Scientific American Guest Blog:

What’s the deal with male circumcision and female cervical cancer? by Michelle Clement.

and

Too Hard for Science?: Making astronauts with printers by Charles Q. Choi.

Check them out, post comments, share on social networks, enjoy…

Today is the #Longform day at the Scientific American Guest Blog with two long, detailed, highly informative posts that will make you think and rethink things…

First, Can we capture all of the world’s carbon emissions? by Ramez Naam.

Then, Walking the Line Between Good and Evil: The Common Thread of Heroes and Villains by Andrea Kuszewski.

Read, comment, share…

Wow! This was a very busy day on the Scientific American Guest Blog with four posts! Check them all out:

Barberry, Bambi and bugs: The link between Japanese barberry and Lyme disease by Beth Jones.

Earthquake triggering, and why we don’t know where the next big one will strike by Christie Rowe.

Museum Brings Citizens and Scientists Together Through Blogging Project: Experimonth by Beck Tench.

Too Hard for Science?: Asking scientists about questions they would love the answers to that might be impossible to investigate by Charles Q. Choi.

As always: read, comment, share.

There are two new posts on the Scientific American Guest Blog today. Check them out:

Can we declare victory in the participation of women in science? Not yet. by Marie-Claire Shanahan.

And.

Amber Waves of…ah…ah…achoo! What you need to know about allergies by Kiyomi Deards.

Read, enjoy, post comments, and share with your friends.

The Scientific American Guest Blog was very busy today, with three exciting new posts.

First, early in the morning, Serotonin and sexual preference: Is it really that simple? by SciCurious.

Then, in the early afternoon, Digitizing Jane Goodall’s legacy at Duke by Jason Goldman.

Finally, late in the afternoon, Why we live in dangerous places by Tim De Chant.

As always: read, enjoy, comment and share with friends…

Busy working, traveling, having fun with family in NYC, so I was remiss in letting you in time that we published three more cool posts on the Scientific American Guest Blog yesterday and today:

Stealth percussionists of the animal world by Nadia Drake.

Impact of the Japan earthquake and tsunami on animals and environment by Jason G. Goldman.

Poor risk communication in Japan is making the risk much worse by David Ropeik.

As always: read, comment, share… more to come tomorrow.

There is a new post on the Scientific American Guest Blog today: see Learning from Tinka: Able-bodied chimps cop a back-scratching technique from a handicapped friend. by Matt Soniak. Read, enjoy, comment, share…

This was a very busy week on SA blogs, and more posts are coming. But if you want to make a pitch for a story for the Guest Blog, let me know – just e-mail me or DM me on Twitter, etc. and we’ll go from there.

There are two new posts on the Scientific American Guest Blog:

First, Social media for science: The geologic perspective by Kea Giles.

Second, The Asian long-horned beetle: Hopefully not coming to a neighborhood near you by Beth Jones.

As always: read, comments, share…

With the earthquake and tsunami hitting Japan earlier today, the crew at Scientific American got busy – putting together stories, old and new, about the underlying science and engineering.

Article from the upcoming issue of the magazine was posted early, due to its timeliness – Seconds Before the Big One: Progress in Earthquake Alarms

Our partners at Nature have a correspondent in Japan so we reposted the articles so far: Nature: Earthquake dispatches from the correspondent in Japan

We put together an In-Depth report, collecting in one place a lot of what SciAm has published on the topic over the years: A Guide to Earthquakes

In our ‘Ask the Experts’ sections: How Does an Earthquake Trigger Tsunamis Thousands of Kilometers Away? and How to Cool a Nuclear Reactor

John Horgan blogs about the history of earthquake prediction in Japan earthquake demonstrates the limits—and power—of science.

And I edited and reposted a piece cautioning about believing all the stories about animals “predicting” earthquakes – ‘Sixth sense’ for earthquake prediction? Give me a break!

You can also see some videos, e.g., Devastating quake hits Japan, Buildings crumble in Japan quake and Japan devastated after massive quake.

More will be posted as new information comes up…

Update:

A Visual Tour of the Massive Earthquake and Tsunami That Hit Japan [Slide Show]

All of today’s SciAm articles are now collected in one place: The Japan Earthquake and Tsunami

Update 2:

Beware the fear of Nuclear….FEAR! By David Ropeik

The essential lesson from the Japan earthquake for the U.S. By Richard Allen

Failure of Imagination Can Be Deadly: Fukushima is a Warning by Rita J King

Nuclear Experts Explain Worst-Case Scenario at Fukushima Power Plant By Steve Mirsky

Signs, signs, everywhere signs: Seeing God in tsunamis and everyday events By Jesse Bering

Japan earthquake: The Explainer By Chris Rowan

Fast Facts about the Japan Earthquake and Tsunami

Last night we did something new at Scientific American – we live-streamed an event and had a blogger live-tweet and then blog about it.

First, we made an announcement on the Observations blog about the event – Energy in the Movies, in Austin TX, a fun presentation about the depiction of energy sources in the history of film by Dr. Michael Webber, followed by a panel.

Then, we embedded the video live-stream and live-tweeting on our homepage.

Finally this morning, our tweeter/blogger David Wogan wrote a post on the Guest Blog summarizing the event.

You can also find the discussion on Twitter if you search the #energymovies hashtag, or see the discussion on our Facebook page.

The recording of the video will also be available soon.

Let us know how you liked it.

There is a cool new post on the Scientific American Guest Blog.

Science in the Neighborhood: how to make a really good coffee was written by Summer Ash, the in-house Astrophysicist for The Rachel Maddow Show….

Read, follow the recipe for good coffee, then comment and share with friends…

There is a new post on the Scientific American Guest Blog today.

Andrea Kuszewski is back (remember her Chessboxing story?) with another fascinating post – You can increase your intelligence: 5 ways to maximize your cognitive potential. As always: read, comment, share with your friends.

There is a new post on the Scientific American Guest Blog this afternoon. In A Pill to Remember R. Douglas Fields explains the new findings about PKMzeta, the brain protein involved in memory.

Read, comment, share….

Again today, we have two new posts on the Scientific American Guest Blog.

First, Reflections on biology and motherhood: Where does Homo sapiens fit in? a wonderful post by Carin Bondar.

Then, Colin Schultz covers a study with a provocative finding (especially for Web curmudgeons) – You’ll believe anything you read online, won’t you?

As always, read, enjoy, comment, share…

There are two new posts on the Scientific American Guest Blog today.

First one in the morning is the post by Seth Mnookin, responding to yesterday’s Supreme Court decision in the Bruesewitz v. Wyeth case, and especially the Sotomayor dissenting opinion, in The impossibility of responsible nuance in the vaccine discussion

Then at noon, Holly Menninger explained how cold-tolerant insects survive winters, in Winter stoneflies sure are supercool.

Read, comment, share…

Today we added the eight blog to the current roster of Scientific American blogs (no, that’s not the network yet) – Anecdotes from the Archive.

You have seen a few of the posts already on the Guest Blog. They have now been moved to the new blog, where Mary Karmelek will bring you joy roughly twice a week. From the About page:

In 1845 Scientific American magazine made its debut on newsstands and has continued to be published ever since. Now, Nature Publishing Group and Scientific American are working to digitize all past issues of the magazine. Mary Karmelek is in charge of checking over each issue, and in the process she uncovers fascinating, captivating and humorous material buried in the yellowed pages of our past. In this blog she shares the highlights of her discoveries. Additional archival material appears every month in our 50, 100 and 150 Years Ago column.

Today on the Scientific American Guest Blog, a new post is a book review by Dr. Val, on ‘manufactoversies’ and how the moneyed interests saw the seeds of denialism – Review: How the Internet is being used to hijack medical science for fear and profit. Emjoy, comment, share…

Just got home, after a day on the train. But Guest Blog was not sitting idle. There are two new posts today.

First, Mary Karmelek asks: What’s black and white and brown all over?

Then, in Heart interrupted, Jeanne Garbarino explains what a heart-attack is and how to deal with it.

Read, comment, share…

I am at the AAAS meeting in D.C. so not online much. But the Scientific American Guest Blog is running along just fine.

Two posts yesterday and one post today:

First, yesterday morning, Ugly animals need love, too by David Manly.

Then, yesterday afternon, Anecdotes from the Archive: Map Making on Wheels by Mary Karmelek.

Finally, earlier today, Life 2.0? First let’s figure out Life 1.0 by Alaina G. Levine.

As always, read, comment, share…

Two new posts on the Scientific American Guest Blog this morning.

First, Pleasure, reward…and rabbits! Why do animals behave as they do? by Michael Lisieski.

Then, ,Climate research in the geologic past by David Bressan.

Read, comment, share….

Again today, two posts on the Scientific American Guest Blog.

First, Tamara Krinsky continues with her reporting from the Sundance film festival, focusing this time on “Another Earth”, in The Sundance Diaries: Focus on the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

Then, a piece of serious investigative journalism that is informative, useful and important – New wave of MRI-safe pacemakers set to ship to hospitals by Mary Knudson.

As always, read, enjoy, comment and share…

There are two great (longform) new posts on the Scientific American Guest Blog today.

First, Doctor, what’s wrong with my child?–what Guido Fanconi taught us about chemotherapy by The Genomic Repairman.

Then, a Valentine’s Day special – Of lice and men: An itchy history by Emily Willingham.

As always: read, enjoy, comment, share….

Sorry, I’m late posting this – but earlier today we had a post on the Scientific American Guest Blog on the occasion of Darwin Day.

Written by the perfect person for the occasion, Karen James, the post Evolution isn’t easy, even in Galapagos is beautiful and thought-provoking. Read it. Then comment and share.

A very busy day on the Scientific American Guest Blog, especially for a Friday. There are three new posts there today.

First, A plea for basic biology by Holly Bik should be a warning call to universities and funders.

Then, Anecdotes from the Archive: Finding beauty in all of this snow by Mary Karmelek.

Finally, Seth Mnookin slams David Kirby and anti-vaccinationist lies in The Huffington Post and the ongoing fear that vaccines might cause autism.

Brand new post on the Scientific American Guest Blog today – Paradoxical Polyuria–when it comes to kidneys, sometimes more is less, by Pascale Lane.

And the other day, I posted Anecdotes from the Archive: All clean on the Western Front by Mary Karmelek.

Stay tuned, more to come soon….

In the meantime, read, enjoy, comment and share….