Scientific American - Guest Blog

All the hoopla over the 17-year cicadas, set to emerge any day now in the Northeast, has so far missed one of the greatest facts about them. Sure, it’s no surprise for grand gatherings of male animals to get together and sing their hearts out. Frogs do it, crickets do it, and we all know [...]

It is in our nature to fit nature to us. We are best at it, but other species do it. This obvious but overlooked factor contradicts the dominant one-way-street gene-centric view of adaptation. A better framework for evolution is needed. Its shape isn’t clear, but it must incorporate: extracorporeal gene effects, “gene-culture coevolution,” “niche construction,” [...]

A nonagenarian puts aging research into perspective. “To another ninety years!” I said, toasting my grandma. My brother and I had stopped by her apartment on her birthday with a six-pack of bock beer, her favorite brewing style. Being a German Wisconsin woman, there are few things she likes better. Though I’m used to her [...]

Right now in Oklahoma, first responders and volunteers are pulling out the stops to mobilize all the help they can, including psychological support. They’ll be able to rely on people’s great reserves of generosity and resilience. Devastating tornadoes have a lot in common with other major traumas, like life-threatening accidents, the Boston bombing and the [...]

There is no Nobel Prize in mathematics, but in 2001 the Norwegian government established a million-dollar Abel Prize, which is widely considered as an equivalent of the Nobel for mathematicians. This year’s prize was awarded to Pierre Deligne, professor emeritus at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, N.J. Today, he is honored at a [...]