On this week's @sciam.bsky.social Science Quiz, we've got wild drinking and treasure hunting. Can you get 6/6? www.scientificamerican.com/game/science... 🧪

Confused by patchwork COVID vaccine guidelines across states? @sciam.bsky.social has a map with the latest info from the National Alliance of State Pharmacy Associations. We'll keep tracking updates. 📊 @unamandita.bsky.social ✏️ @jaimieseaton.bsky.social. www.scientificamerican.com/article/covi...

Oh this is very cool #MathNerds

A new study suggests that permanent standard time may reduce obesity and stroke

Mondays really do suck--even for retired people!! Here's what might be happening in our bodies: 🧪 www.scientificamerican.com/article/mond...

Octopuses’ response to a human illusion suggests a sense of body ownership

Take my weekly science quiz for @sciam.bsky.social ! This week: psychedelics and sexual parasites www.scientificamerican.com/game/science... 🧪

Researchers tested 12 magic mushroom edibles purchased at Portland gas stations and convenience stores. None had psilocybin, but what some of them contained instead could be dangerous. My latest for @sciam.bsky.social www.scientificamerican.com/article/magi... 🧪

Scientists rarely proclaim absolutes. Yet autism researchers are all but certain that there is no simple cause of the condition. Here's why the idea of finding a "smoking gun" for autism is so absurd. www.scientificamerican.com/article/auti... 🧪

A machine-learning algorithm spotted signs of “covert consciousness” in coma patients—in some cases, days before doctors could do so

Happy birthday Scientific American! I am proud to have contributed, by coincidence, nearly 180 articles to the magazine. Here's the one I wrote honoring the anniversary. www.scientificamerican.com/article/scie...

Do you fall for the Müller-Lyer optical illusion? Psychologists had long thought that it depends on your cultural background—the famous "carpentered-world" hypothesis. Now, that hypothesis is widely disputed. Here's why. 🧪 by @norabradford.bsky.social www.scientificamerican.com/article/does...

Reports of AI-induced psychosis are increasing. Researchers examined 17 cases and pulled out 3 main themes from people's delusions: romantic bonds with the AI, revelations of the "true nature" of reality, and AI as sentient or divine. by @conorfeehly.bsky.social , edited by me 🧪

In honor of SciAm’s 180th birthday, we’re spotlighting the biggest “wait, what?” moments in science history.

this is the best creature i have ever seen, hands down

How much does the environment we’re raised in change how we see the world? Wonderful piece in @sciam.bsky.social by @norabradford.bsky.social, ft. an interview with @dorsaamir.bsky.social about our work on the 'cultural byproduct hypothesis'. www.scientificamerican.com/article/does...

Horrified to learn bop no longer means what I think it means! This PSA brought to you by @parshallison.bsky.social 🧪 www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-...

How can humans trust machines to do important jobs unless they feel confident the machines have the same values and goals? Recent work shows that this “alignment” is highly unstable. www.quantamagazine.org/the-ai-was-f...

Brain-reading devices are the coolest thing ever and they just crossed a rubicon - rather than relying on users to attempt to speak words, this decoder can translate "inner speech" 🧪 by @dodecalemma.bsky.social for @sciam.bsky.social www.scientificamerican.com/article/new-...

My most recent for @sciam.bsky.social!

To celebrate its 180th birthday (!!) @sciam.bsky.social is running a photo contest (details here: sciam.com/180contest) to take #SciAmInTheWild. Where do you read about science?

Spoke with @rhizalyssa.bsky.social and Melanie Prentice about their investigation into what was causing billions of sea stars to disintegrate to death. The culprit: a bacterium by the name of Vibrio pectenicida. Read more about their work here:

From deep oceans to distant galaxies, every Scientific American cover is an invitation to explore. Now show us where curiosity takes you! 🤳 Enter the #SciAmInTheWild photo contest 🎁 Prizes include gadgets and gear to elevate your next adventure ⚠️ Terms & Conditions apply: sciam.com/180contest

Journalists, please pitch me! I edit mind & brain news at @sciam.bsky.social and I'm looking for psychology and neuroscience stories. I'm especially interested in consciousness science and linguistics. Guidelines and contact info: www.scientificamerican.com/page/submiss...

Fifty-eight people have been infected—and two have died—in a New York City outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease—a severe type of pneumonia caused by a bacterium commonly associated with air-conditioning systems and cooling towers

I simply refuse to believe that the second question is possible

How would you fare at the International Logic Olympiad? Try out some sample questions here: 🧪 www.scientificamerican.com/article/try-...

“We tend to think of imagining the future as a deeply personal, subjective act. Our study, however, shows that—especially for optimists—the way our brains do this can be similar.” The researchers call this the "Anna Karenina principle." 🧪 www.scientificamerican.com/article/opti...

Math is in crisis. The NSF claims the over $80M in cuts is due to "changing priorities" but when asked how math fits to their new priorities they said it is "required to advance future discoveries in every critical technology area." What gives??? www.scientificamerican.com/article/can-...

After photographs showed President Donald Trump with swollen ankles and bruised hands, the White House revealed he has chronic venous insufficiency—a blood vessel disease that affects circulation in the legs

Damming water changes the location of the poles. 🧪

Good Tuesday morning. @sciam.bsky.social has a new digital issue out on bird flu, covering where it's gone, what it would take for it to spread widely to humans, and, in this piece by @meghanbartels.bsky.social I edited,the largely un-tallied effects to wildlife 🧪

For this @sciam.bsky.social article on illness from Vibrio bacteria along the U.S. east coast (yup, the genus that includes V. cholerae), cartographer @pinakographos.bsky.social and I pay homage to John Snow's classic cholera map with contemporary data. 📊 🧪 www.scientificamerican.com/article/vibr...

Amid bird flu fears about egg prices, viral milk and human pandemic risks, there's a piece missing--the impact on wildlife, which I covered for @sciam.bsky.social : 🧪 🪶 www.scientificamerican.com/article/bird...

Breaking news: A divided Supreme Court cleared the way for now for the Trump administration to sharply shrink the Education Department, one of the cornerstones of the president’s efforts to radically downsize the federal government.

🧪 Follow our starter pack for a first look at our latest reporting and insights directly from the dedicated journalists behind the work.

“The beauty of the autism spectrum is: it speaks to this heterogeneity. And the downside [is that] it covers up the differences,” says Fred Volkmar, a psychiatrist and a professor emeritus at Yale University. (By me for @sciam.bsky.social ) 🧪 www.scientificamerican.com/article/four...

Words frequently used by ChatGPT, including “delve” and “meticulous,” are getting more common in spoken language, according to an analysis of more than 700,000 hours of videos and podcasts spklr.io/63326BDCCG

We finally made it to Bluesky—just a few billion years after the Big Bang, and only slightly late to the party ✨🌌 We’re sharing some of our best stories from the year so far to kick off our Bluesky journey!

There's an interview with me in Scientific American: www.scientificamerican.com/article/were...

Writing MURDERBOT "taught me about my own neurodiversity. ... I have had a lot of people tell me that it helped them work out things about themselves and that it was just nice to see a character who thought and felt a lot of the same things they did." @marthawells.com with @clarakm.bsky.social

Just found out #Murderbot is getting a Season 2!! Praise be; we'll get to meet ART 🧡 Congrats @marthawells.com and everyone involved with this awesome show. Now go kick back in style and watch the finale. Then, let's do it all again. 🦾

A fascinating article by @maiasz.bsky.social - "...The brains of those who started experimenting with cannabis, cigarettes or alcohol before age 15 showed differences from those who did not—before the individuals took their first puff or sip." 🧪 www.scientificamerican.com/article/addi...

Take Scientific American's weekly science quiz! www.scientificamerican.com/game/science...

Only on @sciam.bsky.social! “I was not prepared to be contending with an LLM like this... That’s what a scientist does. That’s frightening.” www.scientificamerican.com/article/insi...

This is one of the coolest things happening in neuroscience imo www.scientificamerican.com/article/engi...

Murderbot fans unite www.scientificamerican.com/article/murd...

A new coalition of autism researchers is trying to fight the disinformation spread by RFK Jr. Via @thetransmitter.bsky.social

Two leading theories of consciousness went head-to-head—and the results may change how neuroscientists study one of the oldest questions about existence www.scientificamerican.com/article/wher...