Science Talk

Under the Dome: <i>Scientific American</i> Editor in Chief Talks to the Senate

22 Jul 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Scientific American Editor in Chief Mariette DiChristina testifies before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation about the value...

Wild Sex: Beyond the Birds and the Bees

15 Jul 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Joy Reidenberg, comparative anatomist at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, talks about her new PBS series Sex in the Wild, about the sex li...

What's So Funny?: The Science of Humor

07 Jul 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Cognitive neuroscientist Scott Weems talks about his book HA!: The Science of When We Laugh and Why Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone....

Hunting the Wild Neutrino

23 May 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Astrophysicist Ray Jayawardhana, of the University of Toronto, talks about his new book Neutrino Hunters: The Thrilling Chase for a Ghostly Particle t...

Sometimes the Hoofprints Are from Zebras

30 Apr 2014

Contributed by Lukas

David J. Hand, emeritus professor of mathematics at Imperial College London, talks about his new book The Improbability Principle: Why Coincidences, M...

The First Nuclear Arms Race: Churchill's Bomb, Part 2

24 Apr 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Graham Farmelo is the award-winning author of the Dirac biography The Strangest Man. His latest book is Churchill’s Bomb: How the United States Over...

The First Nuclear Arms Race: Churchill's Bomb, Part 1

24 Apr 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Graham Farmelo is the award-winning author of the Dirac biography The Strangest Man. His latest book is Churchill’s Bomb: How the United States Over...

Take Me Out to the Run Expectancy Matrix Analysis

18 Mar 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Smith College economics professor Andrew Zimbalist talks about his latest book, The Sabermetric Revolution: Assessing the Growth of Analytics in Baseb...

Found in Space, Part 2

27 Feb 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Journalist Lee Billings Talks about his book Five Billion Years of Solitude: The Search For Life Among the Stars, Part 2 of 2 Learn more about your ad...

Found in Space, Part 1

26 Feb 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Journalist Lee Billings Talks about his book Five Billion Years of Solitude: The Search For Life Among the Stars, Part 1 of 2 Learn more about your ad...

From Gadgets to Galaxies: Conference Reports

10 Feb 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Scientific American technology editor Seth Fletcher talks about the recent Consumer Electronics Show and astronomy editor Clara Moskowitz discusses la...

Fighting Cancer with Physics

27 Jan 2014

Contributed by Lukas

Rakesh K. Jain, director of the Edwin L. Steele Laboratory for Tumor Biology in the radiation oncology department of Massachusetts General Hospital an...

The Man Who Wasn't Darwin: Alfred Russel Wallace on the Centenary of His Death

07 Nov 2013

Contributed by Lukas

Alfred Russel Wallace biographer Peter Raby of the University of Cambridge talks about the great naturalist and co-creator of the theory of evolution ...

Perv-View: Jesse Bering's New Book <i>PERV</i>

29 Oct 2013

Contributed by Lukas

Psychologist Jesse Bering talks about his latest book PERV: The Sexual Deviant in All of Us. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adch...

The 2013 Nobel Prize in Chemistry: Karplus, Levitt and Warshel

09 Oct 2013

Contributed by Lukas

The 2013 Nobel Prize in Chemistry goes to Martin Karplus, Michael Levitt and Arieh Warshel for applying both quantum and classical physics to develop ...

The 2013 Nobel Prize in Physics: Englert and Higgs

08 Oct 2013

Contributed by Lukas

The 2013 Nobel Prize in Physics goes to François Englert and Peter Higgs for the theory of how particles acquire mass, requiring the existence of the...

The 2013 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine: Rothman, Schekman and S&#252;dhof

07 Oct 2013

Contributed by Lukas

The 2013 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine goes to James E. Rothman, Randy W. Schekman and Thomas C. Südhof for their discoveries of machinery re...

Alan Alda Communicates Science

30 Sep 2013

Contributed by Lukas

At the Learning in the Digital Age summit at Google's New York City offices, Scientific American editor in chief Mariette DiChristina talked with Alan...

Ira Flatow and the Teachable Moment

20 Sep 2013

Contributed by Lukas

At the Learning in the Digital Age summit at Google's New York City offices, Scientific American Editor in Chief Mariette DiChristina talked with Scie...

Adam Rutherford's Creation Science (The Real Kind) Part 2

29 Aug 2013

Contributed by Lukas

Science journalist, author and Nature editor Adam Rutherford talks about new book Creation: How Science Is Reinventing Life Itself, which looks at the...

Kids JUMP for Math [John Mighton's Junior Undiscovered Math Prodigies]

07 Aug 2013

Contributed by Lukas

Mathematician John Mighton talks with Scientific American MIND editor Ingrid Wickelgren about getting math-shy kids interested, via JUMP: Junior Undis...

Adam Rutherford's Creation Science (the Real Kind), Part 1

31 Jul 2013

Contributed by Lukas

Science journalist, author and Nature editor Adam Rutherford talks about new book Creation: How Science Is Reinventing Life Itself, which looks at the...

Nobel Laureate Harry Kroto: The Threatened Enlightenment

25 Jul 2013

Contributed by Lukas

Nobel laureate Harry Kroto, who shared the 1996 chemistry prize, talks with Scientific American Executive Editor Fred Guterl at the recent Lindau Nobe...

Penis Enlightenment: Bering Straight Talk

27 Jun 2013

Contributed by Lukas

Jesse Bering discusses his 2012 book Why Is the Penis Shaped Like That? (And Other Reflections on Being Human) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit...

Close Shave for Bill Nye the Science Guy

18 Jun 2013

Contributed by Lukas

Bill Nye the Science Guy ponders Superman's tonsorial travails, and science education Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is There a Doctor in the Spaceship?

29 Apr 2013

Contributed by Lukas

NASA astronaut and medical doctor Michael Barratt spoke to schoolkids at the Family Science Days event at this year's meeting of the American Associat...

Mary Roach Cruises the Alimentary Canal

16 Apr 2013

Contributed by Lukas

Mary Roach talks about her new book Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal, which traces what she calls "the whole food chute" Learn more about your...

Start Talking: Synthetic Biology and Conservation Biology Meet, Part 2

03 Apr 2013

Contributed by Lukas

Conservation biologist Kent Redford talks about the issues facing the intersection of synthetic biology and conservation biology and a conference that...

Start Talking: Synthetic Biology and Conservation Biology Meet, Part 1

02 Apr 2013

Contributed by Lukas

Conservation biologist Kent Redford talks about the issues facing the intersection of synthetic biology and conservation biology and a conference that...

Imagine All the People Turning Blue and Green

29 Mar 2013

Contributed by Lukas

Science writer Dennis Meredith talks about his new science fiction book The Rainbow Virus, in which a bioterror plot turns people all the colors of th...

Biotech's Brave New Beasts, Part 2

27 Mar 2013

Contributed by Lukas

Journalist and author Emily Anthes talks about her new book, Frankenstein's Cat: Cuddling Up to Biotech's Brave New Beasts Learn more about your ad ch...

Biotech's Brave New Beasts, Part 1

26 Mar 2013

Contributed by Lukas

Journalist and author Emily Anthes talks about her new book, Frankenstein's Cat: Cuddling Up to Biotech's Brave New Beasts Learn more about your ad ch...

CSI: 19th-Century France and the Birth of Forensic Science

15 Mar 2013

Contributed by Lukas

Reporter and storyteller Steven Berkowitz talks to science journalist and author Douglas Starr about his book The Killer of Little Shepherds: A True C...

John Rennie Hacks the Planet

28 Feb 2013

Contributed by Lukas

Former Scientific American editor in chief John Rennie talks about his new six-episode Weather Channel TV Show, Hacking the Planet, which debuts Febru...

Inside Isaac: A Discussion of Newton, Part 2

25 Feb 2013

Contributed by Lukas

A panel of physicists, science historians and playwright Lucas Hnath discuss Newton following a performance of Hnath's play about Newton, called Isaac...

Inside Isaac: A Discussion of Newton, Part 1

24 Feb 2013

Contributed by Lukas

A panel of physicists, science historians and playwright Lucas Hnath discuss Newton following a performance of Hnath's play about Newton, called Isaac...

<i>Extinction</i>: New Sci-Fi from Mark Alpert

14 Feb 2013

Contributed by Lukas

Mark Alpert is a former editor at Scientific American who has gone on to become a best-selling science fiction writer. We talk about his latest book, ...

Science and Tech in President Obama's SOTU

13 Feb 2013

Contributed by Lukas

In his 2013 State of the Union address, Pres. Obama talked about climate change, energy and manufacturing technology innovation, and STEM education—...

Michael C. Hall Analyzes His Dexter's Mind, Part 2

24 Jan 2013

Contributed by Lukas

Actor Michael C. Hall, TV's Dexter, talks with psychologist Kevin Dutton, author of The Wisdom of Psychopaths, at the Rubin Museum of Art in New York ...

Michael C. Hall Analyzes His Dexter's Mind, Part 1

23 Jan 2013

Contributed by Lukas

Actor Michael C. Hall, TV's Dexter, talks with psychologist Kevin Dutton, author of The Wisdom of Psychopaths, at the Rubin Museum of Art in New York ...

Psychopathy's Bright Side: Kevin Dutton on the Benefits of Being a Bit Psychopathic, Part 2

29 Dec 2012

Contributed by Lukas

Kevin Dutton is a psychologist at the University of Oxford. He talks about his latest book, The Wisdom of Psychopaths: What Saints, Spies, and Serial ...

Psychopathy's Bright Side: Kevin Dutton on the Benefits of Being a Bit Psychopathic, Part 1

28 Dec 2012

Contributed by Lukas

Kevin Dutton is a psychologist at the University of Oxford. He talks about his latest book, The Wisdom of Psychopaths: What Saints, Spies, and Serial ...

Creativity's Dark Side: Dan Ariely on Creativity, Rationalization and Dishonesty

25 Dec 2012

Contributed by Lukas

Dan Ariely is professor of behavioral economics at Duke University. He talks about the subject of his most recent book, The (Honest) Truth About Disho...

Darwin in Space: How Multigenerational Missions Could Shape Human Evolution

18 Dec 2012

Contributed by Lukas

Portland State University anthropologist Cameron Smith talks with Scientific American's John Matson about how multigenerational space exploration miss...

David Quammen: The Spillover of Animal Infections to Humans

18 Nov 2012

Contributed by Lukas

David Quammen talks about his latest book, Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic. From his Web site: "The next big and murderous hu...

Scientific American after Sandy

31 Oct 2012

Contributed by Lukas

Scientific American Editor in Chief Mariette DiChristina brings us up to date on the state of our New York City-based operation after Sandy. Recorded ...

The 2012 Nobel Prize in Chemistry

10 Oct 2012

Contributed by Lukas

The 2012 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded jointly to Robert J. Lefkowitz and Brian Kobilka for studies of G-protein-coupled receptors, which are t...

The 2012 Nobel Prize in Physics

09 Oct 2012

Contributed by Lukas

The 2012 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded jointly to Serge Haroche and David J. Wineland for experimental methods that enable measuring and manipula...

The 2012 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

08 Oct 2012

Contributed by Lukas

The 2012 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded jointly to John B. Gurdon and Shinya Yamanaka for the discovery that mature cells can be re...

The Climate of Climate Science

28 Sep 2012

Contributed by Lukas

James McCarthy, Alexander Agassiz professor of biological oceanography at Harvard, talks about climate science and testifying before Congress, and the...

The Flynn Effect: Modernity Made Us Smarter

20 Aug 2012

Contributed by Lukas

James Flynn studies intelligence at the University of Otago in New Zealand. And he features prominently in an article called “Can We Keep Getting Sm...

What's Next for Curiosity on Mars

07 Aug 2012

Contributed by Lukas

Scientific American contributor David Appell talks with Mars Science Lab Project leader John Grotzinger, professor of geology at Caltech, about the pl...

Curiosity Lands on Mars

06 Aug 2012

Contributed by Lukas

Less than an hour after NASA received confirmation that the Curiosity rover was safely on the Martian surface, some principal members of the mission b...

Plants Know Stuff

29 Jun 2012

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel Chamovitz, director of the Manna Center for Plant Biosciences at Tel Aviv University, talks about his new book What a Plant Knows. Learn more a...

Super-Earths: Bigger, and Maybe Better

21 Jun 2012

Contributed by Lukas

Dimitar Sasselov, professor of astronomy at Harvard University and the founder and director of the Harvard Origins of Life Initiative, talks about his...

The Transit of Venus, Part 2

31 May 2012

Contributed by Lukas

Mark Anderson, author of the book The Day The World Discovered the Sun, talks about the transit of Venus coming up on June 5th or 6th in different par...

The Transit of Venus, Part 1

30 May 2012

Contributed by Lukas

With a transit of Venus coming up on June 5th or 6th in different parts of the world, Mark Anderson, author of the book The Day The World Discovered t...

Virus Victors: People Who Control HIV

29 May 2012

Contributed by Lukas

Bruce Walker, professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and director of the Ragon Institute of Massachusetts General Hospital, M.I.T. and Harvar...

The Football Concussion Crisis

15 May 2012

Contributed by Lukas

NFL Hall of Famer Harry Carson joins former NBC anchor Stone Phillips and pathologist Bennet Omalu for a discussion of chronic traumatic encephalopath...

Killer Chimps and Funny Feet: Report from the AAPA Conference

27 Apr 2012

Contributed by Lukas

Scientific American editor Kate Wong talks about the recent conference of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists in Portland, Ore., wher...

Getting Guinea Worm Gone: Report from the AHCJ Conference

26 Apr 2012

Contributed by Lukas

Scientific American editor Christine Gorman talks about the recent conference of the Association of Health Care Journalists, including Jimmy Carter's ...

Food Poisoning's Lasting Legacy

04 Apr 2012

Contributed by Lukas

Scientific American Science of Health columnist Maryn McKenna talks about the new understanding that food poisoning can have long-lasting negative hea...

Fukushima Anniversary: We Listen Back

11 Mar 2012

Contributed by Lukas

Scientific American editor David Biello takes us through newly released audio from the first week of the nuclear meltdown crisis at Fukushima Daiichi ...

AAAS Report: Fracking, Whale Rights, Higgs Evidence and <i>Twitter</i> Truthiness

07 Mar 2012

Contributed by Lukas

Scientific American editors Mark Fischetti and Michael Moyer discuss some of the sessions they attended at the annual meeting of the American Associat...

If You're Happy, How You Know It

22 Feb 2012

Contributed by Lukas

Social scientist Roly Russell, of the Sandhill Institute in British Columbia, talked with Scientific American's Mark Fischetti at the annual meeting o...

The Coming Entanglement: Bill Joy and Danny Hillis

15 Feb 2012

Contributed by Lukas

Digital innovators Bill Joy, co-founder of Sun Microsystems, and Danny Hillis, co-founder of the Long Now Foundation, talk with Scientific American Ex...

More with Maryn: McKenna on Antibiotic Resistance

02 Feb 2012

Contributed by Lukas

In part 2 of our conversation with journalist and author Maryn McKenna, she talks about antibiotic resistance in agriculture and human health, MRSA, a...

Fecal Transplants: The Straight Poop

31 Jan 2012

Contributed by Lukas

Journalist and author Maryn McKenna talks about fecal transplants, which have proved to be exceptionally effective at restoring a healthy intestinal m...

State of the Union: Research, Technology and Energy

25 Jan 2012

Contributed by Lukas

About six minutes of President Obama's State of the Union address dealt with research, technology and energy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit m...

A Second Science Front: Evolution Champions Rise to Climate Science Defense

16 Jan 2012

Contributed by Lukas

Eugenie Scott, executive director of the National Center for Science Education, long the nation's leading defender of evolution education, discusses t...

Anna Deavere Smith: Let Me Down Easy

14 Jan 2012

Contributed by Lukas

Actor, playwright and journalist Anna Deavere Smith talks about the health care crisis and her play about people dealing with illness, health and the ...

Man from Mars: Health and Nutrition Research at Mars, Inc., and Beyond

05 Jan 2012

Contributed by Lukas

Hagen Schroeter, the director of fundamental health and nutrition research at Mars, Inc., talks about research on bio-active food compounds and the se...

The <i>YouTube</i> SpaceLab Competition

12 Dec 2011

Contributed by Lukas

If you're 14 to 18 years old, you still have until December 14th to prepare a two-minute video of a suggestion for an experiment to be performed at th...

Large Hadron Collider Backgrounder

11 Dec 2011

Contributed by Lukas

Thomas LeCompte of Argonne National Lab was the physics coordinator for the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider. He talks about the instrume...

Out of Our Depth: Sea Level on the Rise

08 Dec 2011

Contributed by Lukas

Ocean and climate scientist Eelco Rohling talks with Scientific American senior editor Mark Fischetti about updated calculations of sea-level rise as ...

Brian Greene Talks Faster-Than-Light Neutrinos

23 Nov 2011

Contributed by Lukas

Physicist Brian Greene, host of the NOVA series The Fabric of the Cosmos, addresses the question of faster-than-light neutrinos at a Q&A session after...

The Mind's Hidden Switches

22 Nov 2011

Contributed by Lukas

Eric J. Nestler, director of the Friedman Brain Institute at the Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City, talks about his article in the December ...

The Discovery of Quasicrystals: The 2011 Nobel Prize in Chemistry

05 Oct 2011

Contributed by Lukas

Listen to the announcement of the 2011 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, to Daniel Shechtman of the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology. Then hear comment...

An Accelerating Universe: The 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics

04 Oct 2011

Contributed by Lukas

Listen to the announcement of the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics, to Saul Perlmutter, Brian Schmidt and Adam Riess, from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sci...

Cancer Vaccines

30 Sep 2011

Contributed by Lukas

Eric von Hofe, cancer researcher and president of the biotech company Antigen Express talks about his article in the October issue of Scientific Ameri...

Science Legend Christian de Duve

09 Sep 2011

Contributed by Lukas

Christian de Duve, 1974 Nobel laureate for physiology or medicine, talks about going from a cell biologist to a theorist on evolution and the origin o...

Carl Zimmer on Rats, Cats, Viruses and Tattoos

26 Aug 2011

Contributed by Lukas

In part 2 of our interview, award-winning author Carl Zimmer talks about his latest books, and a new study that shows how Toxoplasma influences the be...

Carl Zimmer on Evolution in the Big City

24 Aug 2011

Contributed by Lukas

The annual Scientific American September single-topic issue is all about cities. And award-winning author Carl Zimmer recently penned a piece on evolu...

The City That Became Safe: What New York Teaches about Urban Crime and Its Control

09 Aug 2011

Contributed by Lukas

U.C. Berkeley School of Law professor Franklin Zimring talks about his article, "How New York Beat Crime," in the August issue of Scientific American ...

Nobel Laureate Avram Hershko: The Orchestra in the Cell

27 Jul 2011

Contributed by Lukas

Nobel laureate Avram Hershko, who determined cellular mechanisms for breaking down proteins, talks about his research in a conversation recorded at th...

Nobel Laureate Peter Agre: From Aquaporins to Lutefisk

20 Jul 2011

Contributed by Lukas

Peter Agre, 2003 Chemistry Nobel laureate for his work on aquaporins, the proteins that allow water into and out of cells, talks about his research, h...

Let's Make a Probabilistic Deal: A Fresh Look at the Monty Hall Problem

25 Jun 2011

Contributed by Lukas

Scientific American math and physics editor Davide Castelvecchi revisits the Monty Hall problem, so you can know whether you're better off holding on ...

How Physics Limits Intelligence

17 Jun 2011

Contributed by Lukas

Award-winning author Douglas Fox talks about his cover story in the July issue of Scientific American on The Limits of Intelligence, placed there by t...

Dying for Science: The 100th Anniversary of the Doomed Scott Antarctic Expedition

26 May 2011

Contributed by Lukas

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Edward Larson talks about his article "Greater Glory" in the June issue of Scientific American on the forgotten science ...

Skirting Steak: The Case for Artificial Meat

17 May 2011

Contributed by Lukas

Journalist Jeffrey Bartholet talks about his June Scientific American magazine article on the attempts to grow meat in the lab, and Editor in Chief Ma...

Astronaut Love: An Interview with Spacewalker Stanley Love

28 Apr 2011

Contributed by Lukas

On the eve of the launch of the penultimate space shuttle mission, STS-134, Scientific American astronomy editor George Musser talks to veteran astron...

Editors' Roundtable: Science Conference Reports

21 Apr 2011

Contributed by Lukas

Scientific American editors Christine Gorman, Robin Lloyd, Michael Moyer and Kate Wong talk about their recent trips to different science conferences:...

Can It Be Bad to Be Too Clean?: The Hygiene Hypothesis

06 Apr 2011

Contributed by Lukas

Johns Hopkins School of Medicine researcher Kathleen Barnes talks about the hygiene hypothesis, which raises the possibility that our modern sterile e...

Self-Aware Robots?

02 Mar 2011

Contributed by Lukas

Journalist Charles Choi talks about work being done to make robots self-aware. Plus, we test your knowledge about some recent science in the news Lear...

The Cornucopia Conference: Roundtable on the AAAS Meeting

24 Feb 2011

Contributed by Lukas

Podcast host Steve Mirsky talks with Scientific American magazine Editor in Chief Mariette DiChristina, news editor Anna Kuchment, feature editor Mark...

The Spirit of Innovation: From High School to the Moon

17 Feb 2011

Contributed by Lukas

Nancy Conrad, chair of the Conrad Foundation, talks about the Spirit of Innovation competition for high school students, and about her late husband, P...

What's New with Science News

16 Feb 2011

Contributed by Lukas

Former Scientific American editor in chief and current Gleaming Retort blogger John Rennie, blogger and Scientific American blogs network director Bor...

Jefferson's Moose: Thomas's Fauna Fight against European Naturalists

26 Jan 2011

Contributed by Lukas

Biologist and author Lee Dugatkin talks about his article "Jefferson's Moose" in the February issue of Scientific American, the story of Jefferson's b...

What Is the Watson Jeopardy-Playing Supercomputer, Alex?

14 Jan 2011

Contributed by Lukas

Scientific American editor Michael Moyer talks about the sneak preview he caught of IBM's Watson Jeopardy!-playing computer. And ScientificAmerican.co...

Vinod Khosla: Searching for the Radical Solution

23 Dec 2010

Contributed by Lukas

Clean technology investor Vinod Khosla, co-founder of Sun Microsystems, talks with Scientific American editor Mark Fischetti about the energy payoffs ...