Erik Vance is a science writer and relatively new father. His first book, Suggestible You (National Geographic, 2016), is about how belief affects the brain.
Poison Nil: Snake and Scorpion Antivenoms Set for First Update in 60 Years
The National Autonomous University of Mexico has become a global leader in developing a new generation of treatments for bites from poisonous critters, some of which have cleared FDA hurdles
Neither the Maya Calendar--nor the World--Ends on December 21, 2012
This year's doomsday angst owes much to public ignorance about pre-Columbian civilizations
Can Coral Nurseries Bring Reefs Back from the Brink? [Slide Show]
A growing group of scientists is attempting to save coral reefs by cultivating them
Foam Alone: Do Furniture Flame Retardants Save Enough Lives to Justify Their Environmental Damage?
An obscure California law effectively sets flammability standards for foam in the nation's furniture, but proposed new legislation claims flame retardants don't prevent fires and could have negative health impacts
Is Estrogen the New Ritalin?
The sex hormone boosts thinking in some women, impairs it in others
Slide Show: 10 Important Atmospheric Science Experiments
From air, space, and deep in a forest, scientists air out climate models with lab and field work
Scientists Get Wind of Why Coasts Cool as the Globe Warms
Climatic conundrum may help the Los Angeles Basin and California's wine country dodge a bullet as the world warms
Bigfoot Press Conference Yields Little Evidence, Lots of Scorn
Enthusiast says he wants to make as much money as possible from alleged Sasquatch find, skeptics are hardly convinced