Structured Unlearning: Marijuana May Impair Memory via the Brain's Non-Firing Cells
A new study suggests that pot makes users forgetful by binding not to neurons but to the brain's supporting glial cells called astrocytes
Stories by Ferris Jabr
Recommended: The Age of Insight
Books and recommendations from Scientific American
Scary Stuff: Fright Chemical Identified in Injured Fish
A molecule related to chondroitin supplements alerts fish of nearby danger
The Perils and Pleasures of Online Gaming for Married Life
If someone asked you to sketch a portrait of a gamer who spends countless hours each week inhabiting an avatar—say, an elf or a warlock—in a virtual fantasy world, what kind of person would you draw?...
Mountain Maladies: Genetic Screening Susses Out Susceptibility to Altitude Sickness
New tests could spare soldiers from debilitating sickness at high altitudes--and mitigate cattle deaths in the Rockies
Tiny, Tree-Dwelling Primate Called Tarsier Sends and Receives Ultrasonic Calls
Let's be honest: tarsiers look odd. Among the smallest of all primates, most species of tarsier would fit easily in the palm of your hand. They have long, slender, largely hairless tails and elongated fingers with knobby knuckles and mushroom-cap finger pads.To fully confront the tarsier's bizarre anatomy, you must stare it in the face...
Sight Seen: Gene Therapy Restores Vision in Both Eyes
Two doses of gene therapy restore vision to three women who were born nearly blind
By the Numbers: Autism Is Not a Math Problem
There are 2,027 ways to be diagnosed with autism in DSM-IV and only 11 ways in DSM-5, but the numbers alone are misleading
Redefining Autism: Will New DSM-5 Criteria for ASD Exclude Some People?
Experts call for small and easy changes to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, the "bible" of psychiatry, so that everyone with autism spectrum disorder qualifies for a diagnosis...
Dirty Dancing: Dung Beetles Get Down to Walk the Line
The meticulous insects pirouette atop their dung balls to get their bearings and correct navigational errors
Gumming Up Appetite
The obese may soon have a new tool to curb hunger
Shape-Shifting: Researchers Change How Monkeys See in 3-D
Stimulating a particular region of the brain alters the way rhesus macaques perceive optical illusions
Fearless Youth: Prozac Extinguishes Anxiety by Rejuvenating the Brain
New research shows that the antidepressant reduces fear in adult mice by increasing brain plasticity
Jailbreak Rat: Selfless Rodents Spring Their Pals and Share Their Sweets
A new study suggests that rodents are far more altruistic than previously thought
Cache Cab: Taxi Drivers' Brains Grow to Navigate London's Streets
Memorizing 25,000 city streets balloons the hippocampus, but cabbies may pay a hidden fare in cognitive skills
Was Jane Austen Poisoned by Arsenic? Science May Soon Find Out
Modern techniques could reveal whether the celebrated English novelist's surviving hair contains unusually high levels of arsenic
Gumming Up Appetite to Treat Obesity
Researchers plan to create chewing gum that sneaks an appetite-suppressing hormone through the gut and into the blood
Do MRIs Relieve Symptoms of Depression?
Researchers continue to explore whether magnetic fields produced by magnetic resonance imaging devices and others improve mood in those who suffer from depressive disorders
A Nobel Celebration
As Nobel Prize winners gather this month to share their wisdom with younger researchers, Scientific American recalls some of the articles that Nobel laureates have published in our pages...
