October 7, 2011
Meet the Winners of Scientific American's Great Consciousness Contest
Stand aside "Watson": We have triumphed over the machine
Stories by Gary Stix
Gary Stix, senior editor of mind and brain at Scientific American, edits and reports on emerging advances that have propelled brain science to the forefront of the biological sciences. Stix has edited or written cover stories, feature articles and news on diverse topics, ranging from what happens in the brain when a person is immersed in thought to the impact of brain implant technology that alleviates mood disorders such as depression. Before taking over the neuroscience beat, Stix, as Scientific American's special projects editor, oversaw the magazine's annual single-topic special issues, conceiving of and producing issues on Albert Einstein, Charles Darwin, climate change and nanotechnology. One special issue he edited on the topic of time in all of its manifestations won a National Magazine Award. With his wife Miriam Lacob, Stix is co-author of a technology primer called Who Gives a Gigabyte? A Survival Guide for the Technologically Perplexed.
Mind & BrainSeptember 22, 2011
Eyes (and Minds) Deceive: Witness Unreliability Casts Doubt on Death Penalty Rulings
HealthSeptember 14, 2011
The Bachmann Files: Don't Let the Facts Stand in the Way of Incendiary Politics
HealthSeptember 13, 2011
Health Care Needs (More) Reform: Cancer Drugs Show How Markets Remain out of Whack
EnvironmentSeptember 1, 2011
Street Talk: What Innovations Would Make Cities More Livable?
What innovation—technological or otherwise—would make any city a substantially more livable place? We put this question to urban leaders and our own readers. Here's what they said
The SciencesAugust 30, 2011
Making Cities Better: Answers from The Scientific American Survey
Walkable metropolises and health clubs would improve the experience of living in urban areas
The SciencesAugust 26, 2011
Cities in Fact and Fiction: An Interview with William Gibson
Author of the cyberpunk novel Neuromancer, William Gibson talks about the relationship between his fiction and the contemporary urban landscape
Mind & BrainAugust 22, 2011
The Brain Takes the Stage: Neuroscience Gets Its Moment of Fame
HealthAugust 9, 2011
What I Did for My Summer Vacation: An Ethno-Botanical Adventure
Mind & BrainAugust 1, 2011
How to Build a Better Learner
Brain studies suggest new ways to improve reading, writing and arithmetic--and even social skills
July 20, 2011
Early Interventions: Baby Brains May Signal Later Language Problems [Video]
See how researchers keep tabs on electrical activity inside the heads of the youngest young to spot developmental challenges
HealthJune 6, 2011
Let's Retire the Phrase: "We Need a Moon Shot to...[Fill in the Blank]"
Mind & BrainJune 3, 2011
Memories Are Made of This: Drugs to Boost Recall—or Destroy It
HealthMay 27, 2011
The HDL Conundrum: What's Bad about Drugs for Good Cholesterol?
May 4, 2011
Ask the Experts: What Does Bin Laden's Death Mean to Us and Society?
It all depends on your social identity--how you relate as an individual to different groups
TechnologyMay 4, 2011
Artificial Intelligence: If at First You Don't Succeed...
TechnologyMay 2, 2011
Off the grid: a high-tech military deployed the ancient art of stealth to capture their man
TechnologyMarch 30, 2011
Brain-computer interface guru featured on the Daily Show (and in Scientific American)
Mind & BrainMarch 22, 2011
One pill makes you smarter: The myths of the meat machine
March 21, 2011
Cancer Metastasizes Globally: Additional Resources
Once thought to be endemic mostly to richer nations with their longer life expectancies, malignancies now confront denizens of lower and middle-income nations. A new global effort now focuses on the issue.
Mind & BrainMarch 9, 2011
The deity by any other name: Army resilience program gets a thumbs down from atheists
Mind & BrainMarch 1, 2011
The Neuroscience of True Grit
When tragedy strikes, most of us ultimately rebound surprisingly well. Where does such resilience come from?
Mind & BrainFebruary 15, 2011
Basic Resilience Training
Here are more details on a massive military program to teach psychological resilience, called Comprehensive Soldier Fitness, as highlighted in "The Neuroscience of True Grit" in the March issue
HealthFebruary 7, 2011
What Would Reagan Do? Check the MRI