Gary Stix, formerly senior editor of mind and brain topics at Scientific American, edited and reported 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, was responsible for 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 oversaw 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.
Mini-Brains and Human-Mouse Hybrids Reveal What’s Happening Inside Our Head
The Obama administration’s neuroscience initiative highlights new technologies to better understand the workings of brain circuits on both a small and large scale.
Scientist Interview: Implanted Electrodes Reboot Brain Out of Intractable Depression
Psychological depression is more than an emotional state. Good evidence for that comes from emerging new uses for a technology already widely prescribed for Parkinson’s patients.
A Promising Therapy for Toddlers with Autism [Video]
One technique for improving social skills seems to help newly diagnosed young children
Ketamine, A Darling of the Club Scene, Inspires Development of Next-Generation Antidepressants, Part 3
Recent experimental research showing that the anesthetic and club drug ketamine can relieve depression quickly has intrigued a number of major pharmaceutical companies.
Is Ketamine Right for You? Off-Label Prescriptions for Depression Pick Up in Small Clinics, [Part 2]
Dennis Hartman, a 47-year-old former business executive for an Illinois gaming company, described the diagnosis he had been given as “major depression disorder with severity of the extreme, social phobia and generalized anxiety disorder,” something he had lived with for more than 30 years.
From Club to Clinic: Physicians Push Off-Label Ketamine as Rapid Depression Treatment [Part 1]
New types of drugs for schizophrenia, depression and other psychiatric disorders are few and far between—and a number of companies have scaled back or dropped development of this class of pharmaceuticals.
Friendly Fungi Help Crops Get Their Recommended Daily Allowances
An experiment in Colombia with a fungi-laden gel paves the way for helping farmers to obtain an essential crop nutrient
Prescriptions for 3 Glasses of Low-Fat Milk a Day Should Be Scaled Back
Armed with new evidence, nutritionists are rallying against dairy-rich diets
A Guide to Suspected Chemical Weapons Used in Syria [Slide Show]
The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists has just published an informative photo slideshow by terrorism expert Charles Blair about chemical weapons possibly used in Syria.
The Straight Dope: A Q&A with the Prof Behind the Good Science in Breaking Bad
Since 1983, Donna J. Nelson has taught some 10,000 students as a professor of organic chemistry at the University of Oklahoma. Her research extends to characterizing carbon nanotubes and examining carbon–carbon double bonds every which way and even promoting chemistry education as a means to increase the number of chemists and chemical engineers in the [...]
Two Hydrogens and One Oxygen, a Recipe for Cognitive Enhancement?
A Randomized Controlled Trial of Hip Hop
Got (Skim) Milk?: Maybe A Recipe for Obesity and Cancer
Blind Children in India Receive Gift of Sight [Video]
Cataract surgery lets blind children see at an advanced age, giving scientists new insight into the brain’s adaptability
Motorola/Google s Tech Development Strategy Starts to Emerge
Dragonflies with Backpacks May Advance the Science of Prey Capture
Who Will Be Behind the Next Wikileaks or PRISM? Let Us Know
Brie and Milbenk se Are the New Lab Rats for Microbiologists
FDA Enlists Big Data to Track Down Pharma Fraud
Brain Scans and the Law (Watch the Full World Science Festival Event)
The Puzzle of Consciousness: Watch Full Video of World Science Festival Panel
Harvard s Whitesides Gives Brilliant Critique of Mammoth U.S. Brain Project
Suicide Used As Plot Device in Car Ad, Public Health Norms Be Damned
Spring (And Scientific Fraud) Is Busting Out All Over