Stories by Ricki Rusting

Decoding the Overlap between Autism and ADHD

The two conditions often coincide, but the search for common biological roots turns up conflicting evidence

A Manuscript 47 Years in the Making

A physician invited to write for Scientific American in the 1960s has finally turned in his story

Swelling in a Slit Tumor Reveals the Inner Squeezing It Felt

Such squeezing can close blood vessels and impair the effectiveness of anticancer drugs

1915 Warning: Beware of Used-Car Salesmen

Suspicion of used-car dealers has a long history in the U.S. if an article in a 1915 supplement to Scientific American is any guide. The story, Buying a Second-Hand Automobile, by Victor W...

Happy 100th Birthday to the Crossword

On this day a hundred years ago, a journalist named Arthur Wynne published what is widely regarded as the first modern crossword puzzle. It appeared in the New York World, where it was called a Word-Cross Puzzle...

Will the Real Christopher Columbus Please Stand Up?

In 1893, Scientific American and other publications reported evidence that a true likeness, produced by none other than the Italian artist Titian, had been found

Call Us “Scientific Home Journal”

I love Scientific American‘s archive not only for its record of scientific discovery but also for the surprises I invariably find there.

Hold the Elevator: How Otis's Early Systems Worked

2013 marks 160 years since Elisha Graves Otis sold his first elevator, designed specifically for safety. Sales languished, though, until he attended the 1854 world's fair in New York City and, at the Crystal Palace, demonstrated the innovation that made elevators stop, instead of falling, if their cables snapped...

Fall That Glitters: Microscopy Reveals Stained-Glass Beauty in Ancient Meteorites [Slide Show]

Under a polarizing light microscope, chondrules—melted bits of silicate-rich material in meteorites—turn slices of the space rocks into bedazzling art

Faster-Acting Experimental Antidepressants Show Promise

Investigators seek new antidepressants that will act faster or give fresh options to people not helped enough by existing agents

What Unusually Long-Lived Animals Tell Us about Human Aging

Does This Animal Live Unusually Long? [Slide Show]

An index called the longevity quotient indicates whether a species has an average life span or is unusually long-lived or short-lived for an animal of its size. A score of 1 is average; higher numbers reflect unusual longevity...

Inheritance of Acquired Characteristics [Animation]

Epigenetics Explained [Animation]

Robert Falcon Scott's South Polar Journey: In His Own Words [Recordings]

Devils' Advocates: Catching a Slice of Tasmanian Devil Life [Slide Show]

Take a look at the animals that researchers have sighted or captured while in the field to study a contagious cancer that is destroying Tasmanian devil populations

An Inside Look at a Colonoscopy [Video]

Colon cancer can be beat if detected early. This video from TheVisualMD , incorporating biologically accurate graphics, offers a ride on a camera to show how the disease is detected and treated...

Arctic Beauty in Black and White: Alaska Before the Effects of Global Warming [Slide Show]

Photographs from the World War II era not only helped to map northern Alaska but also captured its majesty

Flying Car

A long-standing dream

Origins: The Start of Everything

Where do rainbows come from? What about flying cars, love and LSD?