Stories by Steve Mirsky

Lee Dugatkin, evolutionary biologist and behavioral ecologist at the University of Louisville, talks about his article in the June Scientific American called "The Networked Animal," about how social networks in disparate animals species affect the lives of the entire group and its individual members. His co-author is Matthew Hasenjager, a doctoral candidate in his lab   

Reed Hastings, CEO of Netflix, gave his view of the next couple of decades in the evolution of TV-watching at the re:publica 15 digital culture conference in Berlin on May 5 

Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Chris Wood explains the May 9 Global Big Day event, in which birders worldwide are invited to spot birds and upload their findings to the eBird database. Steve Mirsky reports

Astronomer Alan Smale spends his days at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center exploring celestial objects, but he's also the author of Clash of Eagles, an alternate-history novel in which a Roman Legion invades North America

Some chairs you would want of wood, some chairs you would not want

Scientific American's David Biello hosts a new episode of the TV series Beyond the Light Switch, focusing on the means to and effects of a more electricity-powered country. Steve Mirsky reports

 

In a Google Hangout Nobel laureate Elizabeth Blackburn and Scientific American Editor in Chief Mariette DiChristina discuss the relationship between exercise and telomere length, which is related to diseases of aging

 

A small study finds that diabetics who ate a big breakfast and small dinner had better glucose control than those who ate the opposite. Steve Mirsky reports

 

I've seen the needle and the damage avoided

Scientific American’s Dina Maron talks with Keiji Fukuda, assistant director general for health security at the World Health Organization, about the current Ebola outbreak, the threat of sexual transmission and the hope for a vaccine. They were both at an Institute of Medicine Forum on Microbial Threats held at the Pan American Health Organization in Washington, D.C., concentrating on Ebola in west Africa

 

University of Exeter archaeologist José Iriarte talks to freelance journalist Cynthia Graber about his efforts to understand human activity in and influence on the Amazon region for the last 13 millennia  

 

In conjunction with this magazine's inclusion on the March 12 episode of The Big Bang Theory, here's an edited version of a talk by the sitcom's science advisor, U.C.L.A. physicist David Saltzberg, about his role and the show's reach

 

On the March 12 episode of The Big Bang Theory, a mock copy of Scientific American becomes a key part of the plot. The sitcom's science advisor, U.C.L.A. physicist David Saltzberg, talks about the show's reach to the lay public. Steve Mirsky reports

 

Oklahoma Sen. James Inhofe carried a snowball onto the Senate floor to insinuate that climate change was not real, after which Rhode Island Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse torched Inhofe's argument. Steve Mirsky reports

 

Sticks and stones may break your bones, but poorly translated words may also hurt you

Gen. John Hyten, Commander, U.S. Air Force Space Command, talks about the task of tracking all the materials in orbit and keeping them from crashing into one another. Steve Mirsky and Larry Greenemeier report  

 

Science was in the spotlight at the 87th annual Academy Awards ceremony Sunday night, from actors playing scientists to winners thanking them. Steve Mirsky reports

Heather Berlin, assistant professor of psychiatry and of neuroscience at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City, is the co-host of the new CUNY TV program Science Goes to the Movies  

We've seen the needle and the damage avoided

According to sports economist Andrew Zimbalist, most cities that win the right to host the Olympics will spend far more to prepare for the games than they estimate in their winning bid. Steve Mirsky reports     

 

Unheralded arthropods help keep our streets pristine

Gates Foundation CEO Dr. Susan Desmond-Hellmann and Scientific American Editor in Chief Mariette DiChristina talk about the foundation set forth in its recently released annual letter. Part 2 of 2

 

Gates Foundation CEO Dr. Susan Desmond-Hellmann and Scientific American Editor in-Chief Mariette DiChristina talk about the foundation set forth in its recently released annual letter. Part 1 of 2

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation CEO Susan Desmond-Hellmann talks about some of what needs to be done to make a reality of the foundation's aspiration to cut maternal mortality by two thirds by 2030