July 24, 2012

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ScienceSeeker Editor's Selections: Sleep and Psychosis, Superhero Strength, Face Perception, War on Doping

By Jason G. Goldman

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This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American

Here are my Science Seeker Editor's Selections for the past week:

Can Sleep Deprivation Cause Psychotic Behaviour? And what does it have to do with airline pilots? Dr. Vitelli explains at Providentia.

Think you could lift a car? You might, if someone's life depended on it. Jordan Gaines describes how that might work. Superhero science: tapping into our super-strength with adrenaline.

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According to Ellie Wilson, in a guest post at Jon Brock's blog Cracking the Enigma, "In autism, deficits processing facial expressions are widely acknowledged, but there is an increasing amount of evidence for impaired facial identity recognition from scientific studies as well as personal anecdotes." Why do (some) autistic kids struggle to recognise faces?

"The Summer Olympics are fast approaching," Dirk Hanson writes, "and that can only mean one thing: drugs. After more than a decade, you might wonder, how goes the so-called War on Doping?" Read about The Summer Olympics and the “War on Doping” at Addiction Inbox.

Jason G. Goldman is a science journalist based in Los Angeles. He has written about animal behavior, wildlife biology, conservation, and ecology for Scientific American, Los Angeles magazine, the Washington Post, the Guardian, the BBC, Conservation magazine, and elsewhere. He contributes to Scientific American's "60-Second Science" podcast, and is co-editor of Science Blogging: The Essential Guide (Yale University Press). He enjoys sharing his wildlife knowledge on television and on the radio, and often speaks to the public about wildlife and science communication.

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