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Magazine
In the Feb. 16 SN: Robots roll into the classroom, brain zaps for severe depression, particle colliders of the future, how to walk like a tetrapod, sleepless nights boost Alzheimer's proteins and more.
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News
Phone apps are helping scientists track suicidal thoughts in real time
06/18/2018 - 09:00 Psychology, Mental HealthSuicide research is undergoing a timing shift, and not a moment too soon. A new breed of studies that track daily — and even hourly — changes in suicidal thinking is providing intriguing, although still preliminary, insights into how to identify those on the verge of trying to kill themselves.
Monitoring ways in which suicidal thoughts wax and wane over brief time periods, it turns out,...
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News
Gun owner or not, Americans agree on many ways to limit gun violence
05/21/2018 - 13:23 Psychology, Science & SocietyDespite a public debate that grows more fractious with every school shooting — from Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn., to Parkland, Fla., and the latest deadly attack May 18 in Santa Fe, Texas — Americans actually agree on gun policy to a surprising extent.
According to a new survey of more than 2,100 people, majorities of both gun owners and nonowners support 15 potential gun...
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News
The window for learning a language may stay open surprisingly long
05/11/2018 - 11:02 Language, PsychologyLanguage learning isn’t kid stuff anymore. In fact, it never was, a provocative new study concludes.
A crucial period for learning the rules and structure of a language lasts up to around age 17 or 18, say psychologist Joshua Hartshorne of MIT and colleagues.
Previous research had suggested that grammar-learning ability flourished in early childhood before hitting a dead end around...
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News
In China, coffee shop habits show cultural differences tied to farming
04/25/2018 - 14:22 PsychologyDeeply ingrained cultural differences in everyday behavior between natives of northern and southern China bubble up while sipping coffee in Starbucks and other cafés.
How close people sit and whether they dodge or move chairs blocking aisles reveals whether their cultural roots go back to rice farming in southern China or wheat farming in northern China, researchers report April 25 in...
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News
Why science still can’t pinpoint a mass shooter in the making
03/23/2018 - 11:46 Science & Society, Psychology, Mental HealthImmediately after a 19-year-old shot and killed 17 people and wounded 17 others at a Florida high school on Valentine’s Day, people leaped to explain what had caused the latest mass slaughter.
By now, it’s a familiar drill: Too many readily available guns. Too much untreated mental illness. Too much warped masculinity. Don’t forget those shoot-’em-up video games and movies. Add (or...
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Reviews & Previews
How biology breaks the ‘cerebral mystique’
03/12/2018 - 07:00 Neuroscience, History of Science, PsychologyThe Biological MindAlan JasanoffBasic Books, $30
At a small eatery in Seville, Spain, Alan Jasanoff had his first experience with brains — wrapped in eggs and served with potatoes. At the time, he was more interested in finding a good, affordable meal than contemplating the sheer awesomeness of the organ he was eating. Years later, Jasanoff began studying the brain as part of his...
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Editor's Note
Discussing what matters when facts are not enough
Scientists and journalists live for facts. Our methods may be very different, but we share a deep belief that by questioning, observing and verifying, we can gain a truer sense of how the world works.03/09/2018 - 10:20 Science & Society, PsychologySo when people question the scientific consensus on issues such as climate change, vaccine effectiveness or the safety of genetically modified organisms (SN: 2/6/16, p. 22), it’s no...
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Editor's Note
In play, kids and scientists take big mental leaps
I know a lot of adults who don’t like to cook, but I’ve never met a child who doesn’t enjoy playing with a toy kitchen — or one who doesn’t want to help chop vegetables for dinner. Other versions of practical play: A cousin, at the age of just 4 or 5, asked for only one thing for Christmas — a snow brush. And on a beach trip last year, I witnessed a duo of 2-year-olds squealing with...02/07/2018 - 15:30 Science & Society, Psychology, Anthropology -
Feature
When it’s playtime, many kids prefer reality over fantasy
02/06/2018 - 11:45 Psychology, Anthropology, ArchaeologyYoung children travel to fantasy worlds every day, packing just imaginations and a toy or two.
Some preschoolers scurry across ocean floors carrying toy versions of cartoon character SpongeBob SquarePants. Other kids trek to distant universes with miniature replicas of Star Wars robots R2-D2 and C-3PO. Throngs of youngsters fly on broomsticks and cast magic spells with Harry Potter and...
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Letters to the Editor
Readers inspired by SN 10 scientists’ research
Wanting more11/15/2017 - 13:17 Science & Society, Robotics, PsychologyFor the third year in a row, Science News profiled 10 early- and mid-career innovators who are transforming their fields in “The SN 10: Scientists to watch” (SN: 10/14/17, p. 16).
The profiles left some readers inspired, intrigued and wanting to know more about these scientists’ research.
“Really enjoying these portraits, thanks, SN!” online reader Maia commented...