Scientific American - Ask the Experts

Could an Infection Cause Tourette's-Like Symptoms in Teenage Girls?

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 18:05:00 EST

Over the weekend Erin Brockovich made the news yet again as she and her nonprofit team descended on the village of Le Roy, N.Y., determined to test for environmental toxins that might be giving the town's teenagers symptoms of Tourette's syndrome. She has reportedly been stonewalled thus far by local officials, who have already ruled out toxins as the cause of last October's sudden outbreak of tics and involuntary movements in 12 girls who attend Le Roy Junior–Senior High School. An environmental testing company surveyed the air and water and found nothing amiss, and a local neurologist concluded upon examining the girls that they had "conversion disorder," a catchall moniker for physical symptoms that originate in the mind because of stress, trauma or even mass hysteria.

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Bed Bug Confidential: An Expert Explains How to Defend against the Dreaded Pests

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 08:30:00 EST

Chances are, you or someone you know has had a run-in with bed bug s. It might have happened in a scrupulously clean bedroom. Or maybe it was a hotel room, office or college dorm. In the February issue of Scientific American entomologist Kenneth Haynes of the University of Kentucky explains how, after a lengthy absence, bed bugs are staging a comeback . The good news is scientists are intensively studying these insects, and their insights suggest novel ways of detecting the bugs and eradicating infestations. Some of those potential solutions are a long way off, however. In the meantime the best bet is to avoid bringing bed bugs home in the first place. I called Haynes to ask him how to do that and what to do if one suspects an infestation (eek!), among a bunch of other practical-minded questions.

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Can A Middle-Aged Neophyte Make It to Carnegie Hall?

Sat, 21 Jan 2012 07:00:00 EST

Gary Marcus suffers from what a friend jokingly describes as congenital arrhythmia--the inability, despite many hours of his youth spent practicing and taking lessons, to learn to play a musical instrument. A few years ago Marcus, a cognitive psychologist at New York University, decided at 38 to make one last try when he took up guitar. No surprise: He did not succeed in becoming the next Jimi Hendrix, but managed to acquire a modicum of skill--and went on to describe his experience in Guitar Zero: The New Musician and the Science of Learning .

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How Has Stephen Hawking Lived to 70 with ALS?

Sat, 07 Jan 2012 06:00:00 EST

Stephen Hawking turns 70 on Sunday, beating the odds of a daunting diagnosis by nearly half a century. [More]

North Korea's Nukes: Does the Death of Kim Jong-il Mean Trouble for the U.S.?

Tue, 20 Dec 2011 17:00:00 EST

As the body of North Korea's "dear leader" Kim Jong-il lies in state at his palace in Pyongyang, his youngest son Kim Jong-un takes control of the country's nuclear weapons program. Despite being named Kim's successor in 2009, Kim Jong-un remains a bit of a mystery to the West. One unanswered question: How much power does the younger Kim wield over the country's military? [More]

What Is Propofol--and How Could It Have Killed Michael Jackson?

Mon, 03 Oct 2011 06:00:00 EST

In the first week of the trial of Conrad Murray, Michael Jackson 's physician, Los Angeles jurors heard audio recordings of the late pop star's slurred speech, in addition to the litany of prescription drugs he had taken in the hours and weeks prior to his June 25, 2009, death. [More]

How Accurate Are Memories of 9/11?

Tue, 06 Sep 2011 07:30:00 EST

For most Americans, as the nation's thoughts turn to the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, memories of that day readily come flooding back. People can remember with great clarity what they were doing or to whom they were speaking when they learned of the crisis--whether via a sister's phone call or a first-hand glimpse of the World Trade Center on fire. [More]

Medical Mystery: How Can Some People Hear Their Own Eyeballs Move?

Thu, 01 Sep 2011 07:00:00 EST

It sounds like something out of an Edgar Allen Poe tale of horror . A man becomes agitated by strange sounds only to find that they are emanating from inside his own body--his heart, his pulse, the very movement of his eyes in their sockets. Yet superior canal dehiscence syndrome (SCDS) is a very real affliction caused by a small hole in the bone covering part of the inner ear . Such a breach results in distortion of hearing and, often, impaired balance. [More]

Can Mobile Phone Networks Be Improved to Better Cope with Emergencies?

Fri, 26 Aug 2011 07:00:00 EST

Anyone in the eastern portion of the U.S. this week who was forced to evacuate an office, home or school following Tuesday's magnitude 5.8 earthquake soon noticed that cell phone service was spotty or, in many cases, nonexistent. For New Yorkers herded outside of their skyscrapers and into the streets, it was a communication blackout reminiscent of (although of course not the same as) the 9/11 terrorist attacks. In both situations, mobile phone users were unable to connect to the cell network to communicate with loved ones. [More]

Why Was the Virginia Earthquake Felt So Widely?

Wed, 24 Aug 2011 17:01:00 EST

On August 23, just before 2 P.M. Eastern time, the entire eastern half of the North American continent rocked back and forth for a few moments. From northern Ontario down south to Georgia and inland as far as western Ohio and Tennessee, the 5.8-magnitude quake centered in Mineral, Va., had some broad reach. [More]

Egotist Rex: Are a Dictator's Defiant Statements Indicative of Self-Delusion?

Tue, 23 Aug 2011 16:15:00 EST

Six months after a civil uprising began in Libya, Col. Muammar Qadhafi, the nation's longtime leader, finally seems to have lost his grip on the country he ruled for more than 40 years. Did he also, at some point, lose his grip on reality? [More]

Can Math Beat Financial Markets?

Tue, 16 Aug 2011 16:01:00 EST

Wall Street's wild swings last week helped skew both retirement portfolios and mathematical models of the financial markets. After all, a standard Gaussian function --a bell curve--would predict that such extreme dips and rises would be exceedingly rare and not prone to following one after the other on succeeding days.

Gaussian functions might be able to describe the distribution of grades in a big college class, with most students getting, say, B–/C+, and enable you to predict how many students will get A's or fail. But evidently, they do a poor job at explaining steep fluctuations in stock prices, although some economists and modelers think they are the best tool available to describe financial markets.

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Why Is Swimming the Most Deadly Leg of a Triathlon?

Tue, 09 Aug 2011 13:40:00 EST

Sunday's Nautica New York City Triathlon resulted in two deaths, both from cardiac events that arose during the event's initial swimming leg. A 64-year-old man and a 40-year-old woman were pulled from the Hudson River before they could complete the 1.5-kilometer swim from a wharf near Manhattan's 96th Street down to the West 79th Street Boat Basin. Both athletes were taken to a nearby hospital in cardiac arrest. Police said 26 others were removed from the water needing assistance for minor injuries or pains that arose during the swim portion of the competition. [More]

What Causes Prejudice against Immigrants, and How Can It Be Tamed?

Fri, 29 Jul 2011 17:10:00 EST

In the wake of the bombing in Oslo and the shooting on Utoya Island in Norway, the spotlight has focused on confessed perpetrator Anders Behring Breivik. What drove the Norwegian citizen with extremist right-wing views to these mass killings? Although one of the terrorist's driving motives was anti-immigrant sentiment, he also killed fellow Norwegians belonging to his own ethnic group. [More]

Is There a Link Between Creativity and Addiction?

Tue, 26 Jul 2011 15:01:00 EST

A drink of alcohol , any kind; "rails" of white powder; a pill prescribed by a pediatrician to assist with attention deficit disorder. Whatever the poison, addiction can take a powerful toll. Nor is it limited to drugs--food, sex and even death-defying stunts can exert the same pull. [More]

Does Rehab Work as a Treatment for Alcoholism and Other Addictions?

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 19:15:00 EST

Singer Amy Winehouse's fame and infamy have now been forever linked to one word: rehab. She is only one of many recent high-profile cases in which attempts at rehabilitation from substance abuse failed. Amidst strange public outbursts earlier this year, actor Charlie Sheen asserted that it was not rehab, but rather he, himself, that had been his secret weapon against abusing cocaine and booze. [More]

Does the Murdoch Hacking Scandal Signify the End of Privacy?

Thu, 21 Jul 2011 11:00:00 EST

Voice mail hacking was practiced for years at Rupert Murdoch's News of the World tabloid in the U.K. prior to its dramatic public implosion a few weeks ago. Murdoch's media empire was shaken this time because his employees were found to be spying on victims of tragedy, including a murdered teen and families of dead soldiers, rather than on celebrities and royals. This revelation prompted retaliatory online hacks against several of Murdoch's media properties by a group known as Lulz Security (LulzSec). [More]

The Salt Wars Rage On: A Chat with Nutrition Professor Marion Nestle

Thu, 14 Jul 2011 18:50:00 EST

Is salt bad for us? In just the past few months researchers have published seemingly contradictory studies showing that excess sodium in the diet leads to heart disease , reduces your blood pressure, or has no effect at all . We called Scientific American advisory board member Marion Nestle , a professor of nutrition, food studies, and public health at New York University and the author of Food Politics , to help parse the latest thinking regarding salt and heart health.

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Ooze-Down Economics: Will Opening Global Oil Reserves Stimulate the World Economy?

Tue, 28 Jun 2011 17:15:00 EST

As Libya's civil war continues to disrupt its contribution to the world's oil supply, the Paris-based International Energy Agency (IEA) has taken action. The IEA, which counts the U.S. among its members, announced on June 23 that it will release 60 million barrels of oil from various governments' strategic reserves, spread out over a 30-day period. The U.S. Department of Energy is supplying 30 million barrels, half the total amount, from its 727-million-barrel Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR). [More]

Pyramid versus Plate: What Should the USDA's Food Chart Look Like?

Thu, 02 Jun 2011 06:30:00 EST

The "food pyramid" is getting squashed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) this week. [More]