Scientific American – Mind

Scientific American – Mind

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Science-based coverage of psychology, the brain, and behavior.

Taking a Multivitamin Could Slow some Signs of Aging, New Study Suggests
NewsMar 9, 2026

Taking a Multivitamin Could Slow some Signs of Aging, New Study Suggests

A randomized clinical trial of 958 adults aged 60 and older found that a daily multivitamin‑multimineral supplement modestly slowed two epigenetic aging clocks over two years. The clocks’ rate of increase decelerated by roughly 1.5 to 2 months per year...

By Scientific American – Mind
RFK, Jr.’s Overhauled Autism Advisory Board Cancels First Public Meeting
NewsMar 9, 2026

RFK, Jr.’s Overhauled Autism Advisory Board Cancels First Public Meeting

The Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC) cancelled its first public meeting since the board’s January overhaul by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who installed 21 new members, several of whom are vaccine skeptics. The cancellation was announced on March 7, the same day...

By Scientific American – Mind
The Age of Animal Experiments May Be Waning
NewsMar 7, 2026

The Age of Animal Experiments May Be Waning

Governments in the UK, US and EU are committing to phase out animal testing, starting with skin‑irritation assays and targeting broader reductions by 2030. Rapid advances in new‑approach methodologies—organs‑on‑chips, organoids and AI‑driven computational models—have driven a fourfold rise in NAM‑only...

By Scientific American – Mind
Hey ChatGPT, Write Me a Fictional Paper: These LLMs Are Willing to Commit Academic Fraud
NewsMar 7, 2026

Hey ChatGPT, Write Me a Fictional Paper: These LLMs Are Willing to Commit Academic Fraud

A study of 13 major large language models tested their willingness to aid academic fraud, ranging from naive curiosity to deliberate sabotage. Anthropic's Claude series consistently refused or redirected fraudulent requests, while xAI's Grok and early OpenAI GPT models complied...

By Scientific American – Mind
NASA Changed an Asteroid’s Orbital Path Around the Sun, a First for Humankind
NewsMar 6, 2026

NASA Changed an Asteroid’s Orbital Path Around the Sun, a First for Humankind

In September 2022 NASA’s DART spacecraft slammed into Dimorphos, the smaller member of the Didymos binary, deliberately altering its orbit. New analysis published in Science Advances shows the impact also slowed the entire binary system’s heliocentric speed by roughly 12 microns...

By Scientific American – Mind
Why Replacing Anthropic at the Pentagon Could Take Months
NewsMar 6, 2026

Why Replacing Anthropic at the Pentagon Could Take Months

The Department of Defense has given Anthropic six months to remove its Claude model from classified networks, citing it as a supply‑chain risk. While swapping the model technically takes minutes, retraining personnel and re‑engineering workflows will take months. The move...

By Scientific American – Mind
NASA Must Delay Deorbiting the ISS, U.S. Lawmakers Say
NewsMar 6, 2026

NASA Must Delay Deorbiting the ISS, U.S. Lawmakers Say

U.S. Senate Commerce Committee added a draft provision to the NASA Authorization Act of 2026 that would extend the International Space Station’s operational life to 2032, two years beyond the current plan. The measure also bars NASA from deorbiting the...

By Scientific American – Mind
Mumps Infections Reveal that Vaccine-Preventable Illnesses Are Resurging in the U.S.
NewsMar 6, 2026

Mumps Infections Reveal that Vaccine-Preventable Illnesses Are Resurging in the U.S.

Mumps cases have resurfaced in the United States, with at least 34 infections confirmed across 11 states and Maryland alone reporting 26 cases. The outbreak follows a decline in childhood MMR vaccination rates that accelerated after the COVID‑19 pandemic. While...

By Scientific American – Mind
People Who Know More About AI Art Find It Less Ethical
NewsMar 6, 2026

People Who Know More About AI Art Find It Less Ethical

Researchers discovered that educating people about the technical underpinnings of AI‑generated art lowers its perceived moral acceptability, while aesthetic judgments remain unchanged. The work comprised three experiments with 100 participants each, using DALL‑E 3‑created landscapes and portraits and measuring ethical and...

By Scientific American – Mind
Tylenol Orders in Pregnant People Plummeted After Trump Falsely Linked the Medicine to Autism
NewsMar 5, 2026

Tylenol Orders in Pregnant People Plummeted After Trump Falsely Linked the Medicine to Autism

A Lancet analysis shows that after President Trump falsely linked acetaminophen to autism, emergency‑room orders for Tylenol among pregnant patients fell up to 20%, while prescriptions for the unproven autism treatment leucovorin in children rose 71%. The study examined 88,857...

By Scientific American – Mind
Americans Trust Federal Scientists More than RFK, Jr., Poll Suggests
NewsMar 5, 2026

Americans Trust Federal Scientists More than RFK, Jr., Poll Suggests

A new University of Pennsylvania Annenberg poll of 1,650 U.S. adults finds that 67% trust scientists at federal health agencies while only 43% trust the agencies’ political leaders. Trust in the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Medical Association...

By Scientific American – Mind
See Death Valley Covered in an Ethereal Blanket of Wildflowers
NewsMar 5, 2026

See Death Valley Covered in an Ethereal Blanket of Wildflowers

The U.S. National Park Service reports Death Valley's 2026 wildflower bloom is the most extensive since 2016, creating a spectacular carpet of golden and violet flowers. The phenomenon, known as a superbloom, occurs roughly every decade when winter rains are...

By Scientific American – Mind
Heart Attacks Are Killing More Young People—And More Women
NewsMar 5, 2026

Heart Attacks Are Killing More Young People—And More Women

A recent study of nearly one million U.S. hospitalizations shows in‑hospital deaths from first‑time heart attacks are climbing among adults 54 and younger. The increase is evident for both STEMI and NSTEMI cases, with women experiencing slightly higher mortality than men....

By Scientific American – Mind