Kristen French
If You Want Animals to Understand You, Speak Slowly
A new study suggests almost all animal communication shares a common, slow rhythm
Hunting for a New Hallucinogen in the Lilliputian Psychedelic
The chemical substance behind these visions isn’t like any other known to science
The Dangers of AI Voice Clones
Scammers are already manipulating us with the voices of our loved ones, but another risk lurks in the data collected by voice command and search apps
Does Your Chatbot Need a Therapist?
Scientists want to use LLMs to model human emotions and study human mental health
The Trouble with Trash
A conversation with a trash man turned sociologist about our dangerous waste problem and the heroics that hide it
How Humans Are Like Bloodhounds and Bats
A conversation with writer Richard Louv, who coined the term “nature deficit disorder”
How Obesity Leads to Memory Loss
Scientists want to know if aging and an expanded waistline affect memory in the same way
The Unlucky Ones: What It Feels Like to Get Struck By Lightning
A bolt may ignite seeming genius, but is more likely to deliver agony
All the Microbes That Could Survive in Space
They could complicate the hunt for extraterrestrial life—and compromise astronaut health
How to Protect Earth Against Violent Space Weather
A conversation with a scientist who invented a new storm wall for space
Can “Dante’s Inferno” Tell Us Something About Space Rocks?
A conversation with an expert in geomythology about a wild idea
How to Dodge a Mountain Lion
A new look at puma-human encounters in the mountains of California
