The SciCom Interviews

  • May 25, 2009Steve Benner. Photo courtesy of Steve Benner

    Steve Benner, synthetic biologist

    An iconoclastic scientist muses on the definition of "life" and how it can help us recognize aliens when we find them

  • May 25, 2009Daniel Blumstein. Photo courtesy of Daniel Blumstein

    Daniel Blumstein, conservation biologist

    From the heights of the Rockies to the corridors of Washington, D.C., a marmot provocateur asks: How can we stay safe?

  • May 25, 2009Marie Coppola. Photo courtesy of Marie Coppola

    Marie Coppola, linguistic psychologist

    The native user of sign language studies the invented gestures of deaf Nicaraguan children, adolescents, and adults to help decipher how the mind acquires language.

  • May 25, 2009Paul Davies. Photo courtesy of Tom Story/Arizona State University

    Paul Davies, theoretical physicist

    The noted author talks about the search for “alien” life on Earth, the origin of the universe, and taking science to the people

  • May 25, 2009Robert Hearn. Photo courtesy of Robert Hearn

    Robert Hearn, computer scientist

    An artificial intelligence researcher discusses games computers can or can't play, and his goal to write software that thinks

  • May 25, 2009Jeremy Jackson. Photo courtesy of Scripps Institution of Oceanography/UC San Diego

    Jeremy Jackson, marine ecologist

    A notorious pessimist paints a dire picture of the future ocean, but offers reasons for hope based on citizenship and a new administration

  • May 25, 2009Lisa Parr. Photo courtesy of Lisa Parr

    Lisa Parr, comparative biologist

    A chimpanzee enthusiast analyzes the facial expressions of our closest living relative and talks about why we’re not so different after all

  • May 25, 2009Amy Street. Photo courtesy of Bostonia magazine, Fall 2008/Boston University

    Amy Street, clinical psychologist

    A Veterans Affairs clinician studies posttraumatic stress disorder in the armed forces' growing female population

  • May 25, 2009Ed Wasserman. Photo courtesy of University of Iowa

    Ed Wasserman, comparative psychologist

    As he explores how animals think, a cognitive crusader wants to bring the most arrogant species down a notch or two