The SciCom Interviews

  • March 28, 2014Seth Grant

    Seth Grant, neuroscientist

    While colleagues program computers to build a digital brain, one researcher uses touchscreens to learn from mice of men.

  • March 28, 2014Craig Haney

    Craig Haney, psychologist

    Solitary confinement robs prisoners of social skills—and it can steal their sanity, too. A lawyer and psychologist explains.

  • March 28, 2014Elaine Hsiao

    Elaine Hsiao, microbiologist

    In the quest to understand developmental brain disorders, this researcher is examining unlikely allies: gut bacteria.

  • March 28, 2014Bernadette Murgue

    Bernadette Murgue, epidemiologist

    Can we coordinate a global response to a new pandemic within 48 hours? This French researcher believes so, in time.

  • March 28, 2014Margaret Nelson

    Margaret Nelson, archaeologist

    Drawing on her decades of unearthing ancient societies, this researcher aims to awaken us to our own frailties.

  • March 28, 2014Volker Rose

    Volker Rose, physicist

    Could fading photographs and Picasso’s paints improve solar panels and oil pipelines? This art-loving physicist thinks so.

  • March 28, 2014Konrad Siegfried

    Konrad Siegfried, geographer

    Millions drink toxic arsenic in their water. This German nature lover says bioluminescent bacteria could light a path to safety.

  • March 28, 2014Francis Su

    Francis Su, mathematician

    Like Robin Williams in Dead Poets Society, this teacher keeps his students on their toes by pushing them out of their comfort zone.

  • March 28, 2014Kevin Theis

    Kevin Theis, animal-microbial ecologist

    Odors made by bacteria on our skin can say a lot about us. This ecologist decodes the signals—in hyenas.

  • March 28, 2014Jennifer Yang

    Jennifer Yang, global health journalist

    This globetrotting reporter tracks down stories about human health and infectious disease even as newspapers get squeezed.