Top Trending Opinion Coverage

May 10, 2023

Top Trending Opinion Coverage

Dear Reader,

I’m Megha Satyanarayana, Scientific American's Chief Opinion Editor. The opinion section at Scientific American is where you can find some of the best and brightest minds in science sharing evidence-driven commentary and analysis of what is shaping news today. We cover all branches of science, whether physical, life, or social. We talk about the intersection of research and policy, how science influences culture and vice versa, and we share deeply moving essays from people at all levels of the scientific enterprise.

We're Currently Talking About:

What Is Benford's Law? Why This Unexpected Pattern of Numbers Is Everywhere

Scientist Jack Murtagh takes us through Benford's law and how this strange mathematical phenomenon pervades our daily lives.

With a Planned Moon Launch, NASA Must Put Safety First

Whistleblower attorney Matthew Beddingfield and writer George Leopold urge NASA to fix its internal safety reporting systems before Artemis leaves Earth to take people to the moon.

AI Can't Solve this Famous Murder Mystery Puzzle

Kenna Hughes-Castleberry, a science communicator, challenged AI developers to crack the puzzle of Cain's Jawbone, a murder mystery where the sequence of events is published out of order.

We Need an Operation Warp Speed for Long COVID

Emergency physician Esther K. Choo and economist Scott Duke Kominers call for a federal strategy for researching and treating long COVID that has the size and scope of the effort to understand, prevent and treat COVID itself.

I Gave ChatGPT an IQ Test. Here's What I Discovered

Eka Roivainen, a clinical psychologist in Finland, decided to give standardized IQ tests to the popular AI program ChatGPT. The chatbot did well on some things but not on others.