Top Trending Opinion Coverage

Good afternoon, 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, including the physical, life and social sciences. 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. Here is what we are currently talking about: Read More Top Trending Opinion Coverage Autism, Human Connection and the 'Double Empathy' Problem Depictions of people with autism often focus on ideas that they do not want human connection or need it. Writer Steve Silberman describes how the way neurotypical people respond to peers with autism is part of the problem, shortchanging people who not only want friendship and love but need them as much as anyone else. Read Now   Decarceration and Crime Do Not Go Hand in Hand There's long been the feeling that if we reduce our prison population, crime will go up. After studying California's project to release prisoners to stem COVID infections during the early pandemic, Chariss E. Kubrin and Bradley J. Bartos explain why that isn't true. Read Now   Climate Disruptions Are Especially Dangerous for the Opioid Epidemic People don't connect climate change and the opioid epidemic, but in places more prone to disaster because of global warming, Jerel Ezell explains massive storms or fires can leave people homeless and more vulnerable to drug misuse. Climate planning must take this into account. Read Now   Classifying Heat Waves Will Help People Better Understand Their Dangers After a summer of heat waves all across the world, SciAm's opinion intern Gina Jiménez dug into the question: Why do we name hurricanes and score the severity of tornados, but leave heat waves mostly unclassified? Read Now   Your Brain Looks for 'Winning Streaks' Everywhere—Here's Why We are thrilled by people on winning streaks and athletes with people who are on hot streaks. David G. Myers explains to us why these streaks may not actually be happening the way our brains compute them and how we look for winning streaks. Read Now

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