New research helps explain why so many Americans think President Obama is a Muslim, by showing that simply having people focus on their own social identity, when it is different from a candidate’s—rather than having them think about a candidate’s race or age—is enough to get many to believe false information about the person. More ›
When a man’s brother is diagnosed with prostate cancer, his initial reaction is probably sympathy and an offer to help—but a quick second response is likely something along the lines of, “Uh-oh, I’m next. More ›
Is most of the oil gone or not? At the beginning of the month the government released its assessment of where the 4.9 million barrels of oil from the Deepwater Horizon had gone. Its rose-colored-glasses conclusion: about one quarter of the oil that gushed up from the Macondo well was physically removed (skimming, booming, piping to surface), one quarter was dissolved in the gulf waters, and one quarter was busted up by chemical dispersants or natural weathering into microscopic droplets. That left “only” 26 percent to foul shores and surface waters. More ›
You could practically hear a collective groan from enviros across the world yesterday when The New York Times reported on city apartment dwellers who leave their air conditioning running for days and days when they are not even home: with "utilities included" in their rent, these model citizens don’t pay for it, and they want to walk into a nice cool room when they get back from vacation or just a tough, hot slog from the subway. More ›
The fact that humans are subject to all these failures of rational thought seems to make no sense. Reason is supposed to be the highest achievement of the human mind, and the route to knowledge and wise decisions. But as psychologists have been documenting since the 1960s, humans are really, really bad at reasoning. More ›
Investors interested in pharma stocks and patients eager to know if an experimental drug works have one thing in common: they devour stories reporting the results of clinical trials, which assess whether a new drug is safe and effective. Now it turns out they have something else in common: they’re not getting the whole story. More ›
There are many, many ways to screw up experiments on the biological effects of cell-phone radiation, and in 20 years of studies scientists seem to have used every one. The result is a confused public and nearly incoherent government policies that careen back and forth like a drunk after last call. More ›
Tar balls? A sheen of crude? Oil mousse? Amateur hour. The real villains of America’s beaches are not the scattered and dissipating messes from the Deepwater Horizon disaster, but the nationwide and relentless releases of disease-causing pathogens—human and animal feces—that reach the shorelines from storm runoff and sewage overflows. More ›
Looking forward to getting away from it all? Brace yourself: the daydreaming you do now may be the best part. Studies show that there’s no difference in happiness levels between people who get away for a week and people who have to stay at work. More ›
Now that the well appears to be capped, scientists are calling for an end to the knee-jerk and unscientific engineering projects designed to protect the wetlands. Rather than keep the coastline safe, the experts argued in an impassioned letter to Ret. Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, these projects could change the ecology of the coastlines for good. More ›
Sharon Begley, widely known for her ability to break down complex scientific theories and write about them in simple prose, returned to Newsweek in March 2007 from the Wall Street Journal, where she wrote the "Science Journal" column for five years. In her new capacity at Newsweek, she writes a bi-weekly column, essays and cover stories as well as contributing to Newsweek.com.
She won a first place award from NYABJ for her "How Your Brain Looks at Race" column and won The Genesis Award for Outstanding Written Word for "The Extinction Trade." The award, given by the Humane Society of the United States, recognizes artists, writers, entertainers and journalists who contribute their time and talent to raise awareness of the plight and suffering of animals. Begley's "We Fought Cancer and Cancer Won" is a 2009 finalist for a National Magazine Award in the Public Interest category.
Before leaving NEWSWEEK, Begley had been a senior editor since December 1996. She had been a senior writer for Newsweek's science coverage since January 1990. She joined the magazine as an editorial assistant in Science in 1977, and was promoted to assistant editor in January 1979, associate editor in 1980 and then general editor in 1983. During her career at Newsweek, Begley wrote a myriad of cover stories. And she wrote another one, after being back at the magazine just two weeks, "The Evolution Revolution" (3/19/07).
Begley has received numerous awards for her work. In 2006, she won the American Aging Association Media Award for a series of columns on Alzheimer's disease; in 2005, she won the Public Understanding of Science Award from the Exploratorium, the science museum in San Francisco and a Clarion Award from the Association for Women in Communications for her "Science Journal" column. In 2004, Begley received a Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters for Contributions to the public understanding of science from the University of North Carolina.
Begley earned a B.A. from Yale University. She is the co-author of the 2002 book, "The Mind and the Brain," and the author of the 2007 book "Train Your Mind, Change Your Brain." She and her husband live in Pelham, New York with their two children.
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