Week in Science: Does consciousness come from electrical fields in the brain?

View in web browser

November 15—This week, consciousness may arise from electrical fields in our brains, a special geometry suggests that quantum particles have memory, and how Lucy became the most famous fossil in the world. All that and more below! --Andrea Gawrylewski, Chief Newsletter Editor

Top Stories

The Staggering Success of Vaccines Vaccines are the first step toward health equity in many parts of the world Tara Haelle

Consciousness Might Hide in Our Brain's Electric Fields A mysterious electromagnetic mechanism may be more important than the firing of neurons in our brain to explain our awareness Tamlyn Hunt

How Geometry Revealed Quantum Memory The unexpected discovery of a geometric phase shows how math and physics are tightly intertwined Manon Bischoff

The Lucy Fossil's Extraordinary Journey to Becoming an Icon of Human Evolution The 3.2-million-year-old human ancestor known as Lucy rose to fame through an incredible combination of circumstances Bernard Wood

What Trump Can—And Probably Can't—Do to Reverse U.S. Climate Policy The new president-elect can go beyond just pulling out of the Paris Agreement. But it may be more difficult to roll back clean energy policies Gautam Jain; The Conversation US

Are you enjoying this newsletter? Dive deeper into the stories that matter most to you with a subscription to Scientific American.

The Impact of Weight Stigma on Health Focusing on size in health care might be doing more harm than good. Rachel Feltman; Fonda Mwangi

I Destroyed a Car to Explore Some Music Myths Two years of experimentation taught a Nashville guitarist not every musical myth makes sense Jim Lill, expert writer

NASA Astronaut Jonny Kim Is a Rarity among Rarities Jonny Kim—a former Navy SEAL and ER doctor—is now a NASA astronaut who will soon launch to the International Space Station as flight engineer for the crew of Expedition 72/73 Saima S. Iqbal, intern writer

Worker Protections for Extreme Heat in Peril after Trump's Election A Biden administration proposal that would require employers to provide cooling measures under extreme heat conditions may be scuttled by the incoming Trump administration Ariel Wittenberg; E&E News

Let African Communities Manage Their Climate Adaptation Plans Outside groups often offer their solutions for climate adaptation in Africa. But the best people to manage the climate crisis are the people in those communities themselves. For climate adaptation to succeed in Africa, let communities and local leaders show the way Kennedy Odede, expert writer

Alternate Timelines Can't Help You, Quantum Physicists Say The multiverse offers no escape from our reality—which might be a very good thing George Musser

Developing Expertise Improves the Brain's Ability to Concentrate Expertise bulks up the brain's ability to think deeply, a skill that may generalize across tasks Hanna Poikonen

Follow Us Instagram  |  X/Twitter  |  Threads  |  Facebook  |  YouTube Manage your email preferences  |  Unsubscribe  |  Privacy Policy  |  Contact Us Scientific American One New York Plaza, New York, NY, 10010