MAGAZINE OF THE SOCIE TY FOR SCIENCE & THE PUBLIC MAGAZINE OF THE SOCIETY FOR SCIENCE & THE PUBLIC
PUBLISHER Elizabeth Marincola
EDITOR IN CHIEF Tom Siegfried
EDITORIAL
MANAGING EDITOR Eva Emerson
SENIOR EDITOR/POLICY Janet Raloff
DEPUTY MANAGING EDITOR, NEWS Matt Crenson
DEPUTY MANAGING EDITOR, FEATURES Elizabeth Quill
DEPUTY NEWS EDITOR Erika Engelhaupt
CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Alexandra Witze
ASTRONOM Y Ron Cowen
BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES Bruce Bower
BIOMEDICINE Nathan Seppa
CHEMISTRY/INTERDISCIPLINARY SCIENCES Rachel Ehrenberg
LIFE SCIENCES Susan Milius
MOLECULAR BIOLOGY Tina Hesman Saey
NEUROSCIENCE Laura Sanders
PHYSICAL SCIENCES Devin Powell
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WEB SPECIALIST/EDITORIAL SECRETARY Gwendolyn K.N. Gillespie
SCIENCE WRITER INTERN Daniel Strain
CONTRIBUTING CORRESPONDENTS Laura Beil, Susan Gaidos,
Charles Petit
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Scientific advances stem
from surprises in the past
When scientists block a female dog’s
view of a ball, and then reveal a ball of
different size, the dog reacts with surprise (signaled by extended duration
of gaze). Male dogs either don’t notice
or don’t care, as Laura Sanders reports
on Page 11.
This experiment suggests that female
dogs would make better scientists than the males would. For
taking note of surprising phenomena is the first step toward
making great discoveries.
Ponder for a moment the mystery of general anesthesia,
the loss of consciousness induced by anesthetic drugs in
people undergoing surgery. Despite anesthesia’s widespread
use and effectiveness, nobody really knows exactly how it
works. But researchers are uncovering intriguing clues.
For one thing, it turns out that anesthesia is surprisingly
unlike sleep, and actually much more similar to being in a
coma, as Susan Gaidos reports in this issue (see Page 18).
That surprise may someday lead to new methods for awakening people from comas caused by trauma. A further surprise
suggests a possible strategy: A dose of an anesthetic can,
paradoxically, briefly increase alertness in people just beginning to enter anesthesia or in a semiconscious state from
an injury. Perhaps proper timing of appropriate doses of
just the right drugs might someday help restore deep coma
patients to consciousness.
Suppose that someday comas are indeed easily curable.
Or that anesthesia is no longer necessary in surgery because
of futuristic pain-free technologies (or better health care
to begin with). Other surprising clues at the foundation
of such advances might be lurking in the pages of Science
News even now.
Many of today’s stories describe primitive precursors to
tomorrow’s great insights and innovations — as Science News
articles have for decades. Like the story from February 1937
about a car-sized machine capable of mathematical wonders
that a pocket-sized smartphone can perform today.
That example launches a new feature in Science News, to
appear on the back page of each issue: “From the Archive”
(Page 32), celebrating something noteworthy or fun from
an earlier era. In future issues we will offer you an opportunity to vote for a topic from the past that you’d like to see
updated. You can bet that some of the candidates will be
surprising. — Tom Siegfried, Editor in Chief
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