David Dobbs

Identifying the sounds of what’s happening in nature might just help researchers save it.

As winters grow warmer in North America, thirsty ticks are on the move.

... but could still be a groundbreaking therapy.

Frustrated by the failures in his field, Tom Insel, a former director of the National Institute of Mental Health, is now trying to reduce the world’s anguish through the devices in people’s pockets.

The president-elect’s inflammatory remarks on social media could be a distraction—or they could be deadly serious.

A reexamination of old data for Paxil found that the antidepressant is more dangerous than the authors let on. How much harm has been done in the 14 years since it was published?

In this piece from The Atavist, the death of the author's mother sets off a search for the man she loved during World War II and beyond

Most of us have genes that make us as hardy as dandelions: able to take root and survive almost anywhere. A few of us, however, are more like the orchid: fragile and fickle, but capable of blooming spectacularly if given greenhouse care. So holds a provocative new theory of genetics, which asserts that the very genes that give us the most trouble as a species, causing behaviors that are self-destructive and antisocial, also underlie humankind’s phenomenal adaptability and evolutionary success. With a bad environment and poor parenting, orchid children can end up depressed, drug-addicted, or in jail—but with the right environment and good parenting, they can grow up to be society’s most creative, successful, and happy people.