Stanton Peele

Addiction expert

The very inconclusiveness of the Human Genome Project as detailed in part one is pushing us to conclude that we were only looking in the wrong place when we put a microscope to our DNA. Instead, we have determined to look to the brain directly.

Rob Brooks

Evolutionary biologist and author

Entitled "The Ancestral Logic of Politics," a paper published last week in Psychological Science explored the link between male upper-body strength and assertion of economic self-interest. The link between what and what? Exactly.

Tony Gray

Expert bee keeper and founder of Adopt-a-hive

Bee numbers have been on the decline since the Sixties, so it is crucial to raise as much awareness as possible around their economical and environmental importance to encourage people to show their support for the British bee.

Melissa Moritz

Managing Director, Teach for America STEM Initiative

I can honestly -- and naively -- say that it never once occurred to me that I couldn't grow up to be anything I wanted. It wasn't until I started my current role that I realized that a woman who was encouraged to pursue STEM as a child can be a rare thing indeed.

Rebecca Saxe

Associate Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience, MIT

cooperating in large groups is a signature accomplishment of the human brain: among similar species, we are remarkably good at working together and negotiating our differences.

Cindy Wigglesworth

Author of SQ21, Leadership Coach and Corporate Consultant

What sets a truly noble person apart? What makes a Gandhi, Dalai Lama, or Mother Teresa different? There is a decision made by these people to hold themselves to a higher standard. They make a decision to live up to noble values -- to live from their highest nature. In what part of the brain does this ability reside?

Stephen M. Coan

President, Sea Research Foundation

The Titanic remains the most haunting maritime disaster in history. But its fate, and those of the 1,500 lost souls on board, should be a call to action for all of us. Maritime history should be preserved and protected, not plundered.

Mark E. Robson, M.D.

Attending Physician, Clinic Director, Clinical Genetics Service at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center

I have been involved in research in this area for 17 years, since shortly after BRCA1 and BRCA2 were discovered, and I have no idea what I would do if I were a woman faced with this decision. The diagnosis of a mutation is just words on paper, but the risks they foreshadow are very real.

James M. Gentile

Dean for the Natural & Applied Sciences, Hope College, Holland, MI

More important than just the money, however, is that private-sector foundations can afford to fund more high-risk, high-return research without the badgering and bickering that too often comes from Congress.

Vicki Chandler

Scientist, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation

How could we truly distinguish great science from good science? Often, we can't. Nor should we, in many cases -- although journal "impact factors" are being used to try to do just that.

Beth Kohl

Author, 'Embryo Culture: Making Babies in the Twenty-First Century'

In the eleven years since my youngest children were born, twin daughters, thanks to IVF, who joined a similarly IVF-enabled sister, we've scarcely discussed their scientific beginnings.

Peter McGraw and Joel Warner

The Humor Code

According to the Benign Violation Theory, humor has its roots in potentially negative experiences (i.e., violations) that are made to seem okay in some way (i.e., benign). That makes joke telling risky because you can fail by being too benign or by creating too much of a violation.

Jonathan Appel

Associate Professor of Psychology and Criminal Justice, Tiffin University

There is an order or organization in destructive human behavior which can be illuminated with research and clinical observation -- and can have many implications for intervention. Neuroscience is providing a major piece of the puzzle towards this understanding -- but only a piece.

Michael Zakaras

Writer and strategist who specializes in social entrepreneurship and public policy

In our efforts to solve difficult social problems in particular, we rely too heavily on reason and numbers and econometrics, and not often enough on empathy. And by empathy I don't just mean our emotions, and I certainly don't mean feeling sorry -- that's sympathy.

Ronald L. Wasserstein

Executive Director, American Statistical Association

Your chance of winning the lottery on a single ticket is one in 175 million. That seems tiny, and it is. In fact, it's so small that it is difficult for us to grasp. Understanding how small this number is provides the key to understanding how likely -- or unlikely -- it is you will become the next big winner of the Powerball jackpot.

Allen Frances

Professor Emeritus, Duke University

My recommendation for clinicians is simple. Don't use DSM-5 -- there is nothing official about it, nothing especially helpful in it, and all the codes you need for reimbursement are already available for free on the Internet or in DSM-IV.

Lauren Pecorino

Principal lecturer, Univ. of Greenwich; Author, 'Why Millions Survive Cancer'

Celebrities often set trends: they show us what to wear, create hairstyles, and inspire tattoos. But when it comes to your health it is important to know the facts before joining a trend.