15-30 minutes
It’s been four years since the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization overturned Roe v. Wade, ending the federal constitutional right to abortion.
In the immediate aftermath of the decision, national attention centered on implementation of state bans and a rapidly shifting legal landscape.
But four years later, one of the most impactful developments has been less visible: a significant, sustained and politically consequential shift in public opinion. In the wake of Dobbs, the debate over abortion rights did not simply return to the states. It fundamentally altered how many Americans think about the issue and how they vote.
In our recently published book, “Not Going Back: Public Opinion on Abortion in Post-Dobbs America,” we examined how and why these changes have occurred, and what they mean for U.S. politics. We believe the shift could have real consequences for the November 2026 midterms.
Drawing on several nationally representative surveys conducted before and after Dobbs, we examined how Americans’ abortion attitudes, political priorities and voting behavior have changed in response to the most significant shift in abortion policy in half a century.
For nearly 50 years after Roe, public opinion on abortion was remarkably stable. In 1975, Gallup found support for legal abortion in certain circumstances at 54% and support for a ban in all circumstances at 22%. In 2021 – the year before the Dobbs decision – these figures were virtually the same: 48% and 19%, respectively.
Despite heated political rhetoric, most Americans held nuanced views. They were neither fully anti-abortion nor fully pro-abortion. Instead, they supported legal abortion in some circumstances and not in others.
That underlying stability shaped both policy and politics for decades. Republicans were able to rally a committed core of supporters around opposition to Roe, while the underlying constitutional right to access abortion remained unchanged.
As states moved quickly after the Dobbs decision to enact abortion bans and strict gestational limits, public opinion moved in the opposite direction.
Today, more Americans identify as pro-choice than they did before Dobbs. And, as we document in our book, more Americans are now taking absolutist positions. They support legal access to abortion in all or most cases and oppose government regulation altogether.
One of the most striking changes in the post-Dobbs era concerns who cares most about abortion. For decades, abortion was a higher priority for Republicans and those identifying as pro-life.
That dynamic has now flipped. In both 2022 and 2024, Democrats and pro-choice Americans were more likely than Republicans to say abortion was a top political issue shaping their vote. In our book, we document how in both 2022 and 2024, pro-choice Democrats were especially motivated to vote and remained highly loyal to Democratic candidates.
At the same time, the considerable minority of Republicans who support legal abortion found themselves politically cross-pressured, meaning they experienced conflicting political influences.
The Mystery at Dunvegan Castle, by T. L. Huchu (Tor)
On one level, this is a classic Agatha Christie style murder
mystery, with suspects galore confined in a castle. Political and personal
frictions abound, everyone has an ax to grind—including the resident ghosts—and
the characters and plot twists kept me turning the pages. On another, it’s a
story about difficult choices, about whether Ropa will be being valued or
manipulated as a pawn. One of the things I look for in a compelling
protagonist, particularly a young one, is agency: how much resourcefulness does
this person have, and how will they determine their own fate? Ropa may not have
material wealth or status, but her other qualities, including her unerring
sense of justice, more than compensate.
Middle books present challenges, as exemplified by the
dreaded second book of a trilogy that falls flat. Lots of things happen but the
dramatic shape doesn’t match the dynamic beginning or the climactic end. In
this case, the book is a bridge between Ropa finding her place at the academy
and the choices she makes at the end. We don’t know where those choices will
lead; that’s for the next book. Seen as a bridge with a significant amount of lack
of conclusion, Mystery works well. These shortcomings are less
significant than they would be for a stand-alone book or even the second book
in a series because readers who have been following Ropa’s journey have already
fallen in love with her over the previous two books. I know that I did!
Not a stand-alone, but readers of the series will want to gobble up the next volume!
Each year, doctors treat more than 6 million bone fractures in the United States. And while it takes only a few seconds for a bone to break, the processes that keep your bones strong and allow them to heal are taking place continuously throughout your life.
Beneath their hard surface, your bones are alive with activity, continuously being broken down, rebuilt and reshaped. Far from being static structures that simply support the body, bones are dynamic, living tissues that respond to physical activity, hormones and the body’s changing needs.
I am a research scientist who studies bone biology and mineral metabolism. To me, one of the most striking things about bone is how dynamic it is, despite its static appearance. Research over the past 15 to 20 years has demonstrated that this is even more true than scientists had previously realized.
For decades, scientists have known that bone provides support, stores minerals and continuously remodels itself. This remodeling is the process bone uses to renew itself, maintaining its strength while allowing the skeleton to adapt over time.
Different kinds of bone cells work together to maintain bone structure. Cells called osteoclasts remove old or damaged bone, while osteoblasts build new bone in its place. Osteocytes, which are cells embedded within bone, help sense mechanical strain and coordinate how bone responds. Together, these cells help the skeleton stay strong.
But over the past two decades, new research has emerged that is changing how scientists and physicians think about skeletal health. More than just a structural framework, bone also functions as a highly active tissue that helps regulate the body’s mineral balance, supports blood cell production and communicates with multiple organ systems.
Growing evidence also suggests that in order to perform these functions, bones produce signaling molecules that influence energy metabolism and balance the minerals the body needs.
The balance between bone formation and bone breakdown changes throughout life.
Here's the abstract from The Lancet. <-- Click the link to register for access to the entire article.
The 2024 update of the Lancet Commission on dementia provides new hopeful evidence about dementia prevention, intervention, and care. As people live longer, the number of people who live with dementia continues to rise, even as the age-specific incidence decreases in high-income countries, emphasising the need to identify and implement prevention approaches. We have summarised the new research since the 2020 report of the Lancet Commission on dementia, prioritising systematic reviews and meta-analyses and triangulating findings from different studies showing how cognitive and physical reserve develop across the life course and how reducing vascular damage (eg, by reducing smoking and treating high blood pressure) is likely to have contributed to a reduction in age-related dementia incidence. Evidence is increasing and is now stronger than before that tackling the many risk factors for dementia that we modelled previously (ie, less education, hearing loss, hypertension, smoking, obesity, depression, physical inactivity, diabetes, excessive alcohol consumption [ie, >21 UK units, equivalent to >12 US units], traumatic brain injury [TBI], air pollution, and social isolation) reduces the risk of developing dementia. In this report, we add the new compelling evidence that untreated vision loss and high LDL cholesterol are risk factors for dementia.
This is so important to those affected by LGBTQ+ stigma and those who love them, I am reprinting it in its entirety (under Creative Commons license).
Childhood rejection, discrimination and bullying can affect your well-being as an adult. If your friends, family or community pushed you away because of your sexuality or gender, these childhood experiences of prejudice can also affect your future relationships.
Many LGBTQ+ people encounter difficult experiences as children, including abuse, neglect and challenges at home, because of their sexuality or gender. Other negative experiences – including bullying, witnessing your peers be harassed or ostracized, and the need to conceal your identity to protect yourself – may make it especially challenging to accept your sexuality or gender as an adult.
Developing a negative self-view as a result of these harmful experiences during your formative years is not uncommon. Feelings of shame or unworthiness can carry into your 20s, 30s and beyond, harming your mental health along with your ability to form and maintain romantic relationships.
Fortunately, making meaning of your early experiences can help you heal, reconnecting and strengthening your relationships as a result.
Our psychology research team focuses on understanding the connection between childhood anti-LGBTQ+ experiences, well-being and relationship health.
We found that a factor called internalized stigma can notably affect the romantic relationships of LGBTQ+ people. Internalized stigma refers to when society’s negative views and biases toward a part of your identity shapes how you think and feel about yourself. This can influence how you view romantic relationships and how you interact with your romantic partners.
People with higher levels of internalized stigma report more conflicts and less satisfaction in their relationships. Research suggests that internalized stigma can negatively affect key aspects of romantic relationships that keep people satisfied with their partners, including trust, connection and intimacy.
Blind Date With a Werewolf, by Patricia Briggs (Ace)
When Asil, an ancient, deadly, and drop-dead gorgeous werewolf, becomes the recipient of five blind dates arranged via online dating apps by his anonymous “Concerned Friends,” the fun begins. These “friends” are concerned about Asil becoming a recluse, which these social encounters are supposed to rectify. They have not only created a profile for him in his human form, but they have pretended to be him in corresponding via email with his prospective dates. There are rules to this game, of course, including the length of time each date must last and how much bloodshed is acceptable. Intrigued, Asil accepts the challenge…only to discover that his first date, Kelly, is a gay man, while Asil is firmly straight. (Oops!) But Kelly is a pleasant dinner-and-dance companion, as much confused by the mix-up as Asil. It also turns out that the “vampire”-themed event is attended by actual vampires out for their next victims. Then, of course, chaos ensues and bodies pile up.
Although this book features a recurring series character, it works well as a stand-alone. The author has done a wonderful job weaving together episodes into a dynamic flow, and balancing inner and outer dramatic tension. The unifying theme is the relationship between the human Asil and his inner wolf, which adds deep psychological resonance to this urban fantasy.
Live Science, one of my favorite news sources (yay, science!) recently published this fascinating report. It's perfect for futuristic science-fiction world-building!
From the article: Life on Earth could continue for another 1.8 billion years, according to new research. This figure, which is based on complex climate models, is far longer than many previous studies indicated.
As the sun evolves, it is getting brighter. Our star is currently producing about a third more energy than it did at the dawn of the solar system 4.5 billion years ago. And it will continue to get hotter until it eventually dies in about 5 billion years.
When I attend a convention, I do so as a professional
author, so I almost always appear on panels, readings, and autographing
sessions. Some conventions request that potential guests submit proposals for
events. If panel topics are accepted, the guest then moderates them. This was
the case for 3 of the 6 panels I appeared on (* = I proposed and moderated this
panel). Here are descriptions, with a few notes on how the discussions
unfolded. With only one exception, I have avoided using the names of panelists
and audience members. All the opinions are my own!
The Reality of Fiction. We normally think of fiction
as unreal, but quite a few authors talk regularly with their fictional
characters about the story and where it should head. How does this work? How
can knowing some of the psychology involved give us a livelier relationship
with fictional characters? What wisdom for life might they impart when listened
to?
I arrived a bit early, as is my custom, to find the
panelists wondering who the moderator was and expressing their unwillingness to
do it. “Okay,” sez I, “I’ll do it.” Therein followed a fascinating divergence
between the tired, perennial question, “What to do when your characters won’t
behave the way you want them to?” and how much your characters reflect
yourself—is this a good thing or a bad thing?--versus my personal focus, “Where
is the energy in the story? Character (Hamlet), plot (thrillers), ideas
(mysteries)…and how difficulties with characters arise from mismatches between
different elements.
*Writing our Nightmares. What horror, dark fantasy, and related genres
can teach us about surviving personal and political catastrophes.
The idea for this
panel arose from two incidents: Octavia Butler told me that she took the things
that really scared her and put them on paper; in a horror panel many years ago,
when I said I had enough nightmares in my life, the other panelists showed me
how horror can shine a light in the darkest places. As writers, we have agency;
as readers, we trust that the protagonist, no matter how vulnerable, has or
gains power over their fate.
We talked about
having lost many traditional methods of dealing with trauma, so horror as a
genre offers catharsis via the story journey; the end is different from the
setup. “Horror is safer than memories.”
Finally, the
zinger trope: “Play nice or I’ll put you in my novel” (and you won’t come out
unscathed)!
*Finding Our Tribe. Writers, readers, and fans share how storytelling creates communities
of understanding, acceptance, and celebration of differences. From fandom as
family to writing as a way of healing, stories transcend the fear and prejudice
of our times.
My thought in proposing it was to celebrate how the
science fiction/fandom community welcomes and celebrates those who feel they
don’t fit in anywhere else. This could be folks “on the spectrum” (of autism),
sexual and gender minorities, racial and ethnic minorities, geeks of all
flavors, and so forth. Everyone in the room had a version of a “finding my home
here” story.
The second aspect was ethnic or ancestral communities. I
was fortunate to run into one of my favorite co-panelists, an Indigenous elder,
and invite him to participate in the panel. He brought the perspective of
tribal membership being integral to identity, the history of
near-extermination, and the separation he experiences between his role as elder
and teacher, and his love for science fiction not shared with fellow members of
his tribe. He helped us to understand the difference between tribal and tribalism.
Tribal affiliation nourishes community and deep understanding of collective
history. Tribalism creates a distinct "in-group" (those we identify
with) and an "out-group" (everyone else).
Three of us were Jewish, and the only thing we agreed on was that we don’t agree on anything except being Jewish (“two Jews, three opinions,” more like “twenty-five opinions with footnotes and appendices spanning 2,000 years of commentary.” You can join if you’re willing to study hard for a year and pass a board examination. Otherwise, “Are you nuts?”) Much laughter ensued.
During several recent conversations, people have told me that they’ve stopped checking their phones in the morning. Not because nothing was happening, but because everything was. They described the feeling as standing under a waterfall of perpetual bad news.
This experience is far from an isolated one. According to Reuters Institute’s 2025 Digital News Report, 69 per cent of Canadians at least occasionally avoid the news now.
Globally, 40 per cent report they at least sometimes or often do the same, the highest figure ever recorded. People shared consistent reasons for this: the news put them in a bad mood, they felt overwhelmed and powerless to act.
As a researcher in developmental psychology, focusing on social development and psychological well-being, I argue that news fatigue is not laziness, weakness or a generational decline in civic interest. It’s the predictable response of a human brain meeting an environment it was never designed to navigate.
Long before smartphones or even the printing press, our cognitive architecture was shaped by a single problem: stay alive long enough to reproduce. Our ancestors whose attention drifted past the rustle in the grass left fewer descendants than those who froze, looked and listened.
The brain that paid attention to threats was the brain that survived.
This is the foundation of what psychologists call the negativity bias, one of the most replicated findings in cognitive science. Across decades of research, the human mind has been shown to weigh negative information more heavily than positive, attend to it faster and remember it longer.
A predator nearby mattered more than a beautiful sunset. The cost of missing a real threat was death, while the cost of overreacting was a few minutes of wasted vigilance. The asymmetry made this bias adaptive.
Here is the problem: the human brain has not changed since then. We are the same species as we were thousands of years ago. What’s changed is the size of the world it’s asked to scan for threats.
For most of human history, the threats our nervous system processed were local. A neighbouring tribe. A drought. The illness of a child we personally knew. Information about distant places would barely arrive, and if it did, it was mainly irrelevant.
In 2026, the same neurological system is being asked to absorb a war in one region, a financial shock in another, a climate disaster in a third and a violent crime in a fourth, all before lunchtime.
A study published in the scientific journal Nature Human Behaviour examined more than 105,000 real news headlines viewed nearly six million times. Each additional negative word increased click-through rates, while positive words had the opposite effect.
Recent studies suggest people around the world demonstrate measurably stronger physiological responses to negative news than to positive news. The body is reacting before the mind has decided whether the threat is relevant.
Some researchers have introduced a clinical framework for what happens in this instance called Problematic News Consumption (PNC) — a pattern of news engagement that results in preoccupation, dysregulation and disruption to daily functioning. In their 2022 study, the researchers found that 17 per cent of American adults qualified as having severe levels of PNC. Among that group, 61 per cent reported feeling unwell quite a bit or very much, compared with six per cent of those who didn’t.
For minority populations, news fatigue may be even more consequential.
Repeatedly witnessing harm directed at our own groups, even when we’re not the immediate target, can have a significant psychological impact on people from the same group affiliation. For racialized communities, such as immigrants, the cognitive load could be even heavier, and the option to simply stop watching is much harder to exercise when the news is about their country of origin.
I became a huge fan of Heather Fawcett on the first page of Emily
Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Fairies. What a glorious, romantic, silly,
unexpected adventure those three books were! I picked up Agnes Aubert's
Mystical Cat Shelter with anticipation and was richly rewarded. Like Emily
Wilde, this story brings together an unusual heroine (obsessed with saving
every stray cat in 1930s Montreal) and a mysterious, wounded dark wizard
(widely known to have almost caused the end of the world). In this world, like
Emily’s, magic exists on the fringes of human society. Most uncomfortably so,
for at the beginning of the story, a duel between two magicians resulted in the
partial destruction of the building that Agnes has leased for her cat shelter,
and she (and her irresistible sister, Elise) must find new quarters before
winter storms sweep in. The only suitable place that will rent to her is the
shop above the secret hideout of Havelock, the notorious “dark wizard” widely
known to have almost brought about the apocalypse. Inevitably, they encounter
each other…only to discover that he is allergic to her beloved cats.
Agnes Aubert's Mystical Cat Shelter is a delightful
concoction of whimsy, dark secrets, grief, quirky characters, and cats. The
cats, of course, have their own personalities and agendas. The magical system
is fresh and interesting (and a little scary in its own right). Second chances
are not only for rescue kitties.
When the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool turned green with algae just days after a US$15 million renovation, the U.S. government scrambled for chemicals and expensive technical solutions to fix the iconic landmark.
Trying to kill algae with chemicals is a common response when community ponds or other water features go green. But as a scientist who studies freshwater ecology, I can tell you there are better solutions that cost far less, last longer and carry less risk of harm to pets and wildlife.
Rather than battling against nature, these alternatives work with nature for long-term solutions.
The algal bloom that turned the Reflecting Pool a vibrant green shouldn’t have been a surprise.
The pool is big, more than a third of a mile long and around 165 feet wide. But it’s shallow, meaning it warms up quickly in the sun. When it was repainted “American flag blue” during the renovations in spring 2026, the new color darkened the pool, and darker colors absorb more heat.
On top of those conditions, the pool was refilled with water from the nutrient-rich tidal basin of the Potomac River. The combination of warm water and nutrients created prime conditions for algae to bloom, turning the water pea soup green.
As the national conversation over the Reflecting Pool shifts to political finger-pointing, an important environmental question deserves careful scrutiny: What is the best approach to maintain water quality in a case like this, whether for a national monument or a community water feature or pond?
Trying to chemically or mechanically remove algae can damage the structure of a water feature and may harm species in the water that could actually help solve the problem.
Importantly, chemical and mechanical solutions are only temporary fixes. When the Reflecting Pool is drained and filled again, there’s a good chance that algae will bloom again.
Wearing the Lion, by John Wiswell (DAW)
I requested an ARC of Wearing the Lion, by John
Wiswell from NetGalley because I loved his novel, Someone You Can Build a
Nest In, a tour-de-force queer heart-story told by a murderous but
ultimately sympathetic monster. Wearing the Lion is Wiswell’s retelling
of the Hercules mythos, the title being a reference to the ferocious Nemean
Lion, one of the “labors of Hercules.” It’s told in alternating points of view,
primarily the goddess Hera and Hercules himself. The opening is awesome, every
bit as captivating as Someone You Can Build a Nest In. Hera is anything
but divine; she’s petty, spiteful, and thoughtless in how she uses her powers,
so fuming mad at her “dipshit husband” (the ever-absent, ever-promiscuous Zeus)
that she never gives a thought who might be hurt in the process of lashing out
at him. Hercules is just the opposite—compassionate, sensitive, earnest, and
devoted to his goddess and his family. By the time he encounters the Lion, I
was thoroughly enchanted with him. What does he do, when tasked with conquering
(aka, slaying) the beast? He cuddles the Lion until it purrs contentedly and
falls asleep in his arms. (Yes, I know that lions can’t purr, but it’s superb
storytelling.) What he does with the creatures from the subsequent tasks is
equally unexpected and delightful. I love the message that heroism does not
mean brutality; it can also be kindness and the ability to see into the heart
and spirit of even a hideous creature.
As the story progressed, however, my sympathy for Hera plummeted
as much as my admiration for Hercules increased. Her spitefulness and resentment
of Hercules’s devotion lead to a horrible tragedy, one that all but breaks
Hercules as all his trials could not. In a dawning moment of responsibility, Hera
first tries to hide her part and then attempts to destroy Hercules before he
can discover the truth. By this time, however, I disliked her so much, I did
not care what happened to her and I absolutely did not want to spent another moment
in her point of view. Ultimately, Wiswell weaves the two stories together into
a tale of the families we create, a lofty goal. For me, however, the resolution
came too little, too late. All I wanted was a time machine for Hercules to go
back before his devastating losses or, failing that, for him to find true comfort,
self-forgiveness, and healing.
I applaud Wiswell for tackling this story in such an
ambitious and creative way, even if Hera’s part did not work for me. He’s a
marvelous, wildly talented author worth reading. I look forward to his next.
A Hole in the Sky by Daniel H. Wilson combines elements of thriller, horror, and first-contact science fiction. Something’s out there…it’s made contact with Voyager 1, out in the heliopause, the boundary where the interstellar medium and solar wind pressures balance each other…and a mysterious, infallible US intelligence predictive device issues a warning: “First contact imminent.” These are not cute, friendly aliens, nor are they hostile killers (a la Predator). The incoming object is able to warp time, space, and reality itself. Meanwhile, in the heartland of America, a Cherokee single father and his teen daughter rediscover ancient legends of powers protecting their people and the planet.
This book was a quintessential page-turner, a tale that kept
me up way too late. While I don’t appreciate shock and gore for their own sake,
I found these elements so well integrated into the story that the book would
have seemed pallid without them. I enjoyed the characters, especially Jim
Hardgray, the Cherokee whose viewpoint—from his indigenous beliefs to his
position outside the super-secret military intelligence apparatus—enriches the
story beyond its otherwise claustrophobic paranoia. For most of the book, I
loved astrophysicist Dr. Mikayla Johnson, an autistic genius whose
noise-canceling communication headphones morph from enabling her to manage
sensory overload to melding with her brain. My only quibble with the book is
her descent into delusions and then outright insanity. I appreciate seeing a
character with autism portrayed as strong and competent, but it seemed too easy
to show how her different perceptions transformed her into an extension and,
hence, a pawn of the weird extra-terrestrial entity.
All in all, this fast-paced book engaged me with characters
I cared about and an unrelenting buildup of Things Going Wrong. The author is a
citizen of the Cherokee Nation, as well as a former threat forecaster for the
US Air Force.
studying anatomy, loved human dissection, and so all the forensic blood'n'guts adds to the fascination. Usually, the books are predictable in the sense of I know ahead of time what kind of reading experience I'll have -- police procedural, forensic pathology, a murder mystery with consistent suspense and smart, savvy female protagonists. Every once in a while, a book will rise about the usual, and this is one. The core is the friendship between cop Jane Rizzoli and medical examiner Maura Isles, their belief in one another, their honesty and care. When Maura disappears after a medical conference and a badly burned body with her characteristics is discovered in a wrecked car, everyone concludes she's dead. Except Jane, who knows the body cannot possibly be Maura's because it wasn't wearing a seat belt. Noticing this kind of detail, and putting it together with Maura's obsessive safety habits is what makes Jane such a tenacious detective. It's a good thing, too, because Maura has stumbled into Nightmare-in-Jonestown. Woven in with the theme of friendship is that of loss -- of family, of a love affair, of hope, of safety. The ending was a surprise -- fair play but not at all what I expected -- but more than that, the resonant layers and fine touches stayed with me after I'd finished.
expecting the unexpected. Who else could write about Mozart's musical genius transmitted by a vampire's bite, or time travel to discover the mystery of Clara Schumann's passionate romance with Brahms? Music, as the jaded, time-worn vampires in Mozart's Blood know all too well, is the one joy that transcends the years, perhaps because it cannot exist outside of time.
I requested an ARC of this book from
NetGalley because I loved the author’s previous work. RING SHOUT and THE WAR OF
THE DJINN engaged my imagination with compelling characters and gripping,
freshly inventive stories. Alas, in my reading experience ABENI’S SONG fell far
on all counts. It’s a YA fantasy set in a mythical African village and steeped
in African folklore and customs. The first time I tried to read it, it was so
tedious and slow-paced and its characters so stilted and bland that it
regularly put me to sleep. Then I decided to give it another chance. I made it
halfway through before I realized I was using one excuse after another to not
read any further. All my previous problems were still there, plus more. I gave
up halfway, at a point when I should have been eager to return to the story.
Here’s a roundup of what didn’t work for me:
1.
First and foremost, the
kids lack agency and competence. At twelve, most children—especially those in
traditional societies—already have a wide range of skills. They contribute to
their communities at adult or near-adult levels. Here, they have few
responsibilities, they consistently behave in ways that are disrespectful and
irresponsible, and they are utterly helpless in the face of a threat to their village.
One of the joys of contemporary YA novels for both young and adult readers is
the resourcefulness of the young characters.
2. Abeni and some of her friends are annoying to the point that
I lost all sympathy for them. Abeni, the viewpoint character, seems completely
unaware, for example, of her mother’s fighting skill, something her mother
would have practiced regularly to maintain. She’s a self-centered brat, and no
one except the witch calls her on it.
3. Despite bursts of action, the pacing is excruciatingly slow.
Material is repeated, adding to the already excessive length for a YA novel.
There’s little sense of dramatic shape, and the tension dissipates in the long
gaps between action scenes. I perked up during the attack on the village and
its aftermath, only to have all the dramatic momentum evaporate.
4. The evil characters are two-dimensional, as if they woke up
in the morning and went, “Evil! Evil! Rah-rah-rah!” This is in stark contrast to
the nuanced complexity of the antagonists in Clark’s adult novels.
I am left wondering if this was either
a trunk (early, unsuccessful) novel or an attempt at YA by someone who never
reads it. The prose, annoyingly peppered with exclamation marks and juvenile
(in the worst sense) worldview, is what one might expect if unfamiliar with the
genre. All that said, I liked Clark’s adult novels enough to give future work a
try and hope there will be more of them.
Around 1 in 5 Americans say they’ve seen a ghost. I’m not one of them, and I probably never will be. I blame my brain.
Let me explain. No one can say definitively that ghosts exist, but many people believe they do. Roughly three-quarters of Americans believe in some form of paranormal activity – not only ghosts, but psychic abilities, precognitive dreams, mediums and anything else that conventional explanations can’t account for.
As a psychology professor, I often think about the subjectivity people use when interpreting experiences. I wonder, then, if there are perfectly ordinary explanations for seemingly extraordinary experiences. Maybe a perfect storm of everyday factors can converge and trigger the sensation of a paranormal experience.
In my new book, “Science of the Supernatural,” I explore the idea that the human brain might be creating an experience of the supernatural by misinterpreting the external world. Here are three factors that might trick your brain into creating a fake ghost:
Anyone who’s ever watched a ghost hunting show has seen the paranormal investigator mutter something like “The EMF’s going crazy” when there’s purported supernatural activity afoot. Electromagnetic fields, or EMFs, are invisible areas of energy created by electrically charged particles.
At present, there is no direct evidence that humans can consciously sense EMF the same way we can touch, see or hear things in our environment. But with a handheld device purchased at a local hardware store, you can measure them anywhere. An EMF detector picks up electrical or magnetic activity, whether human-made or otherworldly. But do EMF fluctuations relate to paranormal activity?
The scientific method might help answer this question. In one study, conducted in the South Street vaults underneath Edinburgh, Scotland, EMFs fluctuated more in areas with a history of ghostly happenings. Another study found greater variability of EMFs in the more “haunted” areas of Hampton Court Palace in England.
People might unknowingly be detecting changes in environmental stimuli, like electromagnetic fields. The question then becomes: Did the ghost cause the EMF, or did the EMF cause the ghost?
To date, only one research group has attempted to experimentally manipulate environmental factors, including complex EMF, and measure subsequent perceptions of the paranormal.
Participants did report many peculiarities, ranging from feeling dizzy to feeling like they were detached from their bodies and even sensing a presence – but these experiences didn’t correspond to how the researchers varied environmental conditions, like EMF intensity. Interestingly, the people who described anomalous experiences were the same people who believed more strongly in the paranormal.
Do environmental factors like EMF lead to perceptions of the paranormal? On the one hand, there is a correlation between reportedly haunted places and EMF variability. And there are some indications that humans can detect magnetism. On the other hand, experimental manipulation of EMF did not relate to weird perceptions in a lab setting.
I think we need to look into other haunted factors.
