David Berreby, 1/13/12

Science journalist and author

Ask people how fattening those organic chocolate-covered peanuts are, and they'll guess a lower number than they did for the non-organic version. They'll also eat more than they would have otherwise. The same goes for "low-fat" products.

Ann Brenoff, 1/13/12

Senior Writer, The Huffington Post

AARP reports that there is "mounting evidence" that sitting increases our risk of cancer, obesity, diabetes and early death "even for people who exercise daily."

Wray Herbert, 1/12/12

Author, 'On Second Thought: Outsmarting Your Mind's Hard-Wired Habits'

Confessions are powerful and damning evidence, which is a good thing if the defendant is guilty. But what if the defendant is innocent?

Shawn Lawrence Otto, 1/13/12

Author, 'Fool Me Twice'; Science Advocate; Filmmaker; Co-founder, Sciencedebate.org

House Bill 1227 will require the equal treatment of religious opinion and science, depriving kids of the knowledge to compete in the economy, and robbing them of a clear understanding of how to tell the difference between real knowledge and someone's truthy opinion.

Michael Ham, 1/13/12

Postdoctoral Research Scientist, Los Alamos National Laboratory

Simply put, The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act (PIPA) currently under development in Congress will provide a rapid way to sentence websites to death without the need for pesky things like judges and juries.

Peter Gardett, 1/13/12

Managing Editor of AOL Energy

Greed is a strong word, but if the climate change community is serious about finding a market solution to the crisis they are so good at describing, it is also an effective one.

Dr. Douglas Fields, 1/9/12

Neurobiologist; Author, The Other Brain

Could the radiation that will be contaminating the environment surrounding the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant for hundreds of years produce bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics?

James A. Shapiro, 1/13/12

Author, 'Evolution: A View from the 21st Century;' Professor of Microbiology, University of Chicago

Living cells are replete with intricate monitoring and regulatory circuits because survival, reproduction and adaptation to changing circumstances must be highly robust. Understanding these circuits and how they operate is a priority for 21st century cell and molecular biology.

Cara Santa Maria, 1/10/12

Science correspondent, Huffington Post; editor, Talk Nerdy to Me

We live on a fragile planet at a fragile time. We cannot discount the possibility of colonizing new worlds. And where better to go than Mars?

Dr. Reese Halter, 1/12/12

Conservation biologist, broadcaster

As of January 10, 2012 only 14.7 percent of the U.S. was covered by snow compared to 61.7 percent at the same time last year.

Sarah Chasis, 1/11/12

Director, NRDC's ocean initiative

It's time to make protecting ocean health our new year's resolution. Thankfully, our new national ocean policy offers a bright start for our ocean future.

Andy Mannle, 1/11/12

Carbon-based life form

One of my heroes, evolutionary microbiologist Lynn Margulis, died this past Thanksgiving. Here are some of her most surprising, and fascinating revelations

David Kaiser, 1/11/12

Searching for the Higgs particle has occupied physicists for half a century. And yet before my kids finish first grade, we very well could know whether the Higgs particle exists, at least in the form we most expect to find.

Bernie Bulkin, 1/11/12

Former Chief Scientist of BP, Chairs the UK Office of Renewable Energy

Science helps. It makes change easy. And, by the way, this is a really good use of scarce resources, because by bringing computer science into critical home and business functions we create the infrastructure for the 21st century.

Victor Udoewa, 1/11/12

Science & Technology Policy Advisor & Education Specialist

We do need wisdom in the application of science. Perhaps scientists should study the humanities.

Chris Mooney, 1/11/12

Author, 'The Republican War on Science' and 'The Republican Brain'

An increasing body of science suggests that we disagree about politics not for intellectual or philosophical reasons, but because we have fundamentally different ways of responding to the basic information presented to us by the world.

Jamil Zaki, 1/10/12

Postdoctoral fellow in Psychology at Harvard University.

The consensus as I've experienced as a researcher is that (1) ignorant political attacks will not affect our ability to get work done, and (2) it is not our job to help the public understand our work. I think both claims are wrong, and potentially dangerous to the future of science.