George Musser

Contributing writer

George Musser is an award-winning science writer and editor. He was a senior editor at Scientific American for 15 years and has written two books on fundamental physics, “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to String Theory” (2008) and “Spooky Action at a Distance” (2015). He has written for Science, Nature, Quanta, Aeon, Nautilus, The New York Times and other publications. His website is georgemusser.com. He tweets at @gmusser.

From this contributor

Illustration of a series of squares containing distinct patterns.
Neural networks Microphone

Can an emerging field called ‘neural systems understanding’ explain the brain?

By George Musser
5 June 2024 | 20 min read
Hands touching, showing nerves highlighted in different parts of the hand.
Spectrum

How ‘social touch’ shapes autism traits

By George Musser
29 May 2019 | 17 min read
Illustration shows the world is distorted through a point of view pair of glasses
Spectrum Microphone

The predictive coding theory of autism, explained

By George Musser
1 May 2019 | 6 min read
A woman stands at an ATM in a mall scene, looking at a camera
Spectrum

How virtual reality is transforming autism studies

By George Musser
24 October 2018 | 19 min read
An picture to illustrate a ‘predictive coding’ theory of autism suggests that many of the condition’s hallmark traits occur when sensory input overrides expectation in the brain.
Spectrum

How autism may stem from problems with prediction

By George Musser
7 March 2018 | 19 min read

Explore more from The Transmitter

Barbara Finlay looking at a glass jar with a brain.
Evolution

Remembering Barbara Finlay, ‘maverick’ of evolutionary neuroscience

Finlay, who died on 12 September, championed the idea that developmental constraints dictate how evolution sculpts brains, a concept she used to model the timing of hundreds of events and align them across mammalian species.

By Calli McMurray
23 October 2026 | 8 min read
A crow looking at a screen showing a circle of white dots on a black background.
Behavior

Crows have brains ‘in the fast lane’

The birds accurately complete decision-making tasks twice as fast as primates, although their endbrains look considerably different.

By Sarah Thau
22 October 2026 | 4 min read
A boy manipulates blocks at a table while sitting across from a woman taking notes.
Spectrum

Prevalence of profound autism declines with new definition

The updated, more precise definition used in a CDC study includes adaptive scores.

By Brianna Abbott
22 October 2026 | 5 min read