Peter Hess

Former news writer
Spectrum

Peter Hess was a reporter for Spectrum from 2019 to 2023, where he covered cannabinoids, autism prevalence, social hormones and other topics. Before joining Spectrum in 2019, he was associate science editor at Inverse, where he wrote and edited stories for a broad audience on a wide range of scientific topics, including drugs, evolution and environmental science. His work has also appeared in The Washington Post, New Scientist, Popular Science and Motherboard. Peter has an M.A. in science journalism from New York University’s Science, Health and Environmental Reporting Program. Find him on Twitter at @PeterNHess.

From this contributor

Spectrum

By Angie Voyles Askham, Peter Hess

6 June 2023

5 min read

A young woman sleeps at home wearing a Dreem headband and surrounded by stuffed animals.

Capturing autism’s sleep problems with devices nearable and wearable

Next-generation trackers could realize a long-standing research dream: conducting sleep studies in large numbers of autistic people.

Spectrum

Capturing autism’s sleep problems with devices nearable and wearable

By Angie Voyles Askham, Peter Hess

6 June 2023 | 5 min read

Spectrum

By Peter Hess

30 May 2023

7 min read

A hand reaches from above to add a pill to a stack that is resting against the x-axis of a graph.

Going on Trial: Epidiolex for autism; arbaclofen tests; pain monitoring

This month’s issue of Going on Trial takes a sneak peek at some early null results from a small trial of a cannabidiol-based drug for autism, among other recent drug developments.

Spectrum

Going on Trial: Epidiolex for autism; arbaclofen tests; pain monitoring

By Peter Hess

30 May 2023 | 7 min read

Spectrum

By Peter Hess

30 May 2023

13 min read

Jeremy Veenstra-VanderWeele looks directly into the camera with a calm expression in a close up shot.

Swings and misses with Jeremy Veenstra-VanderWeele

A careful clinician who prizes evidence, Jeremy Veenstra-VanderWeele is happy to embrace trial failures, as long as he learns from them.

Spectrum

Swings and misses with Jeremy Veenstra-VanderWeele

By Peter Hess

30 May 2023 | 13 min read

Spectrum

By Peter Hess

19 May 2023

7 min read

Illustration of a watch with the face taken up by an MRI scan of a brain.

Ruth Carper: Imaging the aging brain in autistic adults

Few studies have tracked how brain structure and function change across adulthood in people with autism. Carper and her colleagues are collecting data to fill this gap.

Spectrum