Helen Pearson is a science writer based in New York City.
Helen Pearson
Freelance writer
Simons Foundation
From this contributor
Father’s advanced age feeds autism risk
Are older fathers more likely to have children with autism? A series of epidemiological studies is giving credence to the idea, suggesting that, with age, sperm may accumulate damage that increases risk in the next generation.
Sense of ‘self’ impaired in autism
People with autism struggle to see their own role in social situations. That's the conclusion from the first study to scan individualsʼ brains while they interact with another person - a technique that could lead to a diagnostic tool.
Explore more from The Transmitter
Long-read sequencing unearths overlooked autism-linked variants
Strips that are thousands of base pairs in length offer better resolution of structural variants and tandem repeats, according to two independent preprints.
Long-read sequencing unearths overlooked autism-linked variants
Strips that are thousands of base pairs in length offer better resolution of structural variants and tandem repeats, according to two independent preprints.
By
Natalia Mesa
18 September 2025 | 6 min read
Competition seeks new algorithms to classify social behavior in animals
The winner of the competition, which launched today and tests contestants’ models head to head, is set to take home $20,000, according to co-organizer Ann Kennedy.
Competition seeks new algorithms to classify social behavior in animals
The winner of the competition, which launched today and tests contestants’ models head to head, is set to take home $20,000, according to co-organizer Ann Kennedy.
By
Angie Voyles Askham
18 September 2025 | 6 min read
This paper changed my life: Dan Goodman on a paper that reignited the field of spiking neural networks
Friedemann Zenke’s 2019 paper, and its related coding tutorial SpyTorch, made it possible to apply modern machine learning to spiking neural networks. The innovation reinvigorated the field.
This paper changed my life: Dan Goodman on a paper that reignited the field of spiking neural networks
Friedemann Zenke’s 2019 paper, and its related coding tutorial SpyTorch, made it possible to apply modern machine learning to spiking neural networks. The innovation reinvigorated the field.
By
Dan Goodman
17 September 2025 | 5 min read