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November 22, 2018 by Michael Behar

THE NEW YORK TIMES | NOVEMBER 18, 2018

The Everything Test Download PDF

Most diseases give off a molecular signal before they show symptoms. Can the science of proteomics learn to spot them? 

The sergeant with the Mount Crested Butte Police Department in Colorado appeared shortly after 9 P.M. It was August 1, 2017, and I was with my wife and our two young children, ages 2 and 7, at Lake Irwin, a remote campsite at 10,200 feet in the Rocky Mountains. When the officer stepped out of his S.U.V. cruiser, its blue and red emergency strobes piercing the darkness, I thought that perhaps a neighboring camper had summoned him to silence my dissonant guitar strumming beside the campfire. Continue reading →

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September 5, 2018 by Michael Behar

Air & Space | September 2018

The Secret World of NORAD Download PDF

Inside its granite fortress, the agency that has protected North America for 60 years still stands guard.

About halfway through the tunnel, our bus driver stops beside two steel blast doors, each weighing 25 tons and measuring three feet thick. I’m traveling this frigid January morning into the Cheyenne Mountain Complex with Steve Rose, the facility’s deputy director, who greeted me in the parking lot with an earnest handshake. Rose is escorting me into the historic military bunker burrowed deep into the Rocky Mountain foothills, seven miles southwest of downtown Colorado Springs. “The mountain,” as the complex is known colloquially, is the alternate command center for the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), which celebrates its 60th anniversary this year. Continue reading →

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June 13, 2018 by Michael Behar

MEN’S HEALTH | JUNE 2018

The Power of Awe Download PDF

Why you need to start blowing your mind more often.

Last august 21 at 4:30am, I roused my 7-year-old son, Simon, from his bed in a creaky hotel in Cheyenne, Wyoming. In a few hours, a rare solar eclipse would occur. Dawn revealed a brilliant blue sky, promising a clear view of totality. Simon was thrilled; I felt indifferent. Neither of us had witnessed an eclipse. But my expectations were tempered. I’d been to Machu Picchu, Victoria Falls, the Himalayas. An eclipse is a mere two minutes of solar showmanship. Big whoop. Continue reading →

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June 13, 2018 by Michael Behar

VIRTUOSO LIFE | JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018

This is Your Brain Online Download PDF

Artificial intelligence will change the way we travel

The future is about to get personal. While artificial intelligence al- ready permeates industries such as finance and health care, it currently tackles fairly rudimentary tasks in the travel industry. For example, airlines and hotels use the technology in “conversational chatbots” that understand written language to help customers re- solve basic travel queries. That’s starting to change: Google Maps can now help us find parking. Siri predicts (with varying accuracy) where we’re headed at certain times of the day, makes real-time traffic assessments, and plans the quickest route. And numerous new travel-oriented firms are applying artificial intelligence and machine-learning algorithms (dynamic equations that do things like recommend movies on Netflix based on your viewing habits) to create seamless and more pleasurable vacations. Continue reading →