Feature
- Earth
What Goes Up
A massive scientific field study in Mexico City, along with lab experiments and computer simulations, show that pollution from the world's megacities has a global impact.
- Humans
The Wealth of Nations
Analysis of the connections among different types of economic activities explains why some countries succeed, and others fail, in diversifying their economies.
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Rethinking Bad Taste
Many animals use mimicry to gain a competitive advantage, but are there degrees of cheating?
- Tech
Fire Inside
The events of 9/11 put new urgency into efforts to design buildings able to withstand the structural damage that fire can cause.
- Earth
Cellulose Dreams
Turning cellulose from plants into ethanol for fuel could help lower greenhouse-gas emissions—but the conversion is far from straightforward.
- Chemistry
Alien Pizza, Anyone?
Although many biochemical molecules come in left-handed and right-handed versions, life on Earth uses one version exclusively, and some controversial experiments suggest this preference might not be due to chance.
- Planetary Science
Idiosyncratic Iapetus
The strange appearance of Saturn's moon Iapetus suggests that it was frozen in shape soon after birth, providing a glimpse into conditions in the early solar system.
- Earth
Hammered Saws
Sawfish, shark relatives that almost went extinct several decades ago, have now gained protection by international treaty.
- Health & Medicine
Taking a Jab at Cancer
Vaccines that train a person's immune system to kill cancerous cells, when combined with drugs that block tumor defense mechanisms, are starting to show promise.
- Anthropology
Red-Ape Stroll
Wild orangutans regularly walk upright through the trees, raising the controversial possibility that the two-legged stance is not unique to hominids.
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- Computing
Virtual Surgery
Computer simulations of blood flow in the heart allow doctors to test surgical innovations before trying them on patients.
