Feature

  1. Anthropology

    In the Neandertal Mind

    Neandertals possessed much the same mental capacity as ancient people did, but a genetically inspired memory boost toward the end of the Stone Age may have allowed Homo sapiens to prosper while Neandertals died out.

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  2. Agriculture

    The Ultimate Crop Insurance

    A new treaty renews hope that the waning diversity in agricultural crops can be slowed, and important genes preserved, both in the field and in gene banks.

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  3. Health & Medicine

    Figuring Out Fibroids

    Researchers now have a better understanding of which women develop fibroids and what causes them.

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  4. Tech

    Ocean Envy

    By mimicking the flippers of penguins, whales, and dolphins, engineers hope to make ocean vessels that are as maneuverable and efficient as the marine animals.

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  5. Earth

    Paved Paradise?

    The precipitation-fed runoff that spills from impervious surfaces such as buildings, roads, and parking lots in developed areas increases erosion in streams, wreaks ecological havoc there, and contributes to urban heat islands.

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  6. Plants

    Smokey the Gardener

    Wildfire smoke by itself, without help from heat, can trigger germination in certain seeds, but just what the vital compound in that smoke might be has kept biologists busy for years.

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  7. Math

    A Better Distorted View

    The mathematics used to describe diffusion can also be used to generate maps based on population data.

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  8. Astronomy

    Cosmic Melody

    An astronomer has converted fluctuations in the density of the early universe—the seeds of the first galaxies and stars—into audible sound.

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  9. Chemistry

    Tricky Business

    The way a drug crystallizes to form a solid can make or break a billion-dollar product, which explains why pharmaceutical and crystal chemists are racing to control this poorly understood process.

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  10. Tech

    When the Chips are Down

    Scientists seek alternatives to a computer technology nearing its limits.

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  11. To Err Is Human

    Two researchers have issued a blunt critique of what they see as a misguided emphasis on immoral behaviors and mental flaws in many social psychology studies.

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  12. Don’t Let the Bugs Bite

    Using disease-control strategies based on genetic engineering, scientists are working to counter Chagas' disease, malaria, sleeping sickness, and other insectborne infections.

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