Feature
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Beg Your Indulgence
The Japanese concept of amae, in which one person presumes that another will indulgently grant a special request, may apply to different forms of behavior at different ages, even in Western countries.
- Animals
Thoroughly Modern Migrants
Butterflies and moths are causing scientists to devise a broader definition of migration and this has raised some old questions in new ways.
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Do Antibodies Pack a Deadly Punch?
These immune molecules may directly kill, not just tag, microbes.
- Computing
Calculating Swarms
Ant teamwork suggests models for computing faster and organizing better.
- Health & Medicine
Narcolepsy Science Reawakens
Recent advances in understanding the biological underpinnings of narcolepsy have created a new diagnostic tool and point toward possible future therapies.
- Tech
Sixth Sense
A budding technology called electric field imaging may soon enable devices such as appliances, toys, and computers to detect the presence of people and respond to their motions.
- Earth
Limiting Dead Zones
To limit algal blooms and the development of fishless dead zones in coastal waters, farmers and other sources of nitrate are investigating novel strategies to control nitrate runoff.
- Math
Theorems for Sale
In April, an eBay auction offered math enthusiasts the rare opportunity of linking their names with one of the most famous mathematicians of the 20th century.
- Materials Science
Nice Threads
Once researchers figure out how to spin strong fibers out of carbon nanotubes, real-world applications such as long-distance power-transmission cables, lightweight aircraft materials, and electronic textiles become feasible.
- Earth
Dead Waters
Coastal dead zones—underwater regions where oxygen concentrations are too low for fish to survive—are mushrooming globally, threatening to transform entire ecosystems.
- Humans
Travels with the War Goddess
A botany expedition to Samoa turns out to be as much about the people as about the plants.
- Earth
Global Vineyard
Recognizing that continued climate change may leave some renowned grape-growing regions too hot or too dry to support vineyards, growers may turn to new technology and techniques to produce consistently better fruit.
