Feature

  1. 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.

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  2. 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.

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  3. Humans

    Travels with the War Goddess

    A botany expedition to Samoa turns out to be as much about the people as about the plants.

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  4. 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.

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  5. Anthropology

    Out on a Limb

    The science of body development may make kindling out of evolutionary trees.

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  6. Astronomy

    Dark Doings

    A slew of new and proposed experiments, ranging from the cosmic to the subatomic scale, may shed light on why the expansion of the universe is speeding up.

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  7. Anthropology

    Humanity’s Strange Face

    New fossil finds in a Romanian cave fuel controversy over whether different, closely related species interbred on the evolutionary path that led to people.

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  8. Math

    Glimpses of Genius

    By studying a puzzle that Archimedes pondered 2,200 years ago, mathematicians are obtaining new insights into its intriguing geometric structure.

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  9. Physics

    The Rise of Antibubbles

    Tiny globules of water enclosed by thin shells of air in water that look like bubbles but don't act like them have recently become the objects of serious study.

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  10. Teen Brains on Trial

    Scientific opinions differ about whether evidence on delayed maturation of the adolescent brain should be used to argue that teenagers have reduced culpability for crimes and thus should be exempt from the death penalty.

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  11. Health & Medicine

    Delaying Dementia

    The limited success of attempts to treat Alzheimer's disease with several compounds that appear able to prevent the disorder suggests that the window for derailing the development of the illness may close years before cognitive decline becomes evident.

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  12. Health & Medicine

    Coffee, Spices, Wine

    Several dietary agents, including coffee, wine, and cinnamon, appear to restore some of the body's responsiveness to insulin, potentially slowing diabetes' onset or ravages.

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