Feature
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- Tech
Ribbon to the Stars
Advances in one of the tiniest of technologies—carbon nanotubes—is bringing the concept of a space elevator closer to reality.
By Ron Cowen -
A Man’s Job
Sperm contain an unexpected payload of RNA, a discovery offering insight into infertility, cloning, and contraception.
By John Travis - Animals
Music without Borders
When birds trill and whales woo-oo, we call it singing. Are we serious?
By Susan Milius - Health & Medicine
The New GI Tracts
For preventing heart disease, diets that control insulin are all the buzz.
By Janet Raloff -
Pushing the Mood Swings
Social and psychological forces sway the course of manic depression.
By Bruce Bower - Astronomy
Less Massive than Saturn?
Astronomers pass a milestone in the search for new worlds.
By Ron Cowen - Materials Science
The Buck Starts Here
The U.S. Mint performed some neat tricks to make a golden dollar.
By Corinna Wu -
Get Rid of the Bodies
Scientists are learning how organisms safely clear out cell corpses.
By John Travis - Materials Science
Materials with Memory
Metal alloys and polymers that can remember a preprogrammed shape may literally reshape technologies ranging from warfare to medicine and car repair.
- Tech
Looking for Mr. Goodoxide
The impending collapse of a 40-year union between the electronic wonder materials silicon and silicon dioxide threatens the advance of chip technology and propels a high-stakes search for silicon dioxide replacements.
By Peter Weiss - Earth
Greenhouse Gassed
Scientists are discovering that more carbon dioxide in the air could spell disaster for plants and the animals that love to eat them.