Feature

Physics

Anatomy of a Lightning Ball

Metallic fuzz, acid droplets, or other fairy dust may conjure up ball lightning (with video clips).

Earth

It’s a Rough World

Scientists are using fractals, mathematical forms that can describe objects with fractional dimensions, to model phenomena such as wildfire propagation and the spread of toxic fluids through rocks and soil.

Health & Medicine

Germs That Do a Body Good

Research on probiotic bacteria—living microbes that confer health benefits when introduced into the body—offers growing medical promise.

Health & Medicine

The Persistent Problem of Cystic Fibrosis

Ten years after the discovery of the gene that, when mutated, causes cystic fibrosis, researchers are still struggling to understand why deadly lung infections are so common among people with the disease.

Computing

Calculating Cartoons

Thanks to sophisticated computer simulations of the laws of physics, spectacular special effects—plus a zoo of strange but real-looking creatures—increasingly enliven movie screens and computer-game consoles.

Materials Science

Flattery for Faience

By replicating ancient materials with their own hands, researchers are gaining new insights into details of Egyptian faience manufacture that have been lost for thousands of years.

Planetary Science

Exploring the Red Planet

Searching for signs of subsurface water on the Red Planet and analyzing the elemental and mineral composition of surface rock, NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft begins its main mapping mission next month and may shed light on several enduring puzzles about the planet.

Astronomy

All Aglow in the Early Universe

Was the infant cosmos a star-making machine?

Ecosystems

Tadpole Science Gets Its Legs . . .

The amazingly complex tadpole now shines in ecological studies.

Materials Science

Getting Out the Thorn

Researchers are developing new ways to improve the compatibility of implantable biomaterials in the body.