Feature

  1. Special Sleep Issue : PDF Download page

    All files are saved as PDFs.  Please download Adobe’s Acrobat Reader to view these files. Sleep Special : Complete PackageHigh Quality (17MB) | Low Quality (2MB) The Why of sleep (Tina Hesman Saey) / All Kinds of Tired (Susan Milius)High Quality (6.7MB) | Low Quality (1.1MB) Sleep gone awry (Laura Sanders)High Quality (2.5MB) | Low […]

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  2. Astronomy

    A Cosmic Crisis?

    Astronomers appear to have a heavenly crisis on their hands, and it concerns material they can't even detect.

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  3. Physics

    Constant Changes

    Evidence from the early universe that one of the so-called constants of nature, known as alpha, was once slightly smaller than it is today hints that the laws of physics themselves may vary over time and space.

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  4. Earth

    Ill Winds

    Research suggests that the long-range movement of dust can sicken wildlife, crops—even humans—a continent away.

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  5. Joined at the Senses

    As evidence accumulates for the existence of brain cells that handle many types of sensory information, some scientists challenge the popular notion that perception is grounded in five separate senses.

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  6. Earth

    Dust, the Thermostat

    Analyses suggest that dust has profound, complex, and far-reaching effects on the planet's climate.

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  7. Astronomy

    When Branes Collide

    A controversial new theory proposes that our universe existed as a cold, featureless void for eons, until a parallel universe floating through a hidden fifth dimension crashed into it, igniting the Big Bang.

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  8. Animals

    Gimme, Gimme, Gimme!

    Hungry chicks cheeping in their nest have inspired a whole branch of scientific inquiry.

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  9. Earth

    Life on the Edge

    Will a mass extinction usher in a world of weeds and pests?

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  10. Animals

    Social Cats

    Who says cats aren't social? And other musings from scientists who study cats in groups.

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  11. Chemistry

    Faster, Better, Cleaner?

    Chemists have found that a new class of compounds, called ionic liquids, can substitute for widely used, messy organic solvents while also performing better and producing new products of interest to industry.

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  12. Health & Medicine

    Immunity’s Eyes

    Proteins called toll-like receptors allow human immune cells to detect microbes.

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