Feature
- Quantum Physics
Shinsei Ryu: Error-free quantum calculations
Physicist Shinsei Ryu navigates the confusing border between the quantum and everyday realms.
- Life
Gia Voeltz: Redrawing the cell’s floor plan
Cell biologist Gia Voeltz has changed our view of the endoplasmic reticulum.
- Genetics
Feng Zhang: Editing DNA
Scientist Feng Zhang has developed a system to easily and precisely edit genomes.
- Health & Medicine
Coffee reveals itself as an unlikely elixir
Coffee is earning a reputation as a health tonic, reducing risk for a long list of ailments and even lowering death rates.
- Animals
Apes do the darndest things
Several chimp behaviors have researchers wondering if apes are a good model for early hominid life.
- Earth
The magnetic mystery at the center of the Earth
The history of the planet’s all-important magnetic field has scientists ramping up simulations and lab experiments to resolve a baffling paradox.
- Chemistry
Wanted: Crime-solving bacteria and body odor
Forensic investigators are moving past old-school sleuthing to analyze microbes and odors that tell a more complete story, while pursuing ways to enhance traditional tools as well.
- Genetics
The human genome takes shape and shifts over time
Scientists are mapping and modeling the 4-D human genome to get beyond its linear structure.
- Chemistry
Automated chemistry could build better drugs fast and cheap
Automated molecular synthesis may win over chemists who are not convinced that more technology in drug design is better.
- Neuroscience
Rethinking which cells are the conductors of learning and memory
Brain cells called glia may be center stage when it comes to learning and memory, recent research suggests.
- Life
The tree of life gets a makeover
Biology’s tree of life has morphed from the familiar classroom version emphasizing kingdoms into a complex depiction of supergroups, in which animals are aligned with a slew of single-celled cousins.
- Neuroscience
Brain activity in unconscious patients offers new views of awareness
As more people survive serious brain injury, researchers are using EEG and fMRI to learn who is aware inside an unresponsive body.
