Feature

  1. Psychology

    Morality Play

    Universal concerns, not cultural values, may shape kids’ developing notions of right and wrong.

    By Bruce Bower
  2. Space

    The Status Quark

    Murray Gell-Mann reflects on matter’s building blocks and scientists’ resistance to new ideas.

    By Tom Siegfried

  3. Disaster Goes Global

    The eruption in 1600 of a seemingly quiet volcano in Peru changed global climate and triggered famine as far away as Russia

    By Sid Perkins
  4. Earth

    Shaky Forecasts

    Despite past failures, geophysicists think earthquake prediction might still be possible.

    By Kristina Bartlett Brody

  5. What do you see?

    Emotion may help the visual system jump the gun to predict what the brain will see.

    By Jenny Lauren Lee

  6. Pearls Unstrung

    For a while, the Great Lakes weren’t connected by rivers and Niagara Falls was just a trickle.

    By Sid Perkins

  7. Smart from the start

    Animal embryos get some respect for their survival skills.

    By Susan Milius
  8. Planetary Science

    Stars go kaboom, spilling cosmic secrets

    Astronomers hope type 1a supernovas will help in quest to explain dark energy.

    By Ron Cowen

  9. Venom hunters

    Scientists probe toxins, revealing the healing powers of biochemical weapons.

    By Laura Sanders

  10. When Humor Humiliates

    For gelotophobes, even good-natured laughter can sound a lot like ridicule.

    By Susan Gaidos

  11. The Biofuel Future

    Scientists seek ways to make green energy pay off.

    By Rachel Ehrenberg
  12. Astronomy

    The Star That Ate a Mars

    COVER STORY: Scientists probe debris trapped by white dwarfs to learn more about what faraway Earthlike planets are made of.

    By Charles Petit