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We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.

  1. Computing

    Squashing Worms

    Defeating computer worms that mutate will take some smart defense strategies.

    By Julie Rehmeyer
  2. Tech

    Fire Inside

    The events of 9/11 put new urgency into efforts to design buildings able to withstand the structural damage that fire can cause.

    By Carolyn Barry
  3. Tech

    A Moment in the Life of a Cell: Microscopic scan images without intruding

    A laser technique similar to a CAT scan produces 3-D images of living cells without the need for chemical staining.

    By Davide Castelvecchi
  4. Tech

    Uncharted atomic landscapes

    A refinement to electron microscopes enables them not only to visualize atoms but also to identify different elements.

    By Davide Castelvecchi
  5. Computing

    Cloudy Crystal Balls

    Computer programs that model climate may be so complex that global warming predictions will never settle on a single, definitive answer.

    By Julie Rehmeyer
  6. Computing

    Virtual Surgery

    Computer simulations of blood flow in the heart allow doctors to test surgical innovations before trying them on patients.

    By Erica Klarreich
  7. Computing

    Check on Checkers: In perfect game, there’s no winner

    Thanks to an immense calculation that worked out every possible game position, computers can now play a flawless game of checkers and force a draw every time.

    By Julie Rehmeyer
  8. Tech

    Double-decker solar cell

    A two-layer, polymer-based solar cell has good efficiency and could be cheap to mass-produce.

    By Davide Castelvecchi
  9. Tech

    More bang for the biofuel buck

    Microbes that ferment glycerol to ethanol could add an economically valuable new ingredient to the biofuel industry.

    By Sarah Webb
  10. Tech

    Biowarfare: Engineered virus can invade bacterial film

    A genetically engineered virus not only kills bacteria but makes an enzyme that breaks up the biofilm in which the bacteria live.

    By Davide Castelvecchi
  11. Tech

    Cellular Smugglers: Laden nanoparticles hitch a ride on bacteria

    Molecular cargoes loaded onto nanoparticles can sneak into mammalian cells on the backs of bacteria.

    By Sarah Webb
  12. Tech

    Life Swap: Switching genomes converts bacteria

    Transplanting the entire genome of one species of bacteria into another paves the way for making synthetic microbes with manmade DNA.

    By Patrick Barry