Departments

50 Years Ago: The Nutcracker Man
Innovation and discovery as chronicled in past issues of Scientific American

The Scientists Behind the Stories at Scientific American
Introducing the new board of advisers that serve as expert sources to our magazine

Readers Respond on "Grassoline"
Letters to the editor: The Science of God and Left & Right

Recommended: A Shadow Falls
Scientific American recommendations on Nuclear Proliferation and Ancient Alcohol

• For Sale: Human Eggs Become a Research Commodity
• Putting Madness in Its Place: Can the Environment Explain Schizophrenia's Hereditary Patterns?
• Sewage Industry Fights Phosphorus Pollution
• Beyond North and South: Evidence for Magnetic Monopoles
• How Noise Can Help Quantum Entanglement
• Burying Climate Change: Carbon Gets Stuffed Underground
• Novel Analysis Confirms Climate "Hockey Stick" Graph
• Pandemic Payoff from 1918: A Weaker H1N1 Flu Today

• Will E.T. Look Like Us?

• A Clunker of a Climate Policy

• The Future of Climate Policy Could Be Found in Copenhagen

• How Women Can Save the Planet

• Nerd a Vacation?: Travel with The Geek Atlas

 

Features

How the Internet is Changing the Way We Will Watch TV
The Internet stands ready to upend the television viewing experience, but exactly how is a matter of considerable dispute
By Michael Moyer

A Plan to Power 100 Percent of the Planet with Renewables
Wind, water and solar technologies can provide 100 percent of the world's energy, eliminating all fossil fuels. Here's how
By Mark Z. Jacobson and Mark A. Delucchi

The Long-Lost Siblings of the Sun
The sun was born in a family of stars. What became of them?
By Simon F. Portegies Zwart

The Future of Cars
Industry leaders look way down the road
By The Editors

Rethinking "Hobbits": What They Mean for Human Evolution
New analyses reveal the mini human species to be even stranger than previously thought and hint that major tenets of human evolution need revision
By Kate Wong

New Culprits in Chronic Pain
Glia are nervous system caretakers whose nurturing can go too far. Taming them holds promise for alleviating pain that current medications cannot ease
By R. Douglas Fields

Growing Skyscrapers: The Rise of Vertical Farms
Growing crops in city skyscrapers would use less water and fossil fuel than outdoor farming, eliminate agricultural runoff and provide fresh food
By Dickson Despommier

Online Exclusives

In-Depth Report
Galileo and the International Year of Astronomy
A look at the legacy of Galileo Galilei, 400 years after the Italian astronomer turned his spyglass to the heavens