Departments

The Modern Condition -- Utility of Flight -- News from Africa

Teen Sex in America
Virginity into the third millennium takes an uptick

News Scan Briefs

Letters

Grass vs. Plastic
Tough competition is under way in sports stadiums--between grass fields and artificial turf

• Pollution in Solution
• Seeing Stars in Iraq
• Kim's Big Fizzle
• Real Stinkers Reformed
• Here Come the X-Mice
• Seismic Sentries

• Airborne Baloney

• The Neglected Tropical Diseases

• Meet Resistance Head-On

• Sweet and Soiled Science

 

Features

A Robot in Every Home
The leader of the PC revolution predicts that the next hot field will be robotics
By Bill Gates

Is Ethanol for the Long Haul?
Ethanol could displace gasoline, but it won't pay off until we find a way to distill cornstalks, not corn
By Matthew L. Wald

The Power of Riboswitches
Discovering relics from a lost world run by RNA molecules may lead to modern tools for fighting disease
By Jeffrey E. Barrick and Ronald R. Breaker

Better Ways to Target Pain
Improved understanding of the chemical pathway on which aspirin and Vioxx act may lead to analgesics with fewer side effects
By Gary Stix

What Is a Planet?
The controversial new official definition of "planet," which banished Pluto, has its flaws but by and large captures essential scientific principles
By Steven Soter

Evolved for Cancer?
Natural selection lacks the power to erase cancer from our species and, some scientists argue, may even have provided tools that help tumors grow
By Carl Zimmer

The Mississippi's Curious Origins
A mountain range once separated the continental interior of the U.S. from the Gulf of Mexico. Some clever geologic sleuthing has revealed how that barrier was breached, allowing the river to reach the Gulf
By Roy B. Van Arsdale and Randel T. Cox