Features

• A Do-It-Yourself Quantum Eraser

  Using readily available equipment, you can carry out a home experiment that illustrates one of the weirdest effects in quantum mechanics

  Rachel Hillmer and Paul Kwiat   | May 1, 2007  | 8

• South America's Missing Mammals

  Startling fossil discoveries in the Chilean Andes reveal an unexpected menagerie of unique mammals that once roamed South America. The finds also overturn long-held wisdom about the continent's geologic history

  John J. Flynn, André R. Wyss and Reynaldo Charrier   | May 1, 2007  |

• Preventing Blackouts

  A smarter power grid that automatically responds to problems could reduce the rising number of debilitating blackouts

  Massoud Amin and Phillip F. Schewe   | May 1, 2007  |

• Eyes Open, Brain Shut

  New brain-imaging techniques are giving researchers a better understanding of patients in the vegetative state

  Steven Laureys   | May 1, 2007  |

• Chromosomal Chaos and Cancer

  Current wisdom on the role of genes in malignancy may not explain some features of cancer, but stepping back to look at the bigger picture inside cells reveals a view that just might

  Peter Duesberg   | May 1, 2007  |

• Carbon Nanonets Spark New Electronics

  Random networks of tiny carbon tubes could make possible low-cost, flexible devices such as "electronic paper" and printable solar cells

  George Gruner   | May 1, 2007  |

• The Mystery of Methane on Mars and Titan

  It might mean life, it might mean unusual geologic activity; whichever it is, the presence of methane in the atmospheres of Mars and Titan is one of the most tantalizing puzzles in our solar system

  Sushil K. Atreya   | May 1, 2007  |