Departments

50 Years Ago: Making and Forecasting Ocean Waves
Innovation and discovery as chronicled in past issues of Scientific American

100 Years Ago: A Partial Solution of the Problem of Tele-Vision.
An article from the August 1908 issue of Scientific American

Inside This Issue: Neandertals and General Relativity
Acting Editor in Chief Mariette DiChristina introduces the August 2009 issue of Scientific American

News Scan Briefs: Killer Smile
Also: burning nitrogen, cancer clue in Down's syndrome, and gallons per mile

Readers Respond on "The Expanding Universe"
Letters to the editor on PTSD, motion sickness, and more...

Recommended: Science Folks We Follow on Twitter
Scientific American recommends Ancient Light and Cold

Whatever Happened to the Mars Rovers?
Also: updates on stem cells from proteins, quasicrystals and a billion-year memory drive

• Night Stalker: White-Nose Fungus in Bats--Why It's Our Problem, Too
• Salvia on Schedule: Law, Medicine and a Hallucinogen
• High Hopes for High-Speed Rail
• Stumbling Over Data: Mistakes Fuel Climate-Warming Skeptics
• Hypersphere Exotica: Kervaire Invariant Problem Has a Solution!
• Weak Link: Fossil Darwinius Has Its 15 Minutes

• Do Seed Companies Control GM Crop Research?

• Good News on Malaria Control [Extended version]

• Skeptic's Take on the Life and Argued Works of Shakespeare

• Tips for the Kind of Gas Mileage You Really Want

 

Features

The Mysterious Downfall of the Neandertals
Paleoanthropologists know more about Neandertals than any other extinct human. But their demise remains a mystery, one that gets curiouser and curiouser
By Kate Wong

Surprises from General Relativity: "Swimming" in Spacetime
The possibility of "swimming" and "gliding" in curved, empty space shows that even after nine decades, Einstein's theory of general relativity continues to amaze
By Eduardo Guéron

Celiac Disease Insights: Clues to Solving Autoimmunity
Study of a potentially fatal food-triggered disease has uncovered a process that may contribute to many autoimmune disorders
By Alessio Fasano

Is There a Place for Nuclear Waste?
Yucca Mountain was supposed to be the answer to the U.S.'s nuclear waste problem, but after 22 years and $9 billion, that vision is dead. Now, some say that doing nothing in the near term may be the smartest solution
By Matthew L. Wald

An Iron Key to High-Temperature Superconductivity?
The discovery that compounds known as iron pnictides can superconduct at 50 degrees above absolute zero has reignited physicists' quest for better high-temperature superconductors, and may offer clues to unlocking a 20-year mystery
By Graham P. Collins

A Biochemical Way to Reduce Drug Side Effects?
An emerging class of medicines works its magic by targeting unusual sites on biological molecules
By Melinda Wenner

Online Exclusives

Slide Show
Top 10 New Species Discovered in 2008
From the smallest sea horse to a naturally decaffeinated coffee tree, newly discovered species show that Earth still has plenty of surprises.

60-Second Solar Blog
What You Really Need to Install Solar Panels: A CPA
If the paperwork-heavy experience of one Scientific American editor is anything to go by, a solar boom will create plenty of jobs—in accounting.

Fact or Fiction?
Should We Drink Eight Glasses of Water a Day?
A popular belief holds that healthy people need liquids, even when they are not thirsty.

Slide Show
The World’s 10 Largest Renewable Energy Projects
From wind and wave to sun and trash, existing power plants are generating electricity from renewable sources on a massive scale.

60-Second Earth Podcast
Is Organic Really Better?
Does consuming organic food truly benefit both eater and environment?