Features

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  How Ralph Steinman Raced to Develop a Cancer Vaccine--And Save His Life

  When Ralph M. Steinman developed pancreatic cancer, he put his own theories about cancer and the immune system to the test. They kept him alive longer than expected—but three days short of learning he had won the Nobel Prize

  Katherine Harmon   | January 1, 2012  | 1

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  A New Path to Longevity

  Researchers have uncovered an ancient mechanism that retards aging. Drugs that tweaked it could well postpone cancer, diabetes and other diseases of old age

  David Stipp   | January 1, 2012  | 15

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  Magnetic Sense Shows Many Animals the Way to Go

  Animals' magnetic sense is real. Scientists are zeroing in on how it works

  Davide Castelvecchi   | January 1, 2012  | 12

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  How to Make the Food System More Energy Efficient

  Changes in agriculture, policy and personal behaviors can reduce the energy a nation uses to feed itself and the greenhouse gases it emits

  Michael E. Webber   | January 1, 2012  | 7

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  Can Machines Predict Where Crimes Are about to Happen?

  In cities across the U.S., data-rich computer technology is telling cops where crimes are about to happen. Crime is down, and the technology is spreading. But does it really work?

  James Vlahos   | January 1, 2012  | 6

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  Endangered Desert Microbes Protect against Coughs, Sneezes and Red Eye

  Biologist Jayne Belnap warns of the consequences for the American West if we don't preserve a home for the minute organisms that live in desert topsoil

  Brendan Borrell   | January 1, 2012  | 4

• Five Hidden Dangers of Obesity

  Excess weight can harm health in ways that may come as a surprise

  Christine Gorman   | January 1, 2012  | 14

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  Middleweight Black Holes: Clues to the Universe's Evolution

  Tipping the scales at less than about a million suns in mass, middleweight black holes may hold clues to how their much larger siblings, and galaxies, first formed

  Jenny E. Greene   | January 1, 2012  | 4

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  The Science of the Glory

  One of the most beautiful phenomena in meteorology has a surprisingly subtle explanation. Its study also helps to predict the role that clouds will play in climate change

  H. Moysés Nussenzveig   | January 1, 2012  | 9