Is it time to kill the Antarctic Treaty?
Fifty years ago, 12 nations—Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Britain, Chile, France, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, the Soviet Union and the U.S.—agreed to cede their claims to Antarctica...
Stories by Philip Yam
Qapla'! Christie's Star Trek auction [Re-Post]
Back in October 2006, I watched Christie's, Inc. auction off the remnants of the Star Trek franchise, the cultural icon that helped launch many a career in science (and science journalism)...
In 2012 neutrinos melt Earth's core, and other disasters
During an early screening of Roland Emmerich's latest disaster flick 2012, which opens today, laughter erupted in the audience near the end of the film thanks to corny dialogue and maudlin scenes (among the biggest guffaw getters: a father tries to reconnect with his estranged son on the telephone, only to have the son's house destroyed just before he could say anything)...
Flu vaccine: A shortage that didn't have to be?
The note on the receptionist's desk at my doctor's office was quite emphatic: there was no vaccine to give, either for the H1N1 swine flu or the seasonal variety.
Economics Nobel Highlights How Social Relationships Explain Certain Economic Activities
Elinor Ostrom and Oliver E. Williamson win the prize for their analyses of cooperation and conflict in economic governance
How to Get Humans on Mars: Make It a One-Way Trip
Landing humans on Mars is a completely achievable feat with current technology—if you are okay with the idea of a one-way ticket, points out physicist and Scientific American columnist Lawrence Krauss in an op-ed in yesterday's New York Times ...
Mad Cow Disease
Cannibalism takes its revenge on modern farms
Buckyballs and Nanotubes
A once overlooked form of carbon may represent the future of technology
Mysterious Origins: 8 Phenomena That Defy Explanation [Slide Show]
The unknown origins behind language, handedness, flu seasons, superconductivity, antimatter, proton spin, cosmic rays and sex
The Origin of Scientific American
A week of origins, starting with our own back in the 19th century
Origins: The Start of Everything
Where do rainbows come from? What about flying cars, love and LSD?
Whatever Happened to the Mars Rovers?
Also: updates on stem cells from proteins, quasicrystals and a billion-year memory drive
Are Rorschach tests really any good?
Psychologists are up in arms about the posting of the 10 original Rorschach tests on Wikipedia . As detailed in today's New York Times , many of them fear that the easy availability of the inkblots could undermine their usefulness in assessing personality and mental illness...
Updates: Whatever Happened to Hubble's Last Fix?
Also: updates on mercury in seafood, happiness and choices, and delisting the gray wolf
Updates: Whatever Happened to Fuel Cell Progress?
Also: updates on hurricane warnings, nuclear medicines, and prostate testing
Updates: Whatever Happened to Drugs from Goats?
Also: updates on nanotech medicine, space shuttle Columbia's last moments, and the five aspects of taste
Updates: Whatever Happened to the Risk for Another Indian Ocean Tsunami?
Also: updates on rabies recoveries, bioterror risks and the genetic tracking of religious persecution
The Multipath to Clarity
One Scientific American editor's recipe for receiving HDTV over the air: Equal parts luck and patience
Updates: Whatever Happened to Natural Blood-Vessel Dilators?
Also: updates on cloning mice and extinction by disease
News Scan Briefs: Blocking Sound with Holes
Also: electric fields increase fuel economy, sacrificial ants, explosive-free fertilizer and vanishing species
