Stories by Ricki Rusting

The two conditions often coincide, but the search for common biological roots turns up conflicting evidence

A physician invited to write for Scientific American in the 1960s has finally turned in his story

Such squeezing can close blood vessels and impair the effectiveness of anticancer drugs

Suspicion of used-car dealers has a long history in the U.S. if an article in a 1915 supplement to Scientific American is any guide. The story, Buying a Second-Hand Automobile, by Victor W.

On this day a hundred years ago, a journalist named Arthur Wynne published what is widely regarded as the first modern crossword puzzle. It appeared in the New York World, where it was called a Word-Cross Puzzle.

In 1893, Scientific American and other publications reported evidence that a true likeness, produced by none other than the Italian artist Titian, had been found

I love Scientific American‘s archive not only for its record of scientific discovery but also for the surprises I invariably find there.

2013 marks 160 years since Elisha Graves Otis sold his first elevator, designed specifically for safety. Sales languished, though, until he attended the 1854 world's fair in New York City and, at the Crystal Palace, demonstrated the innovation that made elevators stop, instead of falling, if their cables snapped.

Under a polarizing light microscope, chondrules—melted bits of silicate-rich material in meteorites—turn slices of the space rocks into bedazzling art

Investigators seek new antidepressants that will act faster or give fresh options to people not helped enough by existing agents

Take a look at the animals that researchers have sighted or captured while in the field to study a contagious cancer that is destroying Tasmanian devil populations

Colon cancer can be beat if detected early. This video from TheVisualMD, incorporating biologically accurate graphics, offers a ride on a camera to show how the disease is detected and treated

Photographs from the World War II era not only helped to map northern Alaska but also captured its majesty

Where do rainbows come from? What about flying cars, love and LSD?

A long-standing dream

A single cure is still elusive, but for people touched by his disease, modern understanding is paying off in better treatments, better prevention and brighter prospects

A glimmer of hope for retinal transplants

A late but peaceful end to a long and nasty dispute

Tree rings reveal the precise age of the oldest road

Finally, a way to limit damage from spinal injuries