Scientific American Magazine

The revolution in medical science during the past three decades has brought great changes in the way medicine is practiced and is creating urgent problems in the organization of medical care

The best view man has ever had of the universe should be obtained from telescopes placed above the atmosphere. The first of several Orbiting Astronomical Observatories will be launched next year

It now seems that the complex mating stages these birds maintain and their specialized sexual displays constitute an advanced form of avian behavior that tends to speed up evolutionary processes

The storied conqueror of the steppe was no simple savage warrior. He manipulated tribal politics to organize the nomad world before launching his light cavalry against the citadels of civilization

Control of strength-producing mechanisms is closing the great gap between the attainable strength of steel and the theoretical value. The traditional strengthener, carbon, is missing from one new alloy

Slime-mold amoebae are free-living microorganisms that periodically gather together to form macroscopic fruiting bodies. It now seems several that secreted gases play several important roles in this development

The Caspian empties into a shallow gulf, the high salinity of which gives rise to odd geological and ecological phenomena

Advances in radioautography, in which molecules labeled with radioactive atoms reveal themselves in photographic emulsion, now make it possible to trace the life cycle of cells in detail