Scientific American Magazine

It is technologically feasible to build passenger aircraft capable of 2,000-mile-an-hour speeds. Several designs have been proposed the chief problem is to attain satisfactorily economical operation

Rocket-borne instruments have detected two powerful sources of X radiation in the sky. They may identify extremely faint little stars with superdense cores composed largely of neutrons

The Rous sarcoma virus is uniquely efficient in producing tumors. Its carcinogenic effect seems to be related to an inability to form a protein coat and reproduce itself without help from another virus

When certain substances are injected into localized regions in the brain of an experimental animal, they specifically release drives such as hunger and thirst

By passing an electric current through semimetals in the presence of a magnetic field it is possible to build solid-state refrigerators that are highly effective. They offer the basis for a new technology

A few closely related pigments produce the full range and gradation of flower colors from bright blue to rosy red. Recent investigations have shed light on their molecular structures and genetic origins

The cognitive operations involved in looking for a face in a crowd or a word in a list can be studied by timing the scanning process. Apparently many such operations can be carried out simultaneously

Some 2,500 years ago the Greek tyrant Polycrates had the engineer Eupalinus plan a 3,400-foot tunnel to supply his fortified capital with water. The tunnelers dug from both ends and met in the middle