Scientific American Magazine

Certain microorganisms thrive on hydrocarbons. In growing they synthesize proteins rich in amino acids that plant foods lack. Protein from petroleum may help solve the world's food problem

When bone is mechanically deformed, it generates a small electric current. This suggests that the changes that occur in living bone when it is under mechanical stress are mediated by electric fields

Many of the meteoritic fragments around Arizona's Meteor Crater (and also three other meteorites) contain bits of diamond. These inclusions provide information on the history of the meteorites

The word has many definitions, not all of which apply to the word probability. The vagueness of the concept persistently contributes to errors in its application

In a superconductor the motions of widely separated electrons are related. This leads to curious consequences when superconducting bodies of various shapes and sizes are placed in a magnetic field

The peculiar climate and abundant sea life of the Peruvian coast affected the way of life there from the time of the first nomadic campers 9,000 years ago to that of the predecessors of the Incas

The walls of the living cell consist partly of the fatty substances called phospholipids. It appears that some of these substances play an active role in the transport of other substances across the walls

The raised eyebrow, frown, smile, laugh and even the ability to speak may all have evolved from ancestral reflex actions that were gradually transformed into means of communication