Scientific American Magazine

Now in a class with wheat and not far behind corn as a major U.S. crop, they have become one of the nation's main exports. They are thus playing an important role in balancing payments for imports

The products of a new concept in semiconductor electronics, they hold considerable promise in applications as diverse as image sensors and information–storage elements for computer memories

Certain viruses can persist in their host without giving rise to the usual signs of infection. Evidence is accumulating that such viruses can cause or trigger chronic degenerative disease in man

Although Comet Kohoutek was a disappointment to visual observers, it provided a good opportunity for the study of one of the objects that may be relics of the cloud from which the sun and the planets formed

Muscle fibers are composed of four major proteins: myosin, actin, tropomyosin and troponin. The contraction of muscle is a function of their interactions, controlled by the presence of calcium ions

The great Illinois synchrotron is currently accelerating protons to energies up to 400 GeV (billion electron volts). Its designers hope to reach 1,000 GeV with a new superconducting–magnet ring

When a meal rich in carbohydrate is eaten, the brain makes more of the nerve impulse transmitter serotonin. The mechanism may be part of a closed circle in which diet influences food consumption

The evolution of the skyscraper has inspired elaborate methods for providing resistance to the wind. In the largest buildings a technique invented more than 100 years ago has been revived