Scientific American Magazine

Economic indicators are specific measures such as production, prices, incomes, employment and investment. Subtle relations among them must be perceived if they are to be used to predict economic developments

The spectra of sunlight reflected by the minor planets have yielded new clues to their mineralogical composition, their origin, their evolution and their relationship to meteorites

The biggest target for energy conservation is the poor fuel economy of American cars. Here lS how their efficiency can be increased at least 40 percent by 1980

In this part of the brain the pattern of connections between nerve cells has been determined in detail. The pattern is now understood well enough to relate it to the function of the neuronal networks

Much of the carbon chemistry in the universe takes place at high energies. Experiments with accelerated carbon ions point to processes that may have played a role in the emergence of life

What makes some plants susceptible to a disease and others resistant? Study of a fungus affecting sugarcane reveals a molecular mechanism that may function in many diseases that reduce the world's food crops

Some light species of moths that got dark in 19th-century England are reverting to light forms as air gets cleaner. A complex process of evolution is shaped by migration as well as by visual selection

Archaeologists have unearthed fossil human feces that range in age from a few hundred to 300,000 years. Analysis of their contents is yielding information on prehistoric diet, environment and behavior