Scientific American Magazine Vol 238 Issue 5

Scientific American Magazine

Volume 238, Issue 5

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Features

Enhanced-Radiation Weapons

Although President Carter has deffered production of the "neutron bomb" it is still an alternative of U.S policy. It remains a weapon of doubtful utility that could result in an all-out nuclear exchange

Fred M. Kaplan

When the Black Sea was Drained

Less than six million years ago rivers feeding the Black Sea were diverted into the dry basin of the Mediterranean. After a period of desiccation the Black Sea was until recently a freshwater lake

Kenneth J. Hsü

The Cosmic Background Radiation and the New Aether Drift

Sensitive instruments have found slight departures from uniformity In the radiation left by the primordial "big bang". The experiment reveals the earth's motion with respect to the universe as a whole

Richard A. Muller

Ultrasound in Medical Diagnosis

With ultrahigh-frequency sound waves and imaging techniques first devised for radar and sonar, it is now possible to explore structures within the human body painlessly, safely and at relatively low cost

Gilbert B. Devey, Peter N. T. Wells

The Lek Mating System of the Sage Grouse

In a lek system a large percentage of the females mate with a small percentage of the males. How the system operates among the sage grouse of the Rockies is examined in detail

R. Haven Wiley

The Adjacency Principle in Visual Perception

The visual system integrates information about objects from different sources including relative, or contextual, cues. The adjacency principle describes how relative cues are weighted to achieve this integration

Walter C. Gogel

Junctions between Living Cells

Where the cells of certain key animal tissues meet they do not simply touch. They are linked by specialized structures, the architecture of which is revealed by electron microscopy

Barbara E. Hull, L. Andrew Staehelin

Roman Hydraulic Technology

The achievements of the Romans in impounding, moving and delivering water on a large scale were not matched for 1,500 years. The aqueduct systems in particular embodied many remarkable feats of engineering

Norman Smith

Departments

Letters to the Editors, May 1978

50 and 100 Years Ago, May 1978

The Authors, May 1978

Mathematical Games, May 1978

Books, May 1978

Science and the Citizen, May 1978

The Amateur Scientist, May 1978

Bibliography, May 1978