Scientific American Magazine

As oil production peaks and declines, substitute energy sources will be needed on an enormous scale. Coal could fill a large part of the gap if its production and use were encouraged by national policies

The two sides of a biological membrane differ in structure and function. Studies of animal viruses and bacteria have helped to reveal how this asymmetry is preserved as the membrane grows

Progress is reported in the design of devices for manipulating laser beams in thin transparent films. The goal is to providetiny, efficient components for communication by light waves

The oldest parts of the continents appear to have deep root zones that travel along with the continents as the tectonic plates move. The zones may be chemically distinct from the surrounding rock

In which a close examination of the rapid, sharp rotations of the eyeball known as saccades provides new information concerning the way the human brain controls eye movement

Most of the notes on a piano are sounded by two or three strings. The strings are not tuned to precisely the same frequency, a fact that contributes in unexpected ways to the tone of the instrument

It can represent a quarter of the animal's length and a third of its total weight. The oil-filled spermaceti organ housed within it may keep the whale neutrally buoyant during dives

A tireless investigator and a Nobel prize winner at a time when not many Americans were, he had a penchant for controversy in subjects ranging from cosmic rays (which he named) to the support of science