Scientific American Magazine

In recent decades the acidity of rain and snow has increased sharply over wide areas. The principal cause is the release of sulfur and nitrogen oxides by the burning of fossil fuels

A few materials with a linear or columnar architecture conduct electricity well only along a single axis. The one-dimensional organization of such a material shapes its electronic properties

Research on ultrasonic imaging technology has given rise to a new experimental tool capable of generating pictures with a resolution comparable to that of light micrographs

The mysterious 1976 Legionnaires' disease epidemic has been traced to a previously unknown bacterium. Legionellosis, the infection the bacterium gives rise to, has turned out to be not very rare after all

The conversion of light energy into chemical energy by green plants is accomplished in the thylakoid membrane of the plant cell. Electron microscopy reveals the asymmetry that makes the conversion possible

The eruptions of the Hawaiian volcano leave pools of molten basalt that can take as long as 25 years to solidify. They provide a natural laboratory for studying the nature of magma from the earth's mantle

Some 200 million years after these reptiles arose and diversified three families remain: alligators, crocodlles and gavials. They are the last of the archosaurians, the ruling reptiles of the Mesozoic

This approach is based on the belief that mathematics can have real meaning only if its concepts can be constructed by the human mind, an issue that has divided mathematicians for more than a century