Scientific American Magazine

President Reagan's "Star Wars" program seems unilkely ever to protect the entire nation against a nuclear attack. It would nonetheless trigger a major expansion of the arms race

These agents of infectious disease present a biological conundrum: Prions contain protein and reproduce in the living cell, yet no DNA or RNA has been found in them. What is the nature of their genome?

By analyzing many earthquake waves with this technique, it is now possible to map the earth's mantle in three dimensions. The maps throw light on the convective row that propels the crustal plates

It holds spaces for tissues in the embryo and then it cushions the body. Its fundamental properties of strength and resilience are now explained in terms of the tissue's molecular structure

Intrared and ultraviolet observations made during the latest eclipse of this binary star system suggest the eclipsing object is a hot, young star surrounded by a large cloud of dust and gas that gave it birth

A settled community flourished in the forests of southern Chile some 13,000 years ago. The well-preserved site shows that New World Pleistocene culture was much more advanced than has been thought

A research institute has developed ways to uninterruptedly convert iron and other ores into finished products so that waste is reduced, quality is improved and output is raised

Designed by a duke's gardener and built in 17 weeks, its modular construction, prefabricated elements and glass walls anticipated modern aesthetic and method