Scientific American Magazine

Neither country is beyond reproach in its observance of the SALT arms-control treaties. Soviet behavior can be understood in the broader context of superpower political and military competition

The molecules essential to life are never at rest; they would be unable to function if they were rigid. The internal motions that underlie their workings are best explored in computer simulations

This variation on a classical phenomenon makes it possible, even in an irregular sample, to measure fundamental constants with an accuracy rivaling that of the most precise measurements yet made

While astronomy withered in medieval Europe it flourished in Islam. Renaissance astronomers learned from the texts of Islamic scholars who had preserved and transformed the science of the ancient Greeks

Migratory birds have a clock that tells them when to begin and end their flight. It is based on rhythms with a period of about a year. Remarkably, the clock also helps the birds to find their destinations

They can detect rotational motion just as mechanical gyroscopes can, but they contain virtually no moving parts. The instruments have already established an important place in guidance systems

The stress of journeying through the birth canal is not harmful to most infants. In fact, the surge of "stress" hormones it triggers can be important to the neonate's survival outside the womb

Research into the history and physics of this largely forgotten instrument is revealing its secrets, enabling modern trumpeters to play it as the musicians of the 17th and 18th centuries did