Scientific American Magazine

Virtually eliminated in the 1970's, this blight has returned because of Federal cutbacks. By a common definition of hunger some 12 million children and eight million adults are hungry

Microtubules have become familiar elements in the frameworks that organize cell shape and cell division. Now a powerful new technique in light microscopy has revealed their function in two-way transport

These unusual pulsars are dense, compact stars spinning at the rate of several hundred revolutions per second. Why do they spin so fast? They are thought to have been resurrected from an early death

Before an organism reproduces it often reshuffles its genetic information. Chromosomes trade parts in a recombination process whose molecular intricacies are now being unraveled

Devices in which electrons carry current without being scattered promise to be much faster than present-day components. They also allow close study of the electron's quantum-mechanical properties

As gray whales and Pacific walruses gather food from the bottom of the northeastern Bering Sea they produce pits and furrows to a degree that rivals the disturbances caused by geologic processes

Women publish less than men, but marriage and family obligations do not generally account for the gender difference. Married women with children publish as much as their single female colleagues do

If a computer generates the right sequence of numbers, any sound—including some never before heard—can be produced. Because of its versatility, such digital sound synthesis has found a place in music