Scientific American Magazine

The children of Southeast Asian boat people excel in the American school system. A review of the factors underlying this achievement suggests that the U.S. educational crisis is more social than academic

Mantle rock, transformed into serpentine mud by fluids distilled from the subducting Pacific plate, oozes up along faults near the Mariana Trench to form mountains on the seafloor

The most life-threatening aspect of cancer is the undetected spread of tumor cells throughout the body. Improved understanding of how these cells invade tissues is leading to new treatments

A mine at Messel in Germany has yielded magnificently preserved fossils of mammals that roamed Europe when it was an island. They clarify a key phase in evolutionary history

Lasers can be used to trap and manipulate electrically neutral particles. These techniques have allowed scientists to cool vapors to near absolute zero, develop new atomic clocks and stretch single molecules of DNA

Before the conquistadores arrived, this gem's religious and economic significance in Mesoamerica helped to create extensive trade and cultural exchanges with the American Southwest

Controversy surrounds this Russian-born geneticist, whose major scientific achievements were made in Nazi Germany and who was later convicted of treason by the Soviet Union

Europe has bet heavily on HDTV. The outcome may presage whether 1992 will mark the emergence of a unified technological power.