Scientific American Magazine

Principles and practices learned from engineering successes can help transform biotechnology from a specialized craft into a mature industry

Computers fly our airliners and run most of the world's banking, communications, retail and manufacturing systems. Now powerful analysis tools will at last help software engineers ensure the reliability of their designs

MIcroscopic crystals of volcanic ash are revealing surprising clues about the world's most devastating eruptions

The constant search for weak points in the virus yields ideas for a wholly new class of drug

Advances in understanding the cells and molecules that transmit pain signals are providing new targets for drugs that could relieve various kinds of pain--including those poorly controlled by existing therapies

Thanks to unchecked development along America's coasts, disease-causing microbes are increasingly fouling beaches and shellfish beds

Solving a Sudoku puzzle requires no math, not even arithmetic. Even so, the game poses a number of intriguing mathematical problems