Scientific American Magazine

Improved understanding of the chemical pathway on which aspirin and Vioxx act may lead to analgesics with fewer side effects

The controversial new official definition of "planet," which banished Pluto, has its flaws but by and large captures essential scientific principles

Ethanol could displace gasoline, but it won't pay off until we find a way to distill cornstalks, not corn

The leader of the PC revolution predicts that the next hot field will be robotics

A mountain range once separated the continental interior of the U.S. from the Gulf of Mexico. Some clever geologic sleuthing has revealed how that barrier was breached, allowing the river to reach the Gulf

Discovering relics from a lost world run by RNA molecules may lead to modern tools for fighting disease

Natural selection lacks the power to erase cancer from our species and, some scientists argue, may even have provided tools that help tumors grow