Scientific American Magazine

TRENDS

The emerging field of synthetic biology provides candidates for a new generation of biofuels

The lure of multimillion-dollar prizes prompts inventors to pursue breakthroughs in space travel, DNA sequencing, automotive fuel efficiency, and robotics

Delivering electric power through the air cuts the final cord

A protein borrowed from the rabies virus gets a drug to where it is needed

Engineers make progress toward new green fuels and energy storage devices

Zeptoliter pipettes and quantum rulers give new meaning to the word "small"

Everyday materials may pose health and environmental threats

Bugs engineered to avoid transmitting the disease could outcompete bugs that do transmit it

Scientists take inspiration from nature and instill novel magnetic properties

Biologists devise a memory on a chip and new ways to tackle Alzheimer's

New technologies exercise extraordinary control over light

A stolen idea from the plant world could improve prospects for solar power

Ideas for treating the human form of mad cow disease begin to emerge

The essential character of the mother of all cells reveals itself in a set of breakthrough findings

Printers squirt out silicon chips, and the spin of electrons is used in computer logic

Artificial limbs and a prosthetic arm create a path to better bionics

Novel ways of calculating routes and predicting traffic jams promise less time in the car

A mix of technology accompanies the doings of a maverick researcher

Long considered fixed founts of molten material from deep within the planet, hot spots now join the list of moving parts

When judged by its size, our vocal system fails to impress as a musical instrument. How then can singers produce all those remarkable sounds?

By 2050 solar power could end U.S. dependence on foreign oil and slash greenhouse gas emissions

New research indicates that a cavity-fighting treatment could be risky if overused

Restoring order to the chaotic blood vessels inside a tumor opens a window of opportunity for attacking it. Surprisingly, drugs meant to destroy vasculature can make the repairs and may help reverse conditions that lead to cardiovascular disease and blindness

Nanosize machines need still tinier power plants