Precision-Guided Weapons
Missiles that can home in on their target may alter the balance of forces on the battlefield. Notably vulnerable to such "smart" weapons are tanks, which the U.S. is buying in large numbers...
Features
The Newest Stars in Orion
Clouds of dust and gas in the famIliar constellation emit radiation at infrared and radio wa velengths. Some of the denser clouds appear to conceal new stars that are expelling fast-moving streams of gas...
Dutch Elm Disease
This deadly fungal infection of elm trees may be brought under control with the aid of novel biological techniques that attack both the fungus and the beetles that spread it
The Ribosome
Clues from electron micrographs yield a three-dimensional model of the intracellular machine that synthesizes proteins. Then the model is made to embody the steps by which a protein is produced...
The Forging of Metals
This ancient art shapes metals by pounding or squeezing them. It is currently evolving with advances in knowledge of how metals deform and with the application of computers to steps in the forging process...
Monsoons
By concentrating the solar energy reaching the ocean onto the land these seasonal winds bring water to half of the people of the earth. Computer simulations may soon predict their dry and rainy phases...
A Mesolithic Camp in Ireland
Although Ireland seems to have been unpopulated in the Ice Age, recent excavations show that hut-dwelling hunters and gatherers came on the scene in early postglacial times, some 9, 000 years ago...
Sadi Carnot
He is known for his analysis of an ideal heat engine, but his chief interest was the practical application of steam power. Furthermore, the cycle he described is not an ideal one for most modern engines...
Departments
50 and 100 Years Ago: August 1981
Science and the Citizen, August 1981
- Letters
Letters to the Editors, August 1981
- Recommended
Books, August 1981
- Mathematical Recreation
Mathematical Games, August 1981
- Amateur Scientist
The Amateur Scientist, August 1981
- Departments
The Authors, August 1981
Bibliography, August 1981
