On Science Advice to the President
Right after Sputnik, the White House created the best science-advisory system in its history. The president needs good science advice more than ever; it is time to resurrect the long defunct system
Features
How Gene Activators Work
Much is known about how genes are turned on and off in bacterial cells. Now molecular biologists show that what they have learned is relevant to gene regulation in higher organisms as well
Deep Earthquakes
They have posed a fruitful puzzle since their discovery 60 years ago. How can rock fail at the temperatures and pressures that prevail hundreds of kilometers down?
The Mixing of Fluids
Viscous fluids flowing in simple, periodic patterns in two dimensions can generate the chaos that leads to efficient mixing. Experiments and computer models reveal the underlying mechanism
Carbohydrates and Depression
Several related behavioral disorders recognized in the past decade are characterized by disturbances of appetite and mood. One of the best-known is seasonal affective disorder, or SAD
The Hunt for Proconsul
Sixty years after its discovery, Proconsul is now known to be the last common ancestor of great apes and human beings rather than an extinct ancestor of the chimpanzee and the gorilla
The Shortest-Network Problem
What is the shortest network of line segments interconnecting an arbitrary set of, say, 100 points? The solution to this problem has eluded the fastest computers and the sharpest mathematical minds
André-Marie Ampère
The first investigator to quantify the magnetic effects of electric current, Ampere was also a pioneer in the philosophy of science. His philosophy shaped his method of scientific discovery
Departments
50 and 100 Years Ago: January 1989
New Deal?
Back to the Bases
Lone-Star Science
Greenhouse America
Time after Time
Hive Technology
Hostile Takeovers
Preemptive Strike
Memory in a Neuron
Schizophrenic Results
Merchants of Peace
Power to Burn
Not in the Cards?
Needed: a free flow of information and ideas
- Letters
Letters to the Editors, January 1989
Erratum
- Recommended
Books, January 1989
- Amateur Scientist
The Amateur Scientist, January 1989
- Departments
Computer Recreations, January 1989