The Quiet Path to Technological Preeminence
The U. S. government is relying on ambitious research projects to spur commercial competitiveness. Instead it should speed the commercialization of new technologies wherever they may be developed
Features
The Mitotic Spindle
Just how this spindle-shaped biological machine parcels the DNA of a dividing cell into two equal clusters is only now becoming clear. The spindle turns out to be as dynamic as it is accurate
The Stanford Linear Collider
The world's first linear collider is up and running. Stanford's "Z° factory" allows physicists to measure the mass and lifetime of the Z° mediator of the electroweak force with unprecedented precision
The Cycling of Calcium as an Intracellular Messenger
The concentration of calcium in a cell has generally been portrayed as a switch turning cellular processes on and off. But the ion's role in prolonged responses belies the traditional model
Carbon Monoxide and the Burning Earth
Measurements of atmospheric carbon monoxide from space have found large amounts of the gas in unexpected places. Tropical burning rivals transportation and industry as a source of carbon monoxide
Scanned-Probe Microscopes
By examining a surface at very close range with a probe that may be just a single atom across, they can resolve features and properties on a scale that eludes other microscopes
The Origins of Indo-European Languages
Almost all European languages are members of a single family. The author contends that they spread not by conquest, as has been thought, but along with the peaceful diffusion of agriculture
Departments
50 and 100 Years Ago: October 1989
Land-Locked
Who's Minding the Store?
Batteries not Included
Cosmic Quarrel
Out of its Field
Low-Zone
Heavy-Ion Fusion
Diluvian Tremens
Spacecraft on a String
First Impressions
Trans-Kingdom Sex
Sudden Impact
Glass Menageries
Status Symbol
Light Talk
Homebody
Good Intentions
Waterweed Invasions
- Letters
Letters to the Editors, October 1989
- Recommended
Books, October 1989
- Amateur Scientist
The Amateur Scientist, October 1989
- Departments
The Analytical Economist: The Cost of Capital
Computer Recreations, October 1989
Essay: The Sorry State of Science Education
