Artificial Intelligence: A Debate

Is the Brain's Mind a Computer Program?

No. A program merely manipulates symbols, whereas a brain attaches meaning to them

Could a Machine Think?

Classical AI is unlikely to yield conscious machines; systems that mimic the brain might

Antisense RNA and DNA

Molecules that bind with specific messenger RNA's can selectively turn off genes. Eventually certain diseases may be treated with them; today antisense molecules are valuable research tools...

What Drives Glacial Cycles?

Massive reorganizations of the ocean-atmosphere system, the authors argue, are the key events that link cyclic changes in the earth's orbit to the advance and retreat of ice sheets

The Handedness of the Universe

From atoms to human beings, nature is asymmetric with respect to chirality, or left- and right-handedness. Clues are beginning to emerge that connect chirality on different levels

Stress in the Wild

Studies of free-ranging baboons in an African reserve are helping to explain why human beings can differ in their vulnerability to stress-related diseases

Microplasmas

Two or more atoms-stripped of their outer electrons, trapped by electromagnetic fields and cooled to temperatures near absolute zeroarray themselves in structures that behave like both liquids and solids...

The Cosmic Background Explorer

NASA's cosmological satellite will observe a radiative relic of the big bang. The resulting wealth of data will be scoured for clues to the evolution of structure in the universe