The New Challenges

Theoretical Resistance

What makes some ceramics superconductive?

Essential but Expendable

When do master genes regulate cell growth?

Racing Light

Can computer networks handle the traffic?

Shaking the Tree

Will statistical analysis of DNA pinpoint human origins ?

Puzzling Powerhouse

Black holes power the brightest galaxies, but how?

Quantum Dissidents

Is there unexpected order in the cosmos ?

Cambrian Jolt

How often did mass extinctions reshape evolution?

Cellular Response

Are antibodies the most effective defense against AIDS?

Thinking Green

Can environmentalism be a strategic advantage ?

Running Hot

Will jet engines create a market for advanced materials ?

Finding Fault

Can seismologists predict earthquakes?

Unlikely Messengers

How do nerve cells communicate?

Learning from Asian Schools

American schools could benefit from the teaching styles and institutional structures used in Asia-many of which were pioneered here

Extremely Cold Antiprotons

Cooling and trapping of these particles at energies one ten-billionth of what was feasible six years ago should make possible production of the first antimatter atoms

Directed Molecular Evolution

Biochemists have harnessed Darwinian evolution on a molecular scale. Through cycles of selection, amplification and mutation, populations of macromolecules can be pushed to evolve toward any functional goal...

What Columbus "Saw" in 1492

When Christopher Columbus arrived in the New World, he brought with him a rich load of cultural preconceptions that strongly influenced his perceptions of the land and its inhabitants

The Human Voice

How the voice works was largely unknown until modern technology became available. New instruments are now improving the care and treatment of the voice

Experimental Market Economics

Laboratory microcosms of the commercial world shed light on the principles that govern trading and suggest ways to make real markets more effective

Meaning and Mind in Monkeys

Nonhuman primates, such as vervet monkeys, seem to communicate in ways that resemble aspects of human speech. But they do not seem to recognize mental states in others

Why do we Age?

To a great extent, the answer is written in our genes. But which ones? New research offers tantalizing clues.