Environmental Change and Violent Conflict

Growing scarcities of renewable resources can contribute to social instability and civil strife

Resistance in High-Temperature Superconductors

Researchers are beginning to see how the motion of magnetic vortices in these materials can interfere with the flow of current

Zinc Fingers

They play a key part in regulating the activity of genes in many species, from yeast to humans Fewer than 10 years ago no one knew they existed

How Should Chemists Think?

Chemists can create natural molecules by unnatural means. Or they can make beautiful structures never seen before. Which should be their grail?

A Technology of Kinetic Art

Delicate interplay of weights and balances choreographs the author's sculptures so that the gentlest gusts of air set their parts in motion

Breaching the Blood-Brain Barrier

Development of a therapy for meningitis has revealed how bacteria penetrate the blood-brain barrier. This knowledge may help physicians treat other disorders of the brain

Redeeming Charles Babbage's Mechanical Computer

A successful effort to build a working, three-ton Babbage calculating engine suggests that history has misjudged the pioneer of automatic computing

Selling to Survive