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    The Puzzle of Declining Amphibian Populations

    The number of frogs, toads and salamanders is dropping in many areas of the world. The causes range from destruction of their local habitats to global depletion of the ozone layer

    By Andrew R. Blaustein and David B. Wake

    Quest for the Limits of the Heliosphere

    Four aging spacecraft are racing to the outer reaches of the solar system. Soon they may break through the last barriers to interstellar space

    By J. R. Jokipii and Frank B. McDonald

    Machines That Learn from Hints

    Machine learning improves significantly by taking advantage of information available from intelligent hints

    By Yaser S. Abu-Mostafa

    Understanding the Genetic Construction of Behavior

    Studies of courtship and mating in the fruit flyoffer a window on the ways genes influence the execution of complex behaviors

    By Ralph J. Greenspan

    The Art Historian's Computer

    Riddles posed by ancient works of art fall to historical analyses and electronic explorations

    By Lillian Schwartz

    A Brief History of Infinity

    The infinite has always been a slippery concept. Even the commonly accepted mathematical view, developed by Georg Cantor,may not have truly placed infinity on a rigorous foundation

    By A. W. Moore

    The Tapestry of Power in a Mesopotamian City

    Mashkan-shapir was for a brief time one of the most important cities in the civilized world. Its remains challenge traditional notions of power distribution in early urban society

    By Elizabeth C. Stone and Paul Zimansky

    The Price of Prevention

    Policymakers frequently suggest that preventive medicine pays for itself. In fact, studies now show that this claim is rarely true. Still, prevention is often a worthy health investment

    By Kristin Leutwyler

    Departments

    • Down and Out in the Gulf of Mexico

    • Letters

      Letters to the Editors, April 1995

    • Recommended

      Memory Wars

    • 50, 100 & 150 Years Ago

      50 And 100 Years Ago: Wool Protection and Liquid Hydrogen

    • Profile

      Engineering the Future

    • Amateur Scientist

      Computerized Restoration of Juvenile Art

    • Science and the Citizen

      Bracing for the Next Big One

    • The End of the Road

    • Sun Spotting the Difference

    • Astronomers in the Dark

    • A Ringside View of Stars

    • I get no Kick from CH3CH2OH

    • Coming Out in the Sciences

    • Fighting All the Time

    • Catching That Wave

    • Departments

      The Insignificance of Statistical Significance

    • The Poor Person's Guide to The Bell Curve

    • Technology and Business

      Coming in for a Landing

    • A Widget's Best Friend

    • Genes in the Not So Public Domain

    • Simply, the Best

    • Voting for a Cure

    • The Fishy Business of Waste

    • Changing the Image

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