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Features

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 fly offer 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

  • The Puzzle of Declining Amphibian Populations

  • 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

  • Astronomers in the Dark

  • Sun Spotting the Difference

  • A Ringside View of Stars

  • I get no Kick from CH3CH2OH

  • Coming Out in the Sciences

  • Fighting All the Time

  • Down and Out in the Gulf of Mexico

  • 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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