The Small Planets

Asteroids have become notorious as celestial menaces but are best appreciated in a positive light, as surreal worlds bearing testimony to the origin of the planets

Making Metallic Hydrogen

By re-creating extreme conditions like those in Jupiter's core, physicists have at long last turned hydrogen into a metal

Coping with Crowding

Curiosity Rhymed the Cat

Alan Alda reports on readers' winning responses to his limerick challenge

Care for a Dying Continent

In Zimbabwe--where AIDS is prematurely killing a generation of adults--counselors and researchers struggle against social customs, viral resourcefulness and despair.

Avoiding a Data Crunch