A Split at the Core
Physics is forcing the microchip industry to redesign its most lucrative products. That is bad news for software companies
Features
Computing at the Speed of Light
Emerging ways to make photonic connections to electronic microchips may dramatically change the shape of computers in the decade ahead
The Sciences
Music and the Brain
What is the secret of music's strange power? Seeking an answer, scientists are piecing together a picture of what happens in the brains of listeners and musicians
Abrupt Climate Change
Winter temperatures plummeting six degrees Celsius and sudden droughts scorching farmland around the globe are not just the stuff of scary movies. Such striking climate jumps have happened before--sometimes within a matter of years
The Sciences
Holes in the Missile Shield
The national missile defense now being deployed by the U.S. should be replaced with a more effective system
Black Hole Computers
In keeping with the spirit of the age, researchers can think of the laws of physics as computer programs and the universe as a computer
Rebuilding Broken Hearts
Biologists and engineers working together in the fledgling field of tissue engineering are within reach of one of their greatest goals: constructing a living human heart patch
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Gerard Piel (1915-2004)
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Data Points: November 2004
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