Phosphorus Famine: The Threat to Our Food Supply
This underappreciated resource--a key component of fertilizers--is still decades from running out. But we must act now to conserve it, or future agriculture could collapse
Features
How Trivial DNA Changes Can Hurt Health
Small changes to DNA that were once considered innocuous enough to be ignored are proving to be important in human diseases, evolution and biotechnology
The Evolution of House Cats
Genetic and archaeological findings hint that wildcats became house cats earlier--and in a different place--than previously thought
Unlikely Suns Reveal Improbable Planets
Astronomers are finding planets where there were not supposed to be any
Racetrack Memory: The Future Third Dimension of Data Storage
A device that slides magnetic bits back and forth along nanowire "racetracks" could pack data in a three-dimensional microchip and may replace nearly all forms of conventional data storage...
Scientific American 10: Guiding Science for Humanity
Ten researchers, politicians, business executives and philanthropists who have recently demonstrated outstanding commitment to assuring that the benefits of new technologies and knowledge will accrue to humanity...
Departments
Ask the Experts
- From the Editor
Inspirations in Space and Closer to Home
- Letters
Letters to the Editors, June 2009
- Advances
Are Midwestern Earthquake Faults Shutting Down?
What Conficker Reveals about Internet Crime
Stretching Your Mouth Affects What You Hear
Learning Fat-Burning Secrets from Sled Dogs
Is a Popular Carbon-Offset Method Just a Lot of Hot Air?
Updates: Whatever Happened to Fuel Cell Progress?
Genetic Copy Variations and Disease
Yanking Pathogens Out of Blood with Magnets
Point Taken
Living Alike
Electromagnetic Chatter
Laser Beams That Curve
- Recommended
Scientific American reviews: How to Build a Dinosaur
- Skeptic
Why People Believe Invisible Agents Control the World
- Anti Gravity
Are Dog Breeds Actually Different Species?
- 50, 100 & 150 Years Ago
100 Years Ago: The Flight of the Zeppelin II
- Perspectives
Reality Check: The Inevitable Disappointments from Stem Cells
- In Brief
News Scan Briefs: Hand Transplant Recipients Switch Handedness
Data Points: A Flash of Fusion
In Brief, June 2009
- Sustainable Developments
Rethinking the Global Money Supply
