How a Sensor-Filled World Will Change Human Consciousness
How a world filled with sensors will change the way we see, hear, think and live
Features
Giant Bubbles Tower over the Milky Way
Newly discovered lobes stretch tens of thousands of light-years above and below the Milky Way's disk. Where they come from remains a mystery
Decoding Mexico's City of Gods
Long cloaked in mystery, the ancient Teotihuacán culture is at last giving up its secrets
Building Better Fruits and Veggies without GMOs
Making modern supermarket produce so big and hardy drained a lot of its flavor. Scientists now have the technology to bring it back—without genetic engineering
New Neurons In the Brain Keep Anxiety at Bay
The adult brain generates neurons every day. These cells help us to distinguish one memory from another—a finding that could lead to novel treatments for anxiety disorders
Drinking from the Toilet
Treated sewage could be the safest, most environmentally sound source of tap water yet—if we can get over the yuck factor
From the Archives: Nobel Prize Winners on How the Body Works
Nobel Prize winners have published 245 articles in the pages of Scientific American . Here we present excerpts from stories in our archives that highlighted new insights into how the body functions. ...
Special Report
Outlook
Cancer: The March on Malignancy
New research into how and why tumors form, grow and spread is producing better screening tests and more effective remedies with fewer side effects
Cancer Death Rate Depends on Geography
Despite a huge amount of funding and research, regional and individual differences in cancer trends make it a hard disease to wipe out
Therapy: This Time It's Personal
Tailoring cancer treatment to individual and evolving tumours is the way of the future, but scientists are still hashing out the details
Clinical Trials: More Trials, Fewer Tribulations
Clinical studies that group patients according to their molecular profile can make for better and faster drug approval decisions
Nanotechnology: Deliver on a Promise
Effective treatment of cancer requires getting the drugs precisely to the target. Enter the nanoparticle
Comparative Biology: Naked Ambition
A subterranean species that seems to be cancer-proof is providing promising clues on how we might prevent the disease in humans
Air Pollution's Impact on Cancer Is "Grossly Underestimated"
Carcinogens are all around us, so scientists are broadening their ideas of environmental risk
Developing World: Global Warning
Much of the world is ill-equipped to cope with its rising cancer burden and are pushing prevention and screening
Bioinformatics: Big Data Versus the Big C
The torrents of data flowing out of cancer research and treatment are yielding fresh insight into the disease
Perspective: Learning to Share
Genomics can provide powerful tools against cancer — but only once clinical information can be made broadly available
Biology: Three Known Unknowns
Even as cancer therapies improve, basic questions about drug resistance, tumour spread and the role of normal tissue remain unanswered
Departments
- From the Editor
A Connected World, Possible Antianxiety Therapies, Water Reuse and Nobel Laureates
- Letters
Readers Respond to "The New Century of the Brain"
- Advances
The Largest Extinction in Earth’s History May Have Been Caused by Microbes
Sneezes Travel Even Farther Than We Thought
The Fastest Animal on Land Is a Mite
Graphene’s Dark Side
How to Get New Genes Into a Cell
Squawking Birds Give Away Their Nest Sizes
Saturn’s Rings Birth a New Moon
Alzheimer’s Could Be a Form of Down Syndrome
How the Brain Ignores Distractions
New Microbicides Prevent HIV Infection in Women
The First Indirect Detection of Dark Matter
Electronic Skin Moves Us Closer to Cyborgs
What a Failed Supernova Looks Like
The Male Sex Chromosome Isn’t Shrinking
- Forum
Heartbleed Shows Government Must Lead on Internet Security
- The Science of Health
How to Protect Yourself against Bad Self-Help
- The Science Agenda
Protect Our Drinking Water [Editorial]
- TechnoFiles
Rent Your Everything
- Recommended
Review: Starlight Detectives
Review: The Chemistry of Alchemy
Review: The End
Review: Zoom
- Skeptic
The American Dream of Income Equality Still Lives
- Anti Gravity
How Many Cell Phones Does It Take to Arouse a Supreme Court Justice’s Suspicion?
- 50, 100 & 150 Years Ago
Tool-Making Chimps; Peaceful Competition in Europe
Centennial of a Calamity
