Feature
- Plants
Smokey the Gardener
Wildfire smoke by itself, without help from heat, can trigger germination in certain seeds, but just what the vital compound in that smoke might be has kept biologists busy for years.
- Math
A Better Distorted View
The mathematics used to describe diffusion can also be used to generate maps based on population data.
- Astronomy
Cosmic Melody
An astronomer has converted fluctuations in the density of the early universe—the seeds of the first galaxies and stars—into audible sound.
- Chemistry
Tricky Business
The way a drug crystallizes to form a solid can make or break a billion-dollar product, which explains why pharmaceutical and crystal chemists are racing to control this poorly understood process.
- Tech
When the Chips are Down
Scientists seek alternatives to a computer technology nearing its limits.
-
To Err Is Human
Two researchers have issued a blunt critique of what they see as a misguided emphasis on immoral behaviors and mental flaws in many social psychology studies.
-
Don’t Let the Bugs Bite
Using disease-control strategies based on genetic engineering, scientists are working to counter Chagas' disease, malaria, sleeping sickness, and other insectborne infections.
- Physics
Starting from Square One
Physicists appear to have wedded the arcane theory of quarks to cutting-edge computer science, giving themselves tools for precisely predicting properties of subatomic matter and possibly observing new physical phenomena.
- Ecosystems
Corals without Boarders
The last decade has been a great era for discovering corals in the deep ocean, but a United Nations report warns that these cold, dark reefs urgently need protection.
- Earth
Parting Shots
Data collected during an 18-day barrage of major solar flares late last year—including a record-setting coronal mass ejection on Nov. 4—will help scientists refine models of flare formation and behavior.
-
Deception Detection
Psychologists are trying to see whether the statistically significant deception signals found in laboratory experiments exist in high stakes, realistic lies, and whether real lie detectors, such as police officers and judges, are able to detect them.
- Math
Generous Players
Game theory is helping to explain how cooperation and other self-sacrificing behaviors fit into natural selection.
