Feature
- Earth
Limiting Dead Zones
To limit algal blooms and the development of fishless dead zones in coastal waters, farmers and other sources of nitrate are investigating novel strategies to control nitrate runoff.
- Math
Theorems for Sale
In April, an eBay auction offered math enthusiasts the rare opportunity of linking their names with one of the most famous mathematicians of the 20th century.
- Materials Science
Nice Threads
Once researchers figure out how to spin strong fibers out of carbon nanotubes, real-world applications such as long-distance power-transmission cables, lightweight aircraft materials, and electronic textiles become feasible.
- Earth
Dead Waters
Coastal dead zones—underwater regions where oxygen concentrations are too low for fish to survive—are mushrooming globally, threatening to transform entire ecosystems.
- Humans
Travels with the War Goddess
A botany expedition to Samoa turns out to be as much about the people as about the plants.
- Earth
Global Vineyard
Recognizing that continued climate change may leave some renowned grape-growing regions too hot or too dry to support vineyards, growers may turn to new technology and techniques to produce consistently better fruit.
- Anthropology
Out on a Limb
The science of body development may make kindling out of evolutionary trees.
- Astronomy
Dark Doings
A slew of new and proposed experiments, ranging from the cosmic to the subatomic scale, may shed light on why the expansion of the universe is speeding up.
- Anthropology
Humanity’s Strange Face
New fossil finds in a Romanian cave fuel controversy over whether different, closely related species interbred on the evolutionary path that led to people.
- Math
Glimpses of Genius
By studying a puzzle that Archimedes pondered 2,200 years ago, mathematicians are obtaining new insights into its intriguing geometric structure.
- Physics
The Rise of Antibubbles
Tiny globules of water enclosed by thin shells of air in water that look like bubbles but don't act like them have recently become the objects of serious study.
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Teen Brains on Trial
Scientific opinions differ about whether evidence on delayed maturation of the adolescent brain should be used to argue that teenagers have reduced culpability for crimes and thus should be exempt from the death penalty.
