Feature

  1. Science & Society

    Science slowdown

    The recent federal government shutdown, which furloughed more than 800,000 government workers and may have cost the nation as much as $24 billion, has sent ripples through the nation’s scientific research enterprise.

    By
  2. Neuroscience

    The Inconstant Gardener

    Microglia, the same immune cells that help sculpt the developing brain, may do damage later in life .

    By
  3. Health & Medicine

    Old drug, new tricks

    Metformin, cheap and widely used for diabetes, takes a swipe at cancer.

    By
  4. Health & Medicine

    Waiting to exhale

    Scientists sift through the chemical potpourri that escapes our lungs for new ways to diagnose disease.

    By
  5. Neuroscience

    Mind to motion

    Brain-computer interfaces promise new freedom for the paralyzed and immobile.

    By
  6. Astronomy

    Quiet maximum

    By almost any measure, this solar maximum has been pathetic. No more than 67 sunspots have appeared in a month so far; at the last peak, in 2000, that number was above 120.

    By
  7. Psychology

    The bright side of sadness

    Bad moods can have unappreciated mental upsides.

    By
  8. Astronomy

    Voyager’s view

    Though the 1970s-era space probe has finally slipped into an interstellar realm, in some senses it is still very much within the bounds of the solar system.

    By
  9. Tech

    Memory upgrade

    The demands of modern computing call for a seismic shift in data storage and retrieval.

    By
  10. Earth

    Deep network

    The NEPTUNE observatory — a ring of six underwater research stations connected to the Internet with fiber optic cables — is the first online observatory to brave the depths of the abyss.

    By
  11. Life

    Dangerous Digs

    By properly managing a tumor cell’s microenvironment, cancer researchers are making cancer something people live with, not die from.

    By
  12. Environment

    Cool Idea

    While nations concede a pressing need for attacking carbon dioxide emissions, other pollutants offer quicker paybacks.

    By