Feature
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Trawling the brain
New findings raise questions about reliability of fMRI as gauge of neural activity.
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Humans wonder, anybody home?
Brain structure and circuitry offer clues to consciousness in nonmammals.
By Susan Gaidos -
A black future
Without destroying the Earth, the Large Hadron Collider might help humans explore the cosmos.
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Breaking the Speed Limit
Studies examine physiology and technology to better foresee the ultimate edge of human performance.
By Laura Beil -
Botanical Whales
Adventures in the Tortugas reveal that seagrass fields need saving too.
By Susan Milius -
Climate
Climate might be right for a deal
The upcoming Copenhagen negotiations will take steps toward an international, climate-stabilizing treaty.
By Janet Raloff -
Physics
Invisibility Uncloaked
In the race to make things disappear, scientists gain ground on science fiction.
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Aping the Stone Age
Chimp chasers join artifact extractors to probe the roots of stone tools.
By Bruce Bower -
As the worms churn
Burrowing animals mix soil and sediments, shaping the environment and scientists’ understanding of it.
By Sid Perkins -
A partnership apart
DNA in hand, scientists dissect and redefine the iconic lichen mutualism.
By Susan Milius -
Better living through plasmonics
Mixing light with nanotechnology could help treat cancer and build faster computers.
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All kinds of tired
Donkeys sleep about three out of each 24 hours. Certain reef fish spend the night moving their fins as if swimming in their sleep. Some biologists argue that all animals sleep in some form or another. But identifying sleep can get complicated. Insects have brain architecture so different from humans’, for example, that electrophysiological recordings […]
By Susan Milius