April 2001
Scientific American Magazine

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Cover; April 2001; by Staff Editor; 1 Page(s)

Table of Contents; April 2001; by Staff Editor; 2 Page(s)

SA Perspectives: The 21st-Century Handbook; April 2001; by John Rennie; 1 Page(s)

A handbook for understanding the 21st century

Letters to the Editors; April 2001; by Staff Editor; 3 Page(s)

50, 100 and 150 Years Ago; April 2001; by Staff Editor; 1 Page(s)

Baby Boom Noted, Rabid Denial, The Most Perfect Machine

Aborted Thinking; April 2001; by Marguerite Holloway; 2 Page(s)

Reenacting the global gag rule threatens public health

Ultimate Stop Motion; April 2001; by Graham P. Collins; 2 Page(s)

An experimental tour de force puts pulses of light on ice

Sight Unseen; April 2001; by Neal Singer; 1 Page(s)

Adaptive optics could improve LASIK and impart superhuman vision

Full of Croc?; April 2001; by Sarah Simpson; 1 Page(s)

A zealous crocodile wrestler goes to the mat for animals

Hole in the Middle; April 2001; by George Musser; 2 Page(s)

Not too big, not too small, a new class of black hole emerges

I, Robonaut; April 2001; by Phil Scott; 1 Page(s)

NASA's space-walking automation slowly comes to life

News Scan Briefs; April 2001; by Philip Yam, Alison McCook, Mark Alpert; 2 Page(s)

Data Points: Drugs for Bugs; Disposing of Misfolded Proteins; Take Me to the Ocean; You Look Awfully Familiar; Unexplained Moments; Species-Making Bacteria; Heavenly Seeds; www.sciam.com/news - Brief Bits

By the Numbers: Lifestyle Blues; April 2001; by Rodger Doyle; 1 Page(s)

When it comes to combating health problems brought on by high living, the recent improvements may be over

Innovations: Getting More from Moore's; April 2001; by Gary Stix; 4 Page(s)

Marshaling financial clout and technical astuteness, Intel has pushed its choice for the key technology that will extend silicon chips to their limits

Staking Claims: Code of the Code; April 2001; by Gary Stix; 1 Page(s)

When you cross DNA nucleotides with the zeros and ones of digital bits, who owns what?

Skeptic: Colorful Pebbles and Darwin's Dictum; April 2001; by Michael Shermer; 1 Page(s)

Science is an exquisite blend of data and theory

Profile: Art as a Form of Life; April 2001; by W. Wayt Gibbs; 2 Page(s)

Genetic artist Joe Davis has made more copies of his work than have all prior artists combined. But there's not much of a market for artworks embedded in bacterial genomes

Whose Blood Is It, Anyway?; April 2001; by Ronald M. Kline, sidebar by Carol Ezzell; 8 Page(s)

Blood collected from umbilical cords and placentas - which are usually thrown away following birth - contains stem cells that can rebuild the blood and immune systems of people with leukemia and other cancers

Genetically Modified Foods: Are They Safe?; April 2001; by Staff Editors; 2 Page(s)

A look at how much science really knows about the risks of growing and eating genetically modified crops.

Seeds of Concern; April 2001; by Kathryn Brown; 6 Page(s)

Are genetically modified crops an environmental dream come true or a disaster in the making? Scientists are looking for answers

The Risks on the Table; April 2001; by Karen Hopkin; 2 Page(s)

More than half the foods in U.S. supermarkets contain genetically modified ingredients. Have they been proved safe for human consumption?

Does the World Need GM Foods? (Q&A); April 2001; by Sasha Nemecek; 4 Page(s)

Two leading figures in the debate over genetic engineering defend their stances

Virtually There; April 2001; by Jaron Lanier; 10 Page(s)

Three-dimensional tele-immersion may eventually bring the world to your desk

Life's Rocky Start; April 2001; by Robert M. Hazen; 10 Page(s)

Air, water and rock were the only raw materials available on the early earth. The first living entitities must been fabricated from these primitive resources. New experiments suggest that minerals - the basic components of the rocks - could have played starring roles in that dramatic feat

The Fury of Space Storms; April 2001; by James L. Burch; 9 Page(s)

Shock waves from the sun can trigger severe turbulence in the space around the earth, endangering satellites and astronauts in orbit. Now a new spacecraft is showing how space storms develop

Violent Pride; April 2001; by Roy F. Baumeister; 6 Page(s)

Do people turn violent because of self-hate, or self-love?

Working Knowledge: At Your Fingertips; April 2001; by Mark Fischetti; 2 Page(s)

A truly touchy interface

Reviews: Do Animals Have Culture?; April 2001; by Meredith F. Small, staff editors; 2 Page(s)

In The Ape and the Sushi Master, Frans de Waal argues that culture can cage scientific understanding of animal behavior. Also, The Editors Recommend

Technicalities: Look, Ma, No Wires!; April 2001; by Mark Alpert; 3 Page(s)

The Ricochet wireless modem is like a Ferrari - fast but pricey

Puzzling Adventures: No Tipping; April 2001; by Dennis E. Shasha; 1 Page(s)

A weighty search for leverage

Anti Gravity: Charmed, I'm Sure; April 2001; by Steve Mirsky; 1 Page(s)

For the scientifically bright but socially befuddled, a day of etiquette instruction might be just what the Ph.D ordered

Endpoints; April 2001; by Staff Editors; 1 Page(s)

Is there any evolutionary advantage to gigantism? Did the sauropod dinosaurs continue to grow throughout their lives, as some reptiles and fish do?