October 2009
Scientific American Magazine

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Cover; October 2009; by Staff Editor; 1 Page(s)

Table of Contents; October 2009; by Staff Editor; 2 Page(s)

From the Editor; October 2009; by Mariette DiChristina; 1 Page(s)

Playing the Averages

Letters; October 2009; by Staff Editor; 2 Page(s)

Obama's Science; Phosphorus Bugs; Cats and Rats

50, 100 and 150 Years Ago; October 2009; by Daniel C. Schlenoff; 1 Page(s)

Kidney Transplantation; Plant Misinformation; Saving Civilization

Return of a Problem Child; October 2009; by Gary Stix; 2 Page(s)

LSD makes a comeback as a possible clinical treatment

Nuclear Architechture; October 2009; by Melinda Wenner; 2 Page(s)

Positions inside the cell nucleus exert biological effects

Tasting the Light; October 2009; by Mandy Kendrick; 2 Page(s)

Device lets the visually impaired "see" with their tongues

Going with Golgi; October 2009; by Charles Q. Choi; 1 Page(s)

Scientists create an artificial organelle for the first time

Hunting a Croc Killer; October 2009; by Naomi Lubick; 1 Page(s)

Mass deaths of South Africa's Nile crocodiles puzzle biologists

Not Set in Stone (or Ice); October 2009; by John Maston; 1 Page(s)

A new model for comet production revises the theory of their origins

The Way the Wind Blows; October 2009; by Michael Moyer; 2 Page(s)

The wind power industry requires stiff gusts. Global warming may not deliver

Shifting Gears; October 2009; by Linda Baker; 2 Page(s)

To boost urban bicycling, figure out what women want

Perspectives - Too Little, Too Late; October 2009; by The Editors; 1 Page(s)

Long-standing liability issues leave us unprepared for a pandemic

Sustainable Developments - The Crisis of Public Management; October 2009; by Jeffrey D. Sachs; 1 Page(s)

Nothing less than an overhaul of the systems that implement federal policies will suffice

Skeptic - Captain Hook Meets Adam Smith; October 2009; by Michael Shermer; 1 Page(s)

Debunking pirate myths reveals how hidden economic forces generate social order

Critical Mass - Space, the Final Frontier?; October 2009; by Lawrence M. Krauss; 1 Page(s)

Let's stop kidding ourselves about why we really want to go back to the moon

Black Stars, Not Holes; October 2009; by Carlos Barceló, Stefano Liberati, Sebastiano Sonego and Matt Visser; 8 Page(s)

Quantum effects may prevent true black holes from forming and give rise instead to dense entities called black stars

Turbocharging the Brain; October 2009; by Gary Stix; 8 Page(s)

Will a pill at breakfast improve concentration and memory—and will it do so without long-term detriment to your health?

Squeezing More Oil from the Ground; October 2009; by Leonardo Maugeri; 8 Page(s)

Amid warnings of a possible "peak oil," advanced technologies offer ways to extract every last possible drop

Lost Cities of the Amazon; October 2009; by Michael J. Heckenberger; 8 Page(s)

The Amazon tropical forest is not as wild as it looks

Boosting Vaccine Power; October 2009; by Nathalie Garçon; Michel Goldman; 8 Page(s)

Modern insights into the immune system have revived interest in adding ingredients that can supercharge old vaccines and make entirely new ones possible

Privacy and the Quantum Internet; October 2009; by Seth Lloyd; 4 Page(s)

Courtesy of some of the weirdest laws of physics, we may someday be able to search and surf the Web without anyone collecting our data

Biotech's Plans to Sustain Agriculture; October 2009; by The Editors; 6 Page(s)

Popular movements may call for more organic methods, but the agricultural industry sees biotechnology as a crucial part of farming's future

Ask the Experts; October 2009; by Darlene Ketten; 1 Page(s)

Why do whales beach themselves

Recommended; October 2009; by Kate Wong; 2 Page(s)

Humane Humans; Tree ID; Diamonds on Display

Anti-Gravity - Birth of a Notion; October 2009; by Steve Mirsky; 1 Page(s)

Deeply held beliefs make it easy to accept the absurd