February 2009
Scientific American Magazine

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

Table of Contents; February 2009; by Staff Editor; 3 Page(s)

From the Editor - A Molecular Checkup; February 2009; by John Rennie; 1 Page(s)

Nanomedicine is coming, but Raquel Welch (alas!) need not apply

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

Intelligence -- Loop Quantum Gravity -- Monty Hall

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

Pravda on Education -- Teddy Roosevelt's Navy -- Mass-Produced Ironwork

Updates; February 2009; by Philip Yam; 1 Page(s)

Wave Menace -- Rabies Survival -- Bioweapons Risk -- Iberian Gene Mix

Spreading the Health; February 2009; by Jessica Wapner; 2 Page(s)

Repositories for donated, unused drugs still face hurdles

Detours by Design; February 2009; by Linda Baker; 3 Page(s)

How closing streets and removing traffic lights speed up urban travel

Plague in the Prairie; February 2009; by Paul Voosen; 2 Page(s)

To contain U.S. outbreaks, it¿s Kazakhstan¿s giant gerbils to the rescue

Quantum Afterlife; February 2009; by Charles Q. Choi; 2 Page(s)

A way for quantum benefits to survive after entanglement ends

Shell Game; February 2009; by Kate Wong; 1 Page(s)

Turtle origins come out of hiding

Childhood Recovered; February 2009; by Gary Stix; 2 Page(s)

"Lazy eye" studies show how adult brains can be rewired back to youth

Acid Bath; February 2009; by Charles Q. Choi; 1 Page(s)

Carbon dioxide may be acidifying seawater faster than thought

News Scan Brief; February 2009; by Charles Q. Choi, Gary Stix, Jordan Lite, Susannah F. Locke, John Matson, Philip Yam; 2 Page(s)

New Kind of Thermometer; Amino Alternative; Truncated Lives; Booby Traps for Bacteria; Rx Generics via Electronics; Bug vs. Bug; Subsurface Glaciers on Mars; Exoplanetary Carbon Dioxide; Weak on the Nano Risk

SciAm Perspectives: A Scientific Stimulus for the U.S.; February 2009; by The Editors; 1 Page(s)

The right investments could help restore the nation¿s economic strength and environmental sustainability

Sustainable Developments: Transforming the Auto Industry; February 2009; by Jeffrey D. Sachs; 1 Page(s)

Only a partnership between the public and private sectors can help the Big Three roll into the future

Skeptic: Darwin Misunderstood; February 2009; by Michael Shermer; 1 Page(s)

On the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin¿s birthday two myths persist about evolution and natural selection

Anti Gravity: Not a Close Shave; February 2009; by Steve Mirsky; 1 Page(s)

Is the main purpose of airport security to keep us unkempt?

Naked Singularities; February 2009; by Pankaj S. Joshi; 8 Page(s)

The black hole has a troublesome sibling, the naked singularity. Physicists have long thought--hoped--it could never exist. But could it?

Nanomedicine Targets Cancer; February 2009; by James R. Heath, Mark E. Davis and Leroy Hood; 8 Page(s)

Viewing each human body as a system of interacting molecular networks and targeting disruptions in the system with nanoscale technologies can transform how disease is understood, attacked and possibly prevented

The Origin of the Land Under the Sea; February 2009; by Peter B. Kelemen; 6 Page(s)

The deep basins under the oceans are carpeted with lava that spewed from submarine volcanoes and solidified. Scientists have solved the mystery of how, precisely, all that lava reaches the seafloor

New Dawn for Electric Rockets; February 2009; by Edgar Y. Choueiri; 8 Page(s)

Efficient electric plasma engines are propelling the next generation of space probes to the outer solar system

Sculpting the Brain; February 2009; by Claus C. Hilgetag and Helen Barbasthis; 6 Page(s)

New studies are revealing how the brain¿s convolutions take shape¿findings that could aid the diagnosis and treatment of autism, schizophrenia and other mental disorders

The Greenhouse Hamburger; February 2009; by Nathan Fiala; 4 Page(s)

Producing beef for the table has a surprising environmental cost: it releases prodigious amounts of heat-trapping greenhouse gases

Insights: Chaos and the Catch of the Day; February 2009; by Paul Raeburn; 3 Page(s)

There are fewer fish in the sea than ever. Complexity theory, argues mathematician George Sugihara, provides a counterintuitive way to revitalize the world¿s fisheries

Working Knowledge: Smart Phones; February 2009; by Mark Fischetti; 2 Page(s)

Touch Screens Redefine the Market

Reviews; February 2009; by Michelle Press; 1 Page(s)

The Fourth Dimension -- Extraterrestrial Life -- Happy Birthday, Charles Darwin

Ask the Experts; February 2009; by Dale E. Berg, Michelle N. Gong; 1 Page(s)

Why do wind turbines have three narrow blades, whereas my fan at home has five wide blades?; What happens to the donor¿s DNA in a blood transfusion?