February 2001
Scientific American Magazine

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

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

From the Editors; February 2001; by John Rennie; 1 Page(s)

When Physics Goes Pop

Letters to the Editors; February 2001; by Staff Editor; 2 Page(s)

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

The Common Cold; An Early Dial Telephone, 1901

Biological Alchemy; February 2001; by W. Wayt Gibbs; 2 Page(s)

The discovery that skin and bone marrow cells can transform into neurons raises hope - and many questions

Higgs Won't Fly; February 2001; by Graham P. Collins; 2 Page(s)

CERN declines a massive opportunity to find the Higgs particle

Cheap Light; February 2001; by Gary Stix; 2 Page(s)

Microlasers go deeper into the infrared to boost optical networking

Mammoth Kill; February 2001; by Kate Wong; 1 Page(s)

Did humans hunt giant mammals to extinction? Or give them lethal disease?

Collision Decision; February 2001; by Phil Scott; 1 Page(s)

New radar systems may prevent deadly accidents on congested runways

Debit or Credit?; February 2001; by Sarah Simpson; 1 Page(s)

Whether CO₂-consuming trees can offset global warming is far from certain

By the Numbers: The Rich and Other Americans; February 2001; by Rodger Doyle; 1 Page(s)

F. Scott Fitzgerald was right when he said that the "very rich...are different from you and me." Judging by the Forbes 400 richest Americans, they are older than the average American (by 12 years), better educated (more than twice as many are college graduates), whiter (95 percent compared with 71 percent for the country as a whole) and, as has been said, they have better teeth.

New Briefs; February 2001; by Diane Martindale, Philip Yam, Steve Mirsky, Eric Niiler; 3 Page(s)

Copycats; Carbon Original; Death Defying; Mars Water; Stellar Work; Bad Breathosaur

Profile: One Disaster after Another; February 2001; by Daniel Grossman; 2 Page(s)

Astrophysicist Richard A. Muller still seeks his Nemesis

Shrinking to Enormity; February 2001; by W. Wayt Gibbs; 2 Page(s)

DNA microarrays are reshaping basic biology - but scientists fear they may soon drown in the data

Patently Inefficient; February 2001; by W. Wayt Gibbs; 1 Page(s)

A new industry is thrashed by waves of litigation

Cyber View: No E(asy) Cure; February 2001; by Wendy M. Grossman; 1 Page(s)

Electronic voting won't fix butterfly ballots, dimpled chads or W.'s presidency

Safeguarding Our Water; February 2001; by Staff Editors; 2 Page(s)

Introduction

Making Every Drop Count; February 2001; by Peter H. Gleick; 6 Page(s)

We drink it, we generate electricity with it, we soak our crops with it. And we're stretching our supplies to the breaking point. Will we have enough clean water to satisfy all the world's needs?

Growing More Food with Less Water; February 2001; by Sandra Postel; 4 Page(s)

If the world hopes to feed its burgeoning population, irrigation must become less wasteful and more widespread

How We Can Do It; February 2001; by Diane Martindale and Peter H. Gleick; 4 Page(s)

A look at four promising ways to maintain adequate supplies of freshwater: desalination, new technologies for transporting water, reducing demand, and recycling

Why the Y is So Weird; February 2001; by Karin Jegalian and Bruce T. Lahn; 6 Page(s)

Our X and Y chromosomes make an odd couple. The X resembles any other chromosome, but the Y - the source of maleness - is downright strange. How did the two come to differ so much?

In Pursuit of the Ultimate Lamp; February 2001; by M. George Craford, Nick Holonyak, Jr. and Frederick A. Kish, Jr.; 6 Page(s)

Full-spectrum light-emitting diodes, or LEDs, are becoming widespread - and the race is on to develop white-light versions to replace Edison's century-old incandescent bulb

100 Years of Quantum Mysteries; February 2001; by Max Tegmark and John Archibald Wheeler; 8 Page(s)

As quantum theory celebrates its 100th birthday, spectacular successes are mixed with persistent puzzles

The Science of Persuasion; February 2001; by Robert B. Cialdini; 6 Page(s)

Salespeople, politicians, friends and family all have a stake in getting you to agree to their requests. Social psychology has determined the basic principles that govern getting to "yes"

Working Knowledge: Preparing for Battle; February 2001; by Mark Fischetti; 2 Page(s)

How vaccines prevent the flu

The Amateur Scientist: Counting Particles from Space; February 2001; by Shawn Carlson; 3 Page(s)

How to build a cosmic-ray telescope

Mathematical Recreations: Pursuing Polygonal Privacy; February 2001; by Ian Stewart; 2 Page(s)

Good fences make good neighbors

Books: Why Haven't We Found an AIDS Vaccine?; February 2001; by Nancy Padian, Staff Editors; 3 Page(s)

Shots in the Dark examines why an AIDS vaccine has been so elusive. Also, The Editors Recommend

Wonders: The Big Bang: Wit or Wisdom?; February 2001; by Philip Morrison and Phylis Morrison; 2 Page(s)

The way the universe came into existence--and how it continues to evolve

Connections: Home from Home; February 2001; by James Burke; 2 Page(s)

Employing body snatching, mastodons, Great White Explorers, journalism, war, raincoats and malaria to literary ends

Anti Gravity: Life Savers; February 2001; by Steve Mirsky; 1 Page(s)

A small book contains the wit and wisdom to make even the worst situations just awful