April 1997
Scientific American Magazine

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Cover; April 1997; by Staff Editor; 1 Page(s)

Table of Contents; April 1997; by Staff Editor; 2 Page(s)

From the Editors; April 1997; by Rennie; 1 Page(s)

Seriously, We're Not Kidding

Letters to the Editors; April 1997; by Staff Editor; 1 Page(s)

50, 100 and 150 Years Ago; April 1997; by Staff Editor; 1 Page(s)

In Focus: Small (Lending) Is Beautiful; April 1997; by Stix; 2 Page(s)

Microfinance is proving that the poor are creditworthy, but will the movement try to grow too fast?

Hot-Spotting; April 1997; by Schneider; 2 Page(s)

A new way emerges to find the earth's hidden heat sources

In Brief; April 1997; by Leutwyler; 3 Page(s)

Atomic Blast; Lands of the Free...and Few; Still Going; Winging It; Color Me Well; Black Holes Bare All?; Hold the Lox!

Salivating For Saffron; April 1997; by Garcia; 2 Page(s)

Spain starts to look for the genes that make the spice

A Golf Cart, It Isn't; April 1997; by Zorpette; 2 Page(s)

We drive GM's new electric vehicle

Anti Gravity: Separate but EQ; April 1997; by Mirsky; 1 Page(s)

Bad news for readers of this magazine: it's not enough to be smart anymore.

Stopping Strokes; April 1997; by Leutwyler; 3 Page(s)

Drugs in development may protect the brain from harm

By the Numbers: Air Pollution in the U.S.; April 1997; by Doyle; 1 Page(s)

The worst air pollution disaster ever recorded was in December 1952, when a temperature inversion trapped soot, sulfur dioxide and other noxious gases over London, killing 4,000.

The Greening of Europa; April 1997; by Powell; 2 Page(s)

Are the satellites of giant planets a place to look for life?

Profile: Dan Farmer; April 1997; by Gibbs; 2 Page(s)

From Satan to Zen

Playing Nice; April 1997; by Dupont; 2 Page(s)

The Pentagon tries to share R&D weapons costs with allies

Dredging The Digestive System; April 1997; by Gibbs; 1 Page(s)

Polymer-based drugs sweep out cholesterol and other undesirables

Plastic Power; April 1997; by Beardsley; 2 Page(s)

Lightweight batteries show their muscle in demonstrations

Check Your Bags; April 1997; by Stix; 1 Page(s)

Electronic tags could match passengers with luggage

Cracking the U.S. Code; April 1997; by Wallich; 1 Page(s)

Cracking the U.S. Code

Can Sustainable Management Save Tropical Forests?; April 1997; by Rice, Gullison, Reid; 6 Page(s)

Sustainability proves surprisingly problematic in the quest to reconcile conservation with the production of tropical timber

Black Holes and the Information Paradox; April 1997; by Susskind; 6 Page(s)

What happens to the information in matter destroyed by a black hole? Searching for that answer, physicists are groping toward a quantum theory of gravity

Out of Africa Again... and Again?; April 1997; by Tattersall; 8 Page(s)

Africa is the birthplace of humanity. But how many human species evolved there? And when did they emigrate?

Combinatorial Chemistry and New Drugs; April 1997; by Plunkett, Ellman; 6 Page(s)

An innovative technique that quickly produces large numbers of structurally related compounds is changing the way drugs are discovered

How Erosion Builds Mountains; April 1997; by Pinter, Brandon; 6 Page(s)

An understanding of how tectonic, erosional and climatic forces interact to shape mountains permits clearer insights into the earth's history

Extremophiles; April 1997; by Madigan, Marrs; 6 Page(s)

These microbes thrive under conditions that would kill other creatures. The molecules that enable extremophiles to prosper are becoming useful to industry

The Science of Murphy's Law; April 1997; by Matthews; 4 Page(s)

Life's little annoyances are not as random as they seem: the awful truth is that the universe is against you

Jules Verne, Misunderstood Visionary; April 1997; by Evans, Miller; 6 Page(s)

Discovery of a long-lost novel reveals that, from the start, the father of science fiction was gravely concerned with the dangers of technology

The Amateur Scientist; April 1997; by Carlson; 2 Page(s)

The Joys of Armchair Ornithology

Mathematical Recreations; April 1997; by Stewart; 3 Page(s)

Knight's Tours

Reviews; April 1997; by Kline, Zorpette, Wallich; 4 Page(s)

Reviews

Commentary: Wonders - The Silicon Gourmet; April 1997; by Morrison; 2 Page(s)

Strange but enlightening news is at hand to help explain our human sense of smell.

Commentary: Connections - Feathered Friends; April 1997; by Burke; 2 Page(s)

I was reading John Keat's "Ode to a Nightingale" the other evening (well, why not?), and I was reminded of how nobody ever told us when I was at school that the English didn't invent Romanticism.

Working Knowledge; April 1997; by Bunker, Jr.; 1 Page(s)

Smoke Detectors