August 1999
Scientific American Magazine

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Cover; August 1999; by Staff Editor; 1 Page(s)

Table of Contents; August 1999; by Staff Editor; 2 Page(s)

From the Editors, including Masthead; August 1999; by Rennie; 1 Page(s)

The Detectives Wore White

Letters to the Editors; August 1999; by Staff Editor; 2 Page(s)

50, 100 and 150 Years Ago; August 1999; by Staff Editor; 1 Page(s)

In Focus: Is out of Africa going out the door?; August 1999; by Wong; 2 Page(s)

New doubts on a popular theory of human origins

Replumbing the Everglades; August 1999; by Alpert; 2 Page(s)

An $8-billion restoration plan may not go far enough

Making Waves; August 1999; by Simpson; 1 Page(s)

An undulating layer of hot rock cools the controversy over how the earth's mantle moves

A Pound of Flesh; August 1999; by Zorpette; 1 Page(s)

For a Danish study of human athletic performance, our reporter donates some muscle to the cause

In Brief; August 1999; by Staff Editors; 2 Page(s)

Age-Old Debate; McGwire's Drug Strikes Out; Pricking for Endorphins; Blocking T Cells for Transplants; Senescent Sheep; Mars on Earth

Anti Gravity: Thinking Outside the Box; August 1999; by Mirsky; 1 Page(s)

Who knew? Turns out that some six million General Motors cars have been traversing the highways and byways of America this decade while carrying hidden black boxes, stripped-down versions of the flight-data recorders that sometimes reveal the causes of airline catastrophes.

A Patch for Love; August 1999; by Reed; 1 Page(s)

Hormone-delivering patches could help endangered animals breed

Qubit Chip; August 1999; by Collins; 1 Page(s)

A superconducting chip suggests a practical path to medium-scale quantum computing

By the Numbers: Behind Bars in the U.S. and Europe; August 1999; by Doyle; 1 Page(s)

Most Western countries have put more people behind bars in recent years, but in none has the incarceration rate risen more than in the U.S.

Profile: Of Survival and Science; August 1999; by Stix; 2 Page(s)

From street waif in war-torn Italy to "knocking out" the genes of mice - Mario R. Capecchi shows how genius springs from the most unlikely beginnings

The Butterfly Effect; August 1999; by Stix; 2 Page(s)

New research findings and European jitters could cloud the future for genetically modified crops

Too Good To Be True; August 1999; by Stix; 3 Page(s)

Scams purported to treat sexual dysfunction prey on the unwary

Calculating Pie; August 1999; by DeKoker Goodman; 1 Page(s)

British supermarket giant Tesco works hard to tickle its customers' taste buds, so it was a bit of a blow when the calls started coming - reports that people were actually throwing Tesco products instead of eating them.

Viral Gene Screen; August 1999; by Netting; 2 Page(s)

U.S. blood banks turn to genetic testing to find HIV and hepatitis C viruses in donations

Cyber View; August 1999; by Wallich; 2 Page(s)

How to Steal Millions in Chump Change

Why National Missile Defense Won't Work; August 1999; by Lewis, Postol, Pike; 6 Page(s)

The current plan for defending the U.S. against a ballistic-missile attack faces many of the problems that plagued a similar plan three decades ago

The Lurking Perils of "Pfiesteria"; August 1999; by Burkholder; 8 Page(s)

This minute creature has been implicated in dramatic fish kills and has hurt people. But its most publicized actions may not be the most damaging. More subtle effects are raising new concerns

The Future of Computing; August 1999; by Dertouzos; 4 Page(s)

M.I.T.'s Laboratory for Computer Science is developing a new infrastructure for information technologies - the Oxygen system - that promises to realize a vision long held by the lab's director: helping people do more by doing less

Talking with Your Computer; August 1999; by Zue; 2 Page(s)

Speech-based interfaces may soon allow computer users to retrieve data and issue instructions without lifting a finger

Communications Chameleons; August 1999; by Guttag; 2 Page(s)

Multipurpose communications systems will be the links of tomorrow's wireless computer networks

Raw Computation; August 1999; by Agarwal; 4 Page(s)

One of the main engines of the Oxygen project is the Raw microchip, which has wiring that can be automatically reprogrammed for different tasks

Detecting Massive Neutrinos; August 1999; by Kearns, Kajita, Totsuka; 8 Page(s)

A giant detector in the heart of Mount Ikenoyama in Japan has demonstrated that the neutrino metamorphoses in flight, strongly suggesting that these ghostly particles have mass

The Moral Development of Children; August 1999; by Damon; 7 Page(s)

It is not enough for kids to tell right from wrong. They must develop a commitment to acting on their ideals. Enlightened parenting can help

Trailing a Virus; August 1999; by Gibbs; 8 Page(s)

As a virus never seen before swept through rural Malaysia, killing more than 110 and forcing the destruction of a million swine, it revealed the world's vulnerability to new diseases. Even the best efforts of top scientists are sometimes not enough to thwart them

The Amateur Scientist; August 1999; by Carlson; 2 Page(s)

Sun of a Gun

Mathematical Recreations; August 1999; by Stewart; 2 Page(s)

Sierpinski's Ubiquitous Gasket

Reviews; August 1999; by Scott, Staff Editors; 4 Page(s)

Reviews

Wonders: Dining on Ammonia; August 1999; by Philip Morrison and Phylis Morrison; 2 Page(s)

Fertilizing the world

Connections: Sound Ideas; August 1999; by James Burke; 2 Page(s)

Hearing, hardness and Hitler

Working Knowledge; August 1999; by Bloomfield; 1 Page(s)

Air Conditioners