Kepler's Year
2009 marks the International Year of Astronomy, a global celebration commemorating Galileo's first telescopic explorations of night sky and Kepler's publishing of Astronomia Nova. Fittingly, a mission launching this year seeks to answer one of astronomy's seminal questions about humanity's place in the universe: Do other Earth-like worlds exist beyond our own? Read on
+ Slideshow: 12 Stunning Views of Our Universe
Features
-
A Still Curious Case
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button grapples with age-old fears of death and aging, physiological processes that modern science is only beginning to understand.
-
Seed Picks 2008
The editors of Seed select the year's outstanding book releases.
-
Group Think
A Tel Aviv University professor melds math and sociology of the Internet to predict the next big thing in music.
-
The Advisors
A first look at President-elect Obama's science team.
-
Cold Truth
At a recent celebration of the International Polar Year in New York, artists and scientists share work inspired by the shifting landscape of Antarctica.
-
Harun Yahya's Dark Arts
One-on-one with the Turkish creationist who uses bad science and bizarre art to spread his vision of a troubled world.
-
Of Primates and Personhood
Will according rights and "dignity" to nonhuman organisms halt research?
-
The Biohacking Hobbyist
Why does all biology happen in academic or industrial labs? Mac Cowell, cofounder of DIYbio, seeks to change that.
-
iGEM 2008: Novice Bioengineers Get Their Freak On
A recent iGEM judge reflects on spontaneous dance parties and the future of molecular machines.
-
Bigger Faster Better
Craig Venter, the man who sequenced the human genome, explains in a Seed exclusive what's holding science back and how he intends to fix it.
-
The Scientist in 2008
Steven Shapin explores who the scientists of today are, where they work, and what motivates them.
-
The US Versus God Particles
The Atom Smashers splits open the US's problematic relationship with scientific research through a group of physicists under threat of competition from the LHC.
-
Garrett Lisi's Exceptional Approach to Everything
How a physicist published and vetted his revolutionary work signals the potential future of an open, transparent peer review process.
-
Reviewing Peer-Review
ScienceBloggers discuss the advantages of open science and debate the necessity of the current peer-review system.
Dispatches
Diplomatic Waters
Reporting from the developing world, traveling science writer Gaia Vince relays her first dispatch from Kathmandu, the meltwaters of the Himalaya.
Peer Review
Predicting Outbreaks
Satellites, a shift in epidemiology, and Google combine to stop disease before it starts.
New Ideas
Yeast Gone Wild
Feral yeast shed light on one of Darwin's greatest evolutionary puzzles — by getting drunk and socializing.
Explore
The State of Science 2008
Reflections on the current scientific landscape and its emergent hotspots.
MIND08
Collaboration between science and design is yielding a radical new way of visualizing, understanding, and manipulating the natural world.
A Place For Science
On the trail of the haunts, homes, and posts of knowledge, from the laboratory to the field. Delve into our interactive map featuring global hotspots.
+Where I do Science
+Noah Kalina's Labs at Night
Seed Salon
Steven Strogatz + Carlo Ratti
The mathematician and the architect discuss the laws that govern urban behavior and how those laws might shape the cities of the future.
Revolutionary Minds
Game Changers
A special installation of Seed’s series profiles scientists who are challenging the status quo and creating a new future for us all.