Articles from 03/2009
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Little Lithium Battery That Could
By taking a second look at existing battery materials, researchers have found the secret to unleashing the electrical power of the common lithium-ion battery.
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The Multiverse Problem
Is theoretical physics becoming the next battleground in the culture wars? Not according to some theologians and scientists.
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Exploding a Theory
A recent supernova is calling into question what we know about the life and death of stars.
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Mikhail Gromov Wins Abel Prize
Russian-French mathematician wins the Abel Prize for his revolutionary contributions to geometry.
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The Living Robot
Researchers have developed a robot capable of learning and interacting with the world using a biological brain.
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The Interpreters
Profiles of those using cutting-edge science to educate and engage.
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Found in Translation
The process of creating a nuclear-security glossary matters as much as the finished product.
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Design and Being Just
At some point during the show, VL started growing too fast. It was time to stop it. But did that mean killing it?
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Building the Taxonomy of Life
The presumption was that you’d need experts to write pages, and we’d end up with 2 million or so. I was absolutely clear from the start that that wasn’t going to work.
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Knowledge, in Real Time
A new picture of science — and possibly future innovation — comes into focus with the mapping of scientists’ online research behavior.
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A New Picture of the Two Cultures
A recent visualization of scholarly research based on online user patterns offers a fresh perspective on C.P. Snow's landmark treatise on science and the arts.
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Top DC Scientists Confirmed
Holdren and Lubchenco have both advocated for strong government intervention to address the man-made causes of climate change.
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The Running Man, Revisited
The endurance running hypothesis, the idea that humans evolved as long-distance runners, may have legs thanks to a new study on toes.
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Deciding How to Decide
Jonah Lehrer shines light on the black box of decision making, explains the problem with certainty, and discusses the challenges of eavesdropping on the brain.
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20 Years of the World Wide Web
In the two decades since a small group of researchers adopted a hyperlink system to share data between institutions, scientific research — and the world — have changed profoundly.
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Water and Sand in Rajasthan
In India’s populated desert, development and the flow of water are eroding a historic sand fort.
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What Really Happened at Copenhagen?
It's problematic when largely unresolved debates among the world's climate change researchers get reduced to six key messages.
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Peer Pressure
James Wilsdon takes a close look at Britain's system for defining excellence at the country's top-performing universities.
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Scientific Integrity and Stem Cells
President Obama signs two key documents to help ensure America's continued global leadership in scientific discoveries.
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Scientific Integrity Memorandum
Ensuring the highest level of integrity in all aspects of the executive branch's involvement with scientific and technological processes.
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Text of Remarks of President Obama
Ensuring America’s continued global leadership in scientific discoveries and technological breakthroughs.
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Getting Our Nitrogen Fix
Our ability to pull nitrogen from the air fed a growing human population. Can 21st century biotechnology refine the process while reducing environmental impact?
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Designing the Human Mind
[Video] Is it possible to create a complete model of the human brain? Henry Markram explains that it will to take a computer 20,000 times more powerful than any that exists today.
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March Book & DVD Picks
Profiles of planet-saving entrepreneurs, an Oxford physicist's unintimidating look at antimatter, a science-driven obesity doc.
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Love at 1,200 Hz
An irritating, disease-laden species of mosquito proves that it can also be sophisticated, sensual, and even romantic.
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The Sleep of Reason
Bruce Sterling reflects on artist Alexis Rockman's psychedelic, posthuman exhibit Half-life.
Now on SEEDMAGAZINE.COM
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Ideas
I Tried Almost Everything Else
John Rinn, snowboarder, skateboarder, and “genomic origamist,” on why we should dumpster-dive in our genomes and the inspiration of a middle-distance runner.
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Ideas
Going, Going, Gone
The second most common element in the universe is increasingly rare on Earth—except, for now, in America.
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Ideas
Earth-like Planets Aren’t Rare
Renowned planetary scientist James Kasting on the odds of finding another Earth-like planet and the power of science fiction.
