Features
The Horror of Land Mines
Land mines kill or maim more than 15,000 people each year. Most victims are innocent civilians. Many are children. Still, mines are planted by the thousands every day
The Kuiper Belt
Rather than ending abruptly at the orbit of Pluto, the outer solar system contains an extended belt of small bodies
Jane X. Luu, David C. Jewitt
Uncovering New Clues to Cancer Risk
A growing discipline called molecular epidemiology is attempting to find early biological signposts for heightened risk of cancer. The research should enhance prevention of the disease
Frederica P. Perera
Software for Reliable Networks
Techniques that enable distributed computing systems to reorganize themselves can restore operation when one part crashes
Kenneth P. Birman, Robbert van Renesse
The Pursuit of Happiness
New research uncovers some anti-intuitive insights into how many people are happy--and why
David G. Myers, Ed Diener
The Beluga Whales of the St. Lawrence River
Although they are protected by law from hunters, these whales must struggle to survive the threat of industrial pollution
Pierre Bland
The Lost Technology of Ancient Greek Rowing
The navies of classical Greece took advantage of the sliding stroke, a technique that 19th-century competitive rowers later reinvented
John R. Hale
Hanford's Nuclear Wasteland
The U.S. is spending billions to clean up its nuclear weapons complexes. At one of the most contaminated sites, no one knows how much the project will cost, how long it will take or how much good it will do
Glenn Zorpette