May-June 2017Volume 105, Number 3
Biologists and philosophers of science have long wondered whether evolution’s winding paths that led to today’s living world are predictable and repeatable, or unpredictable because of chance events. In this illustration, two evolutionary paths start out in parallel, and then begin to wend and bifurcate in sometimes similar and other times unique ways. Although evolutionary biologists cannot go back in time to rerun evolution from the beginning....
Justin Cheng, Cristian Danescu-Niculescu-Mizil, Jure Leskovec, Michael Bernstein
Analysis and simulation of online discussion sections show circumstances that can cause civil commentators to engage in aggressive behavior.
Zachary D. Blount
Is the living world more a result of happenstance or repeatable processes?
Manuel Lima
A radial layout continues to dominate visual expressions of information and data.
Pauline Gagnon
The existence of dark matter and dark energy has gained acceptance through a variety of complementary cosmological research methods.
* access restricted to members and subscribers
Dianne Timblin
Mathematician and science writer Julie Rehmeyer talked with us about her memoir Through the Shadowlands, which recounts her experiences with myalgic encephalomyelitis, or chronic fatigue syndrome.
See all book reviews for this issue
FROM THE EDITORS
Understanding the Butterfly Effect
Jamie L. Vernon
TECHNOLOGUE
Smart and Squishy Robots
Building robots that are entirely soft requires the development of new components from valves to circuits, as well as ways to control deformable arms.
Yigit Mengüç
ENGINEERING
Slide Rules: Gone But Not Forgotten*
Many of these well-made mechanical calculating aids have outlasted the engineers who knew how to use them, but they remain culturally pervasive.
Henry Petroski
INFOGRAPHIC
The Chemistry of Ironing
LETTER TO THE EDITORS
Biodiversity Values
Bottle and Can Openers
Optics of Faked Photos
SPOTLIGHT
Restructuring Science in Russia
The Russian government is counting on young scientists to stimulate the economy through applied research.
First Person: Yuri Kovalev
Q&A with the project scientist of the RadioAstron space interferometer.
Brian Malow
Briefings
SIGHTINGS
Curbing Immune Cells’ Appetite
Infected cells produce an “eat me” signal so that they’re destroyed by the immune system. But what if you want an infection to last?
Robert Frederick
SIGMA XI TODAY (PDF)
Scientists Explain Their Research Using Emoji
Click "Latest Blog" to view all blogs.
Tweets by @AmSciMag
Receive notification when new content is posted from the entire website, or choose from the customized feeds available.
An early peek at each new issue, with descriptions of feature articles, columns, and more. Issues contain links to everything in the latest issue's table of contents.
Receive notification when new content is posted from the entire website, or choose from the customized feeds available.