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On the Cover

November-December 2005 Volume 93, Number 6

A three-dimensional image, built of slices from a confocal laser-scanning microscope, shows the complex structure of a laboratory-grown biofilm of Escherichia coli bacteria, the cause of many human infections. The biofilm's microbial residents are knitted together by a slimy matrix that helps protect them from environmental stress—including antibiotic drugs. ...

FEATURE ARTICLES

Biofilms

Joe Harrison, Raymond Turner, Lyrium Marques, Howard Ceri

A new understanding of these microbial communities is driving a revolution that may transform the science of microbiology

Yawning *

Robert Provine

The yawn is primal, unstoppable and contagious, revealing the evolutionary and neural basis of empathy and unconscious behavior

Ancient Wollemi Pines Resurgent *

Stephen McLoughlin, Vivi Vajda

Ten years after its discovery, a vanishingly rare tree from the Cretaceous Period is a scientific darling and may soon become a commercial success too

Imaging Earthlike Exoplanets *

Thomas Sherrill

Two space missions now under development aim to uncover sister worlds to our own

How Tunas and Lamnid Sharks Swim: An Evolutionary Convergence *

Robert Shadwick

These fishes diverged millions of years ago, but selection pressures have brought them very similar biomechanical schemes for movement

* access restricted to members and subscribers

SCIENTISTS’ BOOKSHELF

When Hotspots Get Too Hot

Norman Myers

A review of Climate Change and Biodiversity, edited by Thomas E. Lovejoy and Lee Hannah. Global warming could lead to the biggest mass extinction since that of the dinosaurs.

See all book reviews for this issue.