March-April 2026
Volume: 114 Number: 2
A deep photographic exposure captures a time-lapsed view of 3I/ATLAS, an interstellar object and only the third large one confirmed to have passed through our Solar System from elsewhere. 3I/ATLAS has a bright dust tail (color enhanced in this image) that is typical of comets. However, the prior two interstellar objects were quite different, showing the range of small bodies in the universe. The first interstellar object detected, 1I/ʻOumuamua, did not have a dust tail but had unexpected accelerations not caused by gravity that were too strong to be from forces created by radiation. As Darryl Z. Seligman describes in “The Discovery of Dark Comets,” studying this strange interstellar object inspired him and his colleagues to take a closer look at comets in the Solar System that also seem to defy standard definition, and which might belong to an entirely new astronomical category. (Cover image by Dan Bartlett.)
In This Issue
- Astronomy
- Biology
- Chemistry
- Communications
- Computer
- Engineering
- Environment
- Ethics
- Evolution
- Medicine
- Physics
- Policy
- Psychology
- Technology
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September-October 2012
Volume: 100 Number: 5
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"Graphene in High-Frequency Electronics," by Keith A. Jenkins
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"The Complex Call of the Carolina Chickadee," by Todd M. Freeberg, Jeffrey R. Lucas, Indrikis Krams
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"Slicing a Cone for Art and Science," by Daniel S. Silver
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July-August 2012
Volume: 100 Number: 4
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"Vocal Matching in Animals," by Kendra B. Sewall
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"What Creates Static Electricity?" by Meurig M. Williams
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"Acquiring Literacy Naturally," by Dominic W. Massaro
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"The Study of Climate on Alien Worlds," by Kevin Heng
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May-June 2012
Volume: 100 Number: 3
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"Mind Wandering," by Michael C. Corballis
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"Herschel and the Puzzle of Infrared," by Jack R. White
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"Plenty of Room at the Bottom?" by William G. Eberhard and William T. Wcislo
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"Aquatic Invasive Species: Lessons from Cancer Research" by Adam Sepulveda, Andrew Ray, Robert Al-Chokhachy, Clint Muhlfeld, Robert Gresswell, Jackson Gross and Jeff Kershner
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"Classic: The Soap Film: An Analogue Computer," by Cyril Isenberg
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March-April 2012
Volume: 100 Number: 2
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"Gemstones," by Lee A. Groat
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"When Scientists Choose Motherhood," by Wendy M. Williams and Stephen J. Ceci
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"A Palette of Particles," by Jeremy Bernstein
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January-February 2012
Volume: 100 Number: 1
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"How to Be Manipulative," by Robert M. Pringle
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"Runaway Devils Lake," by Douglas Larson
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Classic: "The Experimental Analysis of Behavior," by Stephen F. Ledoux
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November-December 2011
Volume: 99 Number: 6
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"Empirical Software Engineering," by Greg Wilson and Jorge Aranda
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"Making Biofuel from Microalgae," by Philip T. Pienkos, Lieve Laurens and Andy Aden
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"Whatever Became of Holography?," by Sean F. Johnston
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September-October 2011
Volume: 99 Number: 5
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"Tardigrades," by William R. Miller
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"Self-healing Polymers and Composites," by S. R. White, B. J. Blaiszik, S. L. B. Kramer, S. C. Olugebefola, J. S. Moore and N. R. Sottos
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"Urbanism on West Africa's Slave Coast," by J. Cameron Monroe
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July-August 2011
Volume: 99 Number: 4
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"Giant Viruses," by James L. Van Etten
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"The Future of Time: UTC and the Leap Second," by David Finkleman, Steve Allen, John H. Seago, Rob Seaman and P. Kenneth Seidelmann
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"Alone in the Universe," by Howard A. Smith
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May-June 2011
Volume: 99 Number: 3
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"Global Energy: The Latest Infatuations," by Vaclav Smil
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"Marking Loons, Making Progress," by Walter Piper, Jay Mager and Charles Walcott
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"Pliocene Climate Lessons," by Marci Robinson
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"Porphyrins: One Ring in the Colors of Life," by Franck E. Dayan and Emilie A. Dayan
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March-April 2011
Volume: 99 Number: 2
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"Refuting a Myth About Human Origins," by John J. Shea
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"Ancestors of Apollo," by Dennis Danielson
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"The Evolution of Cave Life," by Aldemaro Romero
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