Magazine
May-June 2014
May-June 2014
Volume: 102 Number: 3
The exoplanet HD80606b has the most elliptical orbit of any known planet. Its proximity to its parent star is the strongest factor determining temperature on the planet, which can be as high as 1,500 kelvin. The sequence on the cover shows the results of a computer simulation of the glow of infrared light on the night side of HD80606b in almost daily intervals as it passed by the closest point to its parent star during its 111-day orbit. The simulation is based on Spitzer Space Telescope infrared data taken in 2007. Simulations such as this one make it possible for scientists to visualize what we could not otherwise see. But how much credence should we lend emulations of reality? In this issue’s Perspective, “The Nature of Scientific Proof in the Age of Simulations,” Kevin Heng discusses this question. (Image by D. Kasen et al., UCSC, NASA, JPL-Caltech.)
In This Issue
- Agriculture
- Art
- Biology
- Chemistry
- Communications
- Computer
- Engineering
- Environment
- Evolution
- Mathematics
- Physics
- Policy
- Psychology
- Technology
The Hidden Past of Invisible Ink
Kristie Macrakis
Chemistry Communications
Often synonymous with international espionage, secret writing also had a long-forgotten heyday in stage magic and science demonstrations.
The Fine Art of Decay
Sara C. Robinson
Art
A woodworker becomes a scientist in seeking out the perfect fungal pigments.
War and Redemption in Gorongosa
Edward O. Wilson
Environment
Mozambique's astonishingly diverse national park was decimated during a bloody uprising. Now it is rebounding, with the aid of some tiny helpers.
H.M.S. Beagle, 1820–1870
Keith Thomson
Engineering
“She belongs to that much-abused class, the ‘10-gun brigs’ ... notwithstanding which; she has proved herself, ... in all kinds of weather, an excellent sea boat.” —John Lort Stokes
