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October

Table of Contents October 2009

Discover Magazine's mission is to enable readers to lead richer lives by explaining and expanding their universe. Each month we bring you in depth information and analysis from various topics ranging from technology and space to the living world we live in.

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FEATURES

Monkey See, Monkey Do, Monkey Connect

by Frans de Waal

The most profound bonds between people begin in our bodies with imitation and synchronized movements.

Who Killed All Those Honeybees? We Did

by Morgan E. Peck

The great bee die-off is not such a mystery after all: Industrial agriculture has stressed our pollinators to the breaking point.

A Tumultuous Year at the LHC

by Lisa Randall

Physicist Lisa Randall describes the turbulent first year after the collider's premature celebration.

boahen_kwabena1

Brain-Like Chip May Solve Computers' Big Problem: Energy

by Douglas Fox

The future of computing may depend on embracing the chaos that defines human thinking.

The Sea Change That's Challenging Biology's Central Dogma

by Gary Taubes

For decades, RNA was seen as a simple slave to DNA. Newer research shows it has an active and critical role in every disease from Alzheimer's to cancer.

The Man Who Discovered What Killed the Dinosaurs

by Pamela Weintraub, Misha Gravenor

Geologist Walter Alvarez describes how rocks tell the story of Earth's history.

Will Our Universe Collide With a Neighboring One?

by Zeeya Merali

Our universe may be one of a multitude—and it may bear the scars of past run-ins with its neighbors.

nanoparticlesWeb

The Era of Nanoparticle Drugs Begins With Erection Cream

by Christopher Mims

Tiny drug-carrying balls of sugar are delivering medicine in novel—and very useful—ways.

DEPARTMENTS

Future Tech: Doctor on-Call? Cell-Phone Cameras Can Diagnose Disease

by Rebecca Day

Developing nations often have a lack of medical facilities but good cell phones. The CellScope turns the latter into the former.

20 Things You Didn't Know About...

20 Things You Didn't Know About... Sugar

by Rebecca Coffey

We eat it, we love it, and it may have been a chemical precursor to life on Earth.

Visual Science: Vulcan Awakes

The Search for Aliens Gets Harder—But More Encouraging

by Andrew Grant

Saturn's surprising moons have broadened scientists' ideas about where extraterrestrial life might be found.

The Brain: Where Does Sex Live in the Brain? From Top to Bottom.

by Carl Zimmer

Neuroscientists explore the mind's sexual side and discover that desire is not quite what we thought it was.

Numbers: Plastics, From Manufacturing to Recycling to Long Death in a Landfill

Vital Signs: Confusing Cues

by Stewart Massad

A spreading rash signals something far more dangerous than a skin condition.

What Is This? Seashells in a Tar Pit?

by Andrew Grant

Hint: It's hard as granite, strong as steel, and has been used for sword grips and shoe soles.

DATA

A Yardstick for the Universe

by Andrew Grant

The Hubble Space Telescope is helping to improve our understanding of the expansion of space, dark energy, and the fate of the cosmos.

Introducing the Most Efficient Solar Power in the World

by Cyrus Moulton

It's taken 25 years, but a new solar-thermal plant in New Mexico has finally broken the old efficiency record.

by Andrew Grant

How Invaders Break Through the Brain's Great Wall

by Megan Talkington

Some bacteria pierce the imposing blood-brain barrier by breaking links in the chain; sneakier ones do it by fooling the guard cells.

Sauerkraut, Mustard, Relish, and (Slightly Increased Risk of) Cancer

by Boonsri Dickinson

For anyone who thought hot dogs were the healthiest food around, some new research will come as a sad surprise.

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