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Nancy Knowlton is a marine biologist at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History and a leading authority on coral reefs.

By the Numbers: A Marine Advisory

Scientists say the outlook for the world’s oceans is bleak—unless we stop overfishing and reduce air and water pollution

Shai Agassi, at a corporate facility outside Tel Aviv, founded a company whose name reflects his determination to improve the world.

Charging Ahead With a New Electric Car

An entrepreneur hits the road with a new approach for an all-electric car that overcomes its biggest shortcoming

Richard Branson, shown here in a replica spaceship, wants to place CO2-intensive activities above Earth.

Richard Branson on Space Travel

The billionaire entertainment mogul talks about the future of transportation and clean energy

Brian Boutin, a Nature Conservancy biologist, stands protectively over a newly planted bald cypress sapling. Park managers hope to slow the submersion of the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge.

Rising Seas Endanger Wetland Wildlife

For scientists in a remote corner of coastal North Carolina, ignoring global warming is not an option

The discovery of new species is driven by new technologies, targeted surveys of little-studied ecosystems and a determined effort to identify plants and animals before their habitat is lost. The kipunji is one of 300 mammal species discovered in the past decade; it is thought to be Africa’s rarest monkey.

Meet the New Species

From old-world primates to patch-nosed salamanders, new creatures are being discovered every day

A "living skyscraper" could rise from the shallows of Lake Michigan and serve Chicago.

The Rise of Urban Farming

Grow fruits and vegetables in city towers? Advocates give a green thumbs up

Invest in the poorest of the poor, advises Rosamond Naylor.

Rosamond Naylor on Feeding the World

The economist discusses the stresses that climate change and a greater world population will have on our food supply

Experts say these crops if grown widely, could help feed the hungry.

Five Game-Changing Crops That Could Help Feed the Hungry

Food security experts say these crops, if grown more widely, could help feed the hungry

"Bacteria can talk to each other," says Bonnie Bassler. "Not only can they talk, but they are multilingual." And she knows how to speak their languages.

Listening to Bacteria

By studying microbial communications, Bonnie Bassler has come up with new ways to treat disease

Melinda Gates, with caregivers in Rampur Bhuligadha, India, says infant deaths can be halved by 2025.

Melinda French Gates on Saving Lives

The co-chair of the world’s largest philanthropy talks about what can be done to improve global health and poverty

Using scaffolds and a patients own cells grown in a laboratory, researchers are building replacement body parts.

Organs Made to Order

It won’t be long before surgeons routinely install replacement body parts created in the laboratory

NASA is studying a mission, for launch in the 2020s, that would visit the only moon known to have an extensive atmosphere—Titan, a satellite of Saturn.

What’s Next in Space?

Probes and landers sent into the final frontier will bring us closer to answering cosmic mysteries

Astronomers like Rik Hill scan the heavens from Arizona looking for errant asteroids.

Asteroid Hunters

Astronomers are determined to protect human beings from inanimate outer space invaders

"New research will increasingly be driven by ... evolutionary theory," says Melvin Konner.

Melvin Konner on the Evolution of Childhood

The anthropologist and physician talks about how our understanding of child development will change

Polymer fronds a few thousand nanometers long wrap around even tinier plymer spheres.

Can Nanotechnology Save Lives?

Harvard professor and scientific genius George Whitesides believes that nanotechnology will change medicine as we know it

Contact lenses that act as computer screens face an obstacle: power.

Embedded Technologies: Power From the People

Energy harvested from our bodies will make possible mind-boggling gadgetry

The Solúcar facility's acres of heliostats, or mirrors, focus the sun's rays to create temperatures of 570 degrees, generating energy but not harmful emissions.

A Spanish Breakthrough in Harnessing Solar Power

Solar technologies being pioneered in Spain show even greater promise for the United States

Vinton Cerf, Internet pioneer, sees a need to separate Web fact from Web misinformation.

Vinton Cerf on Where the Internet Will Take Us

Google’s “Chief Internet Evangelist” talks about the direction of online connectivity and communication

Kevin Kelly worries devices like Apple's iPad, shown here with Smithsonian's first cover, nurtures action over contemplation.

Reading in a Whole New Way

As digital screens proliferate and people move from print to pixel, how will the act of reading change?

Angela Belcher got her powerful idea from an abalone shell.

Invisible Engineering

Chemist Angela Belcher looks to manufacture high technology out of viruses

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