Science

Tasty Brazil Nuts Stun Harvesters and Scientists

A Smithsonian biologist tracks the protein-rich nuts to understand their role in the Amazonian forest

April 1999

Tracking America’s First Dogs

Carolina dogs, discovered in the Southeast woods, may provide clues to the primitive dogs that arrived with the first humans in America

March 1999

Mining for Meteorites

As prices skyrocket, gonzo collectors are combing the globe for these celestial fragments—and riling researchers

March 1999

You Will Feel No Pain

Doctors and patients swear hypnosis works, but after years of research we still don’t know how

March 1999

When Clock Birds Sing

Caution: Unexpected birdsong can cause flashbacks that lift the listener out of time and place

March 1999

Forget Y2K!

February 1999

Calendar

It took two millennia to get the one we now use; we owe a lot to the sun and moon, to Caesar, Pope Gregory and, oh yes, the Earl of Chesterfield

February 1, 1999

To Save a Falcon

An American biologist treks the steppes and the Gobi to rescue a Mongolian raptor that’s in deep trouble

February 1999

A Social Divide Written in Stone

Archaeological research at Cliff Palace resumes after 80 years. Surprises are the order of the day

February 1999

View from the Cockpit

It’s a fast and furious time in science and technology, and a man who knows promises only more of the same

February 1999

Casting a High-Tech Net for Space Trash

A cloud of spacecraft parts and debris envelops the earth. Keeping track of it takes the best we have

January 1, 1999

When Monkeys Move to Town

Loitering on sidewalks and begging at shops, macaques are familiar, but not always welcome, sights in cities across Asia

January 1, 1999

An “Odd Fish” Who Swam Against the Tide

The pioneering naturalist Constantine Rafinesque did just about everything, and he always did it his way

January 1, 1999

Expanding a Mission

The National Museum of Natural History aims to become a hub for science education

January 1999

Salt of the Earth

We can’t live without it. Salt runs through our language, our history, and our veins

January 1999

Ailing? Just Add Cells

Now we can grow the cells from which all others derive, but ethical questions are involved

January 1, 1999

Trailing the Big Cats

For a walk on the wild side, follow the tracks of a tiger or look at a lion close up at the National Zoo

January 1999

Let it Snow

Ski resorts have snowmaking down to a science – now sometimes the real stuff gets in the way

December 1998

Let’s Root for the Coot

This feisty waterbird is very common. That’s part of the problem

December 1, 1998

Coming to Terms

Our names for people who respect the environment should be as varied as the ways we see it

December 1998