The Scientific American 50
Our first annual celebration of visionaries from the worlds of research, industry and politics whose recent accomplishments point toward a brighter technological future for everyone
Volume 287, Issue 6
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Features
The Brightest Explosions in the Universe
Every time a gamma-ray burst goes off, a black hole is born
The Enigma of Huntington's Disease
Nearly 10 years after scientists isolated the gene responsible for Huntington's, they are still searching for how it wreaks its devastation
Order in Pollock's Chaos
Computer analysis is helping to explain the appeal of Jackson Pollock's paintings. The artist's famous drips and swirls create fractal patterns, similar to those formed in nature by trees, clouds and coastlines
Food for Thought
Dietary change was a driving force in human evolution
On Thin Ice?
How soon humanity will have to move inland to escape rising seas depends in great part on how quickly West Antarctica's massive ice sheet shrinks. Scientists are finally beginning to agree on what controls the size of the sheet and its rate of disintegration