The Chemistry of Caterpillar Guts
An oak tree chewed on by gypsy moths is not defenseless, but it may be ill-advised. The toxic chemicals it laces its leaves with may actually protect the worms from a more deadly virus.

Life's Jumps
"When conditions are bad and change is long overdue," notes Nina Fedoroff, some genes jump from one place in the chromosomes to another. That risky act may be the engine of evolution itself.

Model Surface
The surface of a thin film is a world of variety, a complicated terrain where atoms skitter and dance, where physics and chemistry collide. To engineer devices on an atomic scale, we first need to know where each atom will end up.

Understanding the Big Picture
What color is California? Depends if you're mapping death rates or the weather. "Rainbow colors," says geographer Cindy Brewer, "make data trends hard to see."

Outlook: Women in Science

Encyclopedia:

Island Aquifer

Cancer and Quantum Mechanics

Keeping Cancer in Check

Underwater Booms

The Lullaby's Too Late

Toying With an Idea

The World According to Algae

Arachnicillan?