en-us Science news and technology updates from Scientific American http://www.scientificamerican.com Copyright 1996-2013 Scientific American http://www.scientificamerican.com 45 http://www.scientificamerican.com/media/logo/SAlogo_144px.gif 144 Wed, 19 Jun 2013 12:00:00 EST http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=spam-shadow-history-of-internet-excerpt-part-two <p>The arrival of filtering required spammers to switch strategy. The carpetbaggers of spam&rsquo;s youth left the scene, ushering in criminal sophisticates who set to work spoofing the filters. The game had changed. As Finn Brunton recounts in his brilliant history of spam, excerpted here for a second day: &ldquo;Rather than sales pitches for goods or sites, they [messages] could be used for phishing, identity theft, credit card scams, and infecting the recipient&rsquo;s computer with viruses, worms, adware, and other forms of dangerous and crooked malware. A successful spam message could net many thousands of dollars, rather than $5 or $10 plus whatever the spammer might make selling off their good addresses to other spammers.&rdquo; Brunton illustrates the ingenuity of this transformation by detailing the highly inventive litspam--the hijacking of entire texts of Borges or Conan Doyle to waltz past spam filtering algorithms.</p> <a href=http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=spam-shadow-history-of-internet-excerpt-part-two>[More]</a> Technology,Society & Policy,Consumer Electronics,More Science,Communications,Computing,Technology,Everyday Science Wed, 19 Jun 2013 10:30:00 EST http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=statistics-and-magnetic-socks-shape-modern-taeknowdo <p> This story was originally published by Inside Science News Service . </p> <a href=http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=statistics-and-magnetic-socks-shape-modern-taeknowdo>[More]</a> More Science,Technology,Computing,More Science,Physics,Everyday Science Tue, 18 Jun 2013 12:00:00 EST http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=global-citizens-scientific-american <p>Fifteen languages, multiple platforms and one great institution: that is Scientific American , which celebrates its 168th year in August. I had another occasion to appreciate all of the above recently when we held our annual meeting of the international editions in New York City for the first time in many years. The multicultural mix, I have always thought, simply reflects the global collaborative nature of science itself.</p> <a href=http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=global-citizens-scientific-american>[More]</a> More Science,Society & Policy,Extraterrestrial Life,More Science,Space,Everyday Science Tue, 18 Jun 2013 12:00:00 EST http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=spam-shadow-history-of-internet-excerpt-part-one <p> <a href=http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=spam-shadow-history-of-internet-excerpt-part-one>[More]</a> Technology,Society & Policy,Computing,More Science,Communications,Technology,Everyday Science Tue, 18 Jun 2013 07:01:00 EST http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=remote-control-of-electric-cars <p>There&#39;s a place in Austin, Texas, where the residents have agreed to be the test subjects for a renewable energy and smart grid future--and it&#39;s named after a nut. The Pecan Street demonstration project--part of the newly built 280-hectare neighborhood known as Mueller--has become the largest concentrated community of electric vehicle (EV) owners in the world. The community now has nearly 60 Chevy Volt owners alone, thanks to the demonstration project&#39;s commitment to match the federal government&#39;s $7,500 rebate incentive, effectively halving the price of the hybrid electric cars. And, in addition to learning where and when EV owners charge up their cars, Volt manufacturer General Motors is hoping to learn from the folks in the Pecan Street project how a residential fleet of electric vehicles might change the electric grid.</p> <a href=http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=remote-control-of-electric-cars>[More]</a> Energy & Sustainability,Technology,Society & Policy,Everyday Science,More Science,Energy Technology,Alternative Energy Technology,Climate,Green Living,Automotive Technology,Consumer Electronics,Energy Technology,Environment,Alternative Energy Technology Mon, 17 Jun 2013 07:05:00 EST http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=cracks-in-the-periodic-table <p>In 2010 researchers in Russia announced they had synthesized the first few nuclei of element 117. This new type of atom does not yet have a name, because the science community traditionally waits for independent confirmation before it christens a new element. But barring any surprises, 117 has now taken its permanent place in the periodic table of elements.</p><p> <a href=http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=cracks-in-the-periodic-table>[More]</a> More Science,More Science,Chemistry,Everyday Science Mon, 17 Jun 2013 00:01:00 EST http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=carbon-trading-experiments-in-china <p>On June 18 China&rsquo;s pioneering city of Shenzhen is set to notch up another first. From that day 635 companies in the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone--which in 1979 became the vanguard for China&rsquo;s capitalist revolution--will start using the markets to help meet greenhouse gas emissions targets .</p> <a href=http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=carbon-trading-experiments-in-china>[More]</a> Energy & Sustainability,Society & Policy,Everyday Science,Climate,Clean Air Policy,Environment,More Science Sun, 16 Jun 2013 11:00:00 EST http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=nature-photography-good-or-bad-for-the-environment <p> Dear EarthTalk : Is nature photography good or bad for the environment? --Cal Moss, Camden, Maine <a href=http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=nature-photography-good-or-bad-for-the-environment>[More]</a> Energy & Sustainability,History of Science,Technology,Society & Policy,Everyday Science,Consumer Electronics,Energy & Sustainability,Ecology,Green Living,Environment,More Science Sat, 15 Jun 2013 10:00:00 EST http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=scientists-use-faux-fossils-learn-how-insect-colors-evolved <p>On its way from flight to fossil, an ancient beetle&#39;s wings lost their color and then their form. Slow-baked and squished by sand, the glittering green wings darkened and turned blue, then indigo, then black.</p> <a href=http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=scientists-use-faux-fossils-learn-how-insect-colors-evolved>[More]</a> Evolution,Everyday Science,Evolutionary Biology,Evolution,Archaeology & Paleontology,More Science Fri, 14 Jun 2013 11:00:00 EST http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=alternatives-to-toxic-cleaning-supplies <p> Dear EarthTalk : I&#39;m concerned about toxic ingredients in my cleaning supplies, especially now that I have young children. Where can I find safer alternatives? --Betsy, East Hartford, Conn. </p> <a href=http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=alternatives-to-toxic-cleaning-supplies>[More]</a> Energy & Sustainability,Chemistry,Environment,Health,Society & Policy,Ethics,More Science,Energy & Sustainability,Green Living,Biology,Everyday Science Fri, 14 Jun 2013 10:00:00 EST http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=readers-respond-the-myth-of-antioxidants <p> ANTIOXIDANTS AND HEALTH </p> <a href=http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=readers-respond-the-myth-of-antioxidants>[More]</a> More Science,Mind & Brain,Space,More Science,Everyday Science,Health,Society & Policy Thu, 13 Jun 2013 10:00:00 EST http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=bring-science-home-family-trait-tree <p class="p1"> Key concepts <a href=http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=bring-science-home-family-trait-tree>[More]</a> More Science,History of Science,Science Education,More Science,Biology,Everyday Science Thu, 13 Jun 2013 07:30:00 EST http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=recent-bill-connecticut-proclaims-gustave-whitehead-first-fly-not-wright-brothers <p>There is no doubt the prolific Gustave Whitehead deserves an honorable mention in the Hall of Aviation Pioneers. He built dozens of aircraft and workable gliders as well as several lightweight gasoline-powered engines, and Scientific American frequently mentioned his work. But was he &ldquo;first in flight&rdquo;? No. Those honors go to the brothers Wilbur and Orville Wright, who completed the first powered, man-carrying, controlled flight of more than a few meters in the first decade of the 20th century.</p> <a href=http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=recent-bill-connecticut-proclaims-gustave-whitehead-first-fly-not-wright-brothers>[More]</a> More Science,Technology,Society & Policy,Automotive Technology,More Science,Science Education,History of Science,Everyday Science Thu, 13 Jun 2013 07:00:00 EST http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=olive-oil-compound-makes-throat-itch-prevent-alzheimers <p>Doctors and nutritionists have long associated the Mediterranean diet with human health benefits, including a lower risk of Alzheimer&#39;s disease. A recent study of 1,880 elderly people living in New York City, for example, showed that those who strongly adhered to a Mediterranean diet over the study&#39;s 14-year span had a 32 to 40 percent lower incidence of Alzheimer&#39;s compared with those who did not.</p> <a href=http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=olive-oil-compound-makes-throat-itch-prevent-alzheimers>[More]</a> Health,Health,Thought & Cognition,Everyday Science,More Science,Neurological Disorders,Biology,Mind & Brain Wed, 12 Jun 2013 07:30:00 EST http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=pogue-how-not-to-be-crass-wearing-google-glass <p>This month, my Scientific American column took a look at the prospects for Google Glass, Google&#39;s futuristic, eye-mounted, pseudo-smartphone thing. Frankly, Glass&#39;s greatest vulnerability isn&#39;t that it may fail technologically, it&#39;s that it may fail socially. How comfortable will you be when you&#39;re conversing with someone who may or may not be filming you?</p> <a href=http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=pogue-how-not-to-be-crass-wearing-google-glass>[More]</a> Technology,Society & Policy,Consumer Electronics,More Science,Communications,Computing,Technology,Everyday Science Wed, 12 Jun 2013 07:00:00 EST http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=messing-with-blood-brain-barrier-key-treating-host-diseases <p>During one of his famous staining experiments of the late 1800s--the kind that would eventually lead to a cure for syphilis and a Nobel Prize for Medicine--Paul Ehrlich stumbled on a conundrum that would haunt medicine down to the present day. When he injected dye into the bloodstream of mice, it penetrated every organ except the brain. Kidneys, livers and hearts turned a dark purplish-blue, clear and stark under his microscope, but the brain remained a pale whitish-yellow. When a student of his injected that same dye directly into the brain, the opposite happened: the brain itself turned blue, whereas the other organs did not. Clearly, the student thought, a barrier--in German, Blut-Hirn-Schranke --must exist between brain and blood.</p> <a href=http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=messing-with-blood-brain-barrier-key-treating-host-diseases>[More]</a> Health,More Science,Everyday Science,Biology,Health Tue, 11 Jun 2013 23:59:08 EST http://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode.cfm?id=help-scientists-stalk-cicadas-13-06-11 <p>When the 17-year cicadas last made their entrance, the world wide web was in its infancy and Google didn&rsquo;t even exist. Now, these emerging insects are the bug-eyed darlings of the cyberworld. And with your help, scientists are using the power of the Internet to track their appearances via Twitter, Instagram and other online databases.</p> <a href=http://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode.cfm?id=help-scientists-stalk-cicadas-13-06-11>[More]</a> Evolution,Environment,Everyday Science,Ecology,Science Education,Evolutionary Biology,Biology,More Science Tue, 11 Jun 2013 07:30:00 EST http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=your-hidden-censor-what-your-mind-will-not-let-you-see <p>It was a summer evening when Tony Cornell tried to make the residents of Cambridge, England see a ghost. He got dressed up in a sheet and walked through a public park waving his arms about. Meanwhile his assistants observed the bystanders for any hint that they noticed something strange. No, this wasn&rsquo;t Candid Camera. Cornell was a researcher interested in the paranormal. The idea was first to get people to notice the spectacle, and then see how they understood what their eyes were telling them. Would they see the apparition as a genuine ghost or as something more mundane, like a bloke in a bed sheet?</p> <a href=http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=your-hidden-censor-what-your-mind-will-not-let-you-see>[More]</a> Mind & Brain,Society & Policy,Thought & Cognition,More Science,Psychology,Mind & Brain,Everyday Science Tue, 11 Jun 2013 07:00:00 EST http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=glowing-plants-controversy-questions-and-answers <p>In April three biohackers from a California Do-It-Yourself biology lab, BioCurious , posted a Kickstarter campaign to crowdsource their plan to bioengineer a glowing plant . They asked for $65,000. But by the close of their campaign at midnight on Thursday, June 6, they had raised a remarkable $484,013. (Meanwhile, BioCurious itself is in financial trouble.) It was the first time anyone had kick-started a genetic engineering project. The group had hit upon a new method for funding biotech, one that&rsquo;s faster, cheaper and requires less expertise than traditional grants or venture capital. Crowdsourcing does require public buy in, however, and this case raises a thorny hitch--ethically, environmentally and perhaps legally.</p> <a href=http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=glowing-plants-controversy-questions-and-answers>[More]</a> Evolution,Environment,Health,History of Science,Technology,Society & Policy,Biotechnology,More Science,Energy & Sustainability,Ecology,Biotechnology,Biology,Everyday Science Mon, 10 Jun 2013 17:40:00 EST http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=5-basic-unknowns-nsa-black-hole-prism <p>Last week saw revelations that the FBI and the National Security Agency have been collecting Americans&#39; phone records en masse and that the agencies have access to data from nine tech companies.</p> <a href=http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=5-basic-unknowns-nsa-black-hole-prism>[More]</a> Technology,Society & Policy,Computing,More Science,Communications,Technology,Everyday Science