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Presents an interview with former U.S. ambassador Richard Holbrooke, who has been at the forefront of the war on AIDS. Scope and severity of the AIDS health crisis; Perception of Africa as the heart of the problem; Issue of denial in India; The rapid spread of AIDS when people are in denial about what causes it and how to prevent it; Thoughts on the World Health Organization's effort to administer antiretrovirals; What businesses can do to combat the AIDS epidemic.

Reports that new scientific findings may be taking some of the wind out of British Prime Minister Tony Blair's dire warnings about global warming. Policy of Blair that global warming must be addressed urgently; Scientists who have studied 2,000 years of data and found that climate may have varied like this before meaning it could be an almost natural occurrence; Questions raised about what should and could be done.

This article looks at the role of evolution in the weight gain of the world's population. Scientists have postulated a "thrifty genotype" that some humans acquired 30,000 or so years ago during their migration from Asia, across a land bridge at what is now the Bering Strait, to North America. These genes may have given cold warriors an ability to store fat and metabolize it sparingly. Members of the Pima tribe of Arizona suffer one of the world's highest rates of diabetes and almost all are overweight. The problem with evolution, as the Pimas know firsthand, is that it cannot keep pace with the modern world. Asians are thought to possess many of the Pimas' thrifty-genome traits, which may explain why the number of obese Chinese doubled between 1992 and 2002. Scientists are beginning to appreciate the variations in how different people respond to diet. For most people--particularly Asians--eating food rich in saturated fats will generally increase the level of "bad" cholesterol while Northern Europeans and Celts, and some Mediterranean populations, tend to have the same cholesterol levels no matter what they eat--the work of a gene inherited from Viking ancestors. The question scientists would ultimately like to answer is how to compensate for the obsolete genes we have inherited from our primitive ancestors.

Looks at new evidence relating to the planet Saturn that has been unveiled by the space probe Cassini. Discoveries related to Saturn's biggest moon Titan; Work of a mini-probe released by Cassini, known as Huygens; Reports on data reported to the European Space Agency, which states that the sky is orange, the clouds are made of methane and the rocks are made of ice.

Focuses on the debate over stem cells in the United States. Claim that some scientists have exaggerated stem cells' potential for cures; Reference to a proposition in California that would give $3 billion to human embryonic stem cell research; Research conducted by Hans Kierstead of the University of California's Reeve-Irvine Research Center; Ethics surrounding the use of embryonic stem-cells in research; Obstacles faced by scientists in creating various types of tissue out of stem cells; Reference to an article in the June 2004 issue of "Scientific American," by Robert Lanza and Nadia Rosenthal.

The article focuses on the possibilities of production of hybrid cars. Hybrid cars are all the rage because they almost double the kilometers one can go on a liter of gasoline. That's no small achievement, but to increase fuel efficiency even more the automobile industry will have to think over the fact that only one percent of a conventional car's gasoline is consumed transporting passengers, the rest is expended in moving the car itself. So, in order to produce fuel-efficient hybrid cars automakers will have to find out means to make their cars bodies weigh lighter.

Reports on two new power plants. Ocean-wave power delivered to an electricity grid from one off the coast of Orkney Islands in Scotland; Design of the plant, which was built by Ocean Power Delivery; Description of a plant in Sydney that is a single, floating vertical cylinder, which was manufactured by Energetech; Comment of engineer Ray Alcorn.

Health officials may have dealt this virus a death blow. Back in December, as northern weather was getting cold and runny noses were once again becoming the norm, health officials braced for a return of SARS. Health experts had assumed that the virus was so well ensconced in the natural world that we were unlikely to avoid a repetition of last year, when the disease jumped from animals to humans.Nobody expects this outbreak to approach the horror of last year, when SARS infected more than 8,000 people from Guangdong to Toronto and killed 774. This time Chinese health officials tracked down the source of the infection, quarantined the lab and got the word out--quickly--to hospitals.

Presents an interview with Michael Brown of Caltech's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Discovery of a new planetoid, Sedna, which is in an area three times farther away than Pluto; Why it took so long to discover Sedna; When he made the discovery; What he makes of Sedna itself; Thoughts on the Oort Cloud.

Discusses the attempts by scientists from Caltech to set out to fashion a laser from a single atom, which created a big challenge which was to keep the atom still. And if scientists ever figure out how to make a quantum computer, which would use atoms or molecules as computing elements, they're going to need a way to assemble it. In his lab at Caltech, physicist Kenneth Libbrecht practices making snowflakes, which may one day help engineers find ways of growing computer circuits. At IBM's Watson Research Center in New York, engineers are developing ultrasmall optical crystals in computer chips that would be able to handle laser signals.

Focuses on the recovery of migratory monarch butterflies in North America following a harsh winter storm in 2002 which killed millions. Decrease in the number of monarch sightings following the storm; Return of the monarch population to normal size in 2003; Their migratory path; Possibility that logging aided in their demise during the storm by altering their natural habitat.

Discusses the threat of nuclear attacks on the United States, in light of the war of the U.S. against terrorism. Idea that a suicide bomber could fly a plane into a nuclear power plant; Speculation concerning the availability of nuclear weapons to Osama bin Laden.

Comments on the commoditization of computers. Implications of the merger of Hewlett-Packard Co. and Compaq; Attempt to switch from selling computers to offering computer services; Services' continuous requirement for pools of expertise and experience; Treatment of computers like ordinary electronic gadgets.

Comments on the placebo effect and the use of the mind-body connection as a bona fide medical treatment. Discussion of a study appearing in the May 2001 issue of 'Science,' which suggests that the power of placebo is a myth; Popularity of alternative medicine and treatment; Criticism of the research for lumping together studies that dealt with a wide range of ailments.

Comments on efforts of cosmologists to explain the creation of the universe. Mention of the theory of general relativity, theory of inflation, big bang theory, and string theory; Description of the universe as part of a meta-universe; Views of Alexander Vilenkin, cosmologist at Tufts University.

Discusses a vote by the European Parliament that will establish regulations for genetically modified crops. How Europeans have been reluctant to consume genetically modified crops; Discussion of Monsanto's Round-up Ready gene, which makes soybean plants resistant to herbicides; Health risks posed by genetically modified crops, including allergies.

Discusses the efforts of pharmaceutical companies and governments to deliver cheap drugs to those infected with HIV. Cost of drug treatments; Announcement of Cipla that it would provide AIDS cocktails to be distributed through Medecins sans Frontieres; Attempt of Brazil to provide cheap drugs to those infected with the virus; Obstacles faced with drug patents.

Focuses on the efforts of scientists to discover a vaccine for the ebola virus, as of December 2000. Reports that scientists have discovered a way to stimulate the immune system of macaque monkeys so that they develop an immunity to the ebola virus; Hopes that the vaccine will eventually work in humans; Difficulty of developing a vaccine because of the virulent nature of the virus.

Reports on the meteorite pieces that fell on Tagish Lake in British Columbia in January 2000. Description of the meteorite; Reasons why it is such a rare scientific discovery; How the Tagish Lake meteorite can be of use in understanding the early solar system and the history of Earth.

FEATURES FOR NEARLY THREE YEARS NOW, MUCH OF THE WORLD HAS SHARED A SINGLE hope as a New Year grew near: a return to some semblance of pre-pan demie normalcy. KERRI ANNE RENZULLI ICY MOONS The planet Jupiter is no stranger to Earth vessels. Disney will also offer movies aplenty, such as the animated musical, Wish (November 22), about a mythical land where wishes come true, and three live-action movies - a remake of The Little Mermaid (May 26); The Haunted Mansion (August 11), based on the theme-park attraction; and, on Disney+, a remake of Peter Pan & Wendy. DIANE HARRIS CELEBRATING 100 YEARS OF THE HOUSE THAT WALT BUILT The Walt Disney Corporation will be celebrating its founding 100 years ago with year-long festivities. [Extracted from the article]

Centers on the implementation of intelligent agents or semiautonomous computer programs in mobile computing. Systems from International Business Machines Corp. and American Telephone & Telegraph Co.; Functions of end-user and alter ego agents. INSETS: A new user interface.. (intelligent agents).;...and a network interface (intelligent agents).;Agents (`Heinz' agent technology)..

The article discusses 22 things to look forward including innovations, events and technology and sports in 2022. Topics include AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile are rolling out 5G—short for fifth generation mobile network—broadly across the U.S.; the XXIV Olympic Winter Games in Beijing, China running February 4–20 and featuring 109 events in 15 disciplines across seven sports; and Apple Glasses, a pair of augmented reality smart glasses the company is supposedly creating, could launch in 2022.

Discusses the devastating impact of a tsunami. Reference to the tsunami of April 1, 1946 that struck the island of Hawaii; Connection between earthquakes of great magnitude and resulting tsunamis; Reasons for the extreme difficulty in predicting a tsunami; Other tsunamis since the eruption of Krakatoa in 1883; Potential for natural disasters in the United States.

Discusses the preparation for biochemical terrorism in the United States. Effect of terrorist attacks on the U.S. on the sale of gear to prevent and treat chemical attacks; World supplies of pathogens; Various chemical attacks which may be considered by terrorists, including anthrax and smallpox.