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Science is reshaping what we know about getting older. (The news is better than you think.) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The right doctors can make all the difference when it comes to treating cancer. So why don't we know who they are? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When one study linked childhood vaccines to autism, it set off a panic. The research didn't hold up, but some wounded families can't move on. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After billions spent on research and decades of hit-or-miss treatments, it's time to rethink the war on cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pathological genes, a disturbed mind, social isolation and a gun culture are not enough. Mass murderers also need the individual will to pull the trigger. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A popular movie and a mureder trial bring this tragic disease to light. How can the voices sound so real? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A few cases do not an epidemic make. But they're unprecendented; worry over what's next is contagious. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As neurons shrink and connections wither, thinking can become slower and attention may wander. But the changes are often unnoticeable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Experiments on human volunteers are crucial to biomedical progress. But do they pose an unacceptable risk? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Harvested from embryos, stem cells may cure Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and a host of other diseases. But now the cells are at the heart of a war pitting pro-life purists against research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A revolution in genetic research is targeting treatments to patients' unique characteristics. It can mean the difference between life and death. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The plague that's killed 22 million isn't done with us yet. While we hunt for a vaccine, people continue to die -- from AIDS or the drugs intended to treat it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SCIENCE: New research on how cocaine, heroin, alcohol and amphetamines target neuronal circuits is revealing the biological basis of addiction, tolerance, withdrawal and relapse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A report on a warming trend that is predicted to cause an unprecedented disruption in the environment by the next century. Some question whether the trend has already started, but all agree it's inevitable and due mainly to increases in the atmospheric content of carbon dioxide. Rising temperatures and sea levels; Industrial pollution and effects; Sun's rays and dangers.

Cosmologists, scientists who study how the universe began and evolved, now believe they are close to explaining the universe with simplicity. The newest theory, `inflation,' now has several versions, but each share one theme and much enthusiasm. Theories, studies, and reactions.

Twins never fail to amaze other people, inspiring curiosity and envy. Scientists are studying twins to sort out which qualities of mind and body are shaped by genes, and which by upbringing. The answers are forcing revisions in many cherished notions about how personality develops and how much control we have over our own lives. But scientists still remain puzzled over the origins of some twins and their relationships. Research, statistics, problems.

Reports that computer models are warning of doom for the world within a century unless mankind mends its ways, while skeptics are dismissing such prognostications. Arguments put forth by economists; Why gauging this scenario is not just a matter of numbers; Assertion that there are no easy solutions.

States that with powerful new devices that peer through the skull and see the brain at work, neuroscientists seek the wellsprings of thoughts and emotions, the genesis of intelligence and language. Recent attempts to map the brain; Creating detailed diagrams how parts function; Positron emission tomography (PET); Homing in on active areas.

Considers how dinosaurs are enjoying a renaissance. Paleontologists find new species every year and are learning that the reptiles were smarter, more sophisticated and more diverse than anyone suspected. Fossil finds; New theories; Duckbilled maiasaurs; Bipeds such as Deinonychus that hunted in ferocious gangs of four; Triceratops; Work of David Gillette, a Utah state paleontologist; Details of dinosaur life. INSET: Green like Kermit or blue like Grover?.

Questions, if humans first crossed the Bering Strait 12,000 years ago, then who built the 40,000-year-old sites that are scattered from the hills of Pennsylvania to the tip of Chile. Brazil's Pedra Furada; Bluefish Caves in the Yukon where JacquesCinq-Mars of the Archaeological Survey of Canada found evidence of episodic human activity between 25,000 and 10,000; Taima-taima in northwest Venezuela; Pedra Furada in northeast Brazil.

Describes how three families in a Boston hospital's intensive care unit struggled with the meaning of love enough to let go. Case of Domenic Ponzo at Boston's Beth Israel Hospital; Option that more and more patients, and their families, demand is to leapfrog dying if death is all that awaits; Helen Reynolds' decision to end her life; Decisions concerning another patient who suffered from cirrhosis of the liver.

Reports on how, more than 70 years after Congress passed a law to eradicate the northern gray wolf, `Canis lupus' is coming back. Canadian wolf packs are migrating south into Montana and central Idaho. Conservationists desperately want to protect the animals; Ranchers see that proposal as a deadly threat. INSET: Lupine lore (details on the wolf); The rescue of the reds....

Examines solar eclipses and explains that they give scientists an opportunity to penetrate the mysteries of the sun that are lost in its usual brightness. This Thursday an eclipse is expected to pass over Mauna Kea, Hawaii, the site of one of the 763 B.C., 585 B.C., in 1868 and 1919; Solar rhythm. INSET: Easier described than understood.;Cashing in on eclipsemania, by.

Reports that telescopes making their debut in the 1990s will peer deeper into space and farther back in time than ever before. From Earth's orbit and from mountaintops, the new instruments will spy galaxies being born, stars in their death throes and black holes practicing cosmic omnivory. The Keck in Hawaii, new radio telescopes, a Space Infrared Telescope Facility (SIRTF); Quasars; More. INSET: A Journey across the spectrum.;Eye on the sky..

Details how Saddam Hussein ordered a massive attack against the Persian Gulf last week by opening oil pumps at Sea Island Terminal. The Iraqi oil flood has created environmental hazards and military obstacles. Impact on the gulf ecosystem; How the spill could hamper the Saudi economy; Environmentalists' worst fears; How the floating oil emulsifies and becomes more hazardous. INSET: Iraq's crude weapon.;How to clean up a spill..

Reports on the Hubble Space Telescope and its flaw in one of the mirrors, called a `spherical aberration', which is causing blurred pictures of the bright star Iota Carina. Unable to fix because of grounded space shuttle fleet; Questions the nation's ability to carry out costly and expensive megascience projects; Investigating commission to report within three months; Hughes Danbury Optical Systems improved NASA's specifications. INSET: Cataract Surgery..

Explains how teachers today are teaching science by lecture, textbook and memorization, rather than experimentation. This method seems to turn children off to science completely and irreversibly. Ideas that encourage higher-order thinking. INSET: Attention, teachers: Keep curiosity alive!, by C. Leslie.;`It....

Examines the centuries old search for a fountain of youth, which may turn out to be found in our own cells and genes, although still unanswered is the question of how to tap them. Trying to add life to years; Attitude, exercise and diet; Aging is inescapable; Slowing the basic aging mechanism.

Describes the images of Neptune, the Blue Planet, sent 2.8 billion miles to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory from the unmanned spacecraft Voyager 2. Data gathered; Voyager 2's 12-year mission; Differences between planets. INSET: The last picture show; Sun; Mercury.;Venus; Earth; Mars....

Discusses research on dreams and how all types of people are now trying to analyze and use their dreams in everyday life. How scientists view dreams; Examples of images and their meanings; Overcoming nightmares; Brain neurons controlling dreams;Questions remaining. INSET: A blueprint for dreaming..

Discusses how the AIDS epidemic is driving the current revolution to relax drug testing rules at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and how the changes will affect victims of many diseases. Types of changes and trial efforts; Remaining issues. INSET: Changing times at FDA.;The AIDS underground, by J. Hammer..

Discusses the scientific frenzy resulting from the announcement that chemists B. Stanley Pons and Martin Fleischmann created nuclear fusion in a bottle. Despite controversy over experimental results, the research has focused attention on other kinds of unconventional fusion and their appeals as cheap, clean fuels of the future. INSET: The global race for second place; Palladium: The fuel of the....

Reports on the worst oil disaster in North American history dumped 240000 barrels of oil from the supertanker Exxon Valdez. Cause of accident; Environmental impact; Impact on fishing industry; Impact on wildlife; Government reaction; Environmentalists reaction. INSET: Alaska's menagerie of catastrophes..