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There's something missing in our appreciation of the Renaissance, says Paolo Galluzzi, professor of the history of science at the University of Florence - something very important. While we rightly […]

As innovation in sports equipment threatens to turn the Olympics into the world's greatest technology tourney, rules committees struggle to ensure a level playing field. The thrill of victory and […]

The article discusses the vulnerabilities of the animal mind in relation to scientific advancements in biology, genetics, and neuroscience, and it mentions the efforts to diagnose and treat various psychological issues which impact animals such as cats and dogs. According to the article, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), separation anxiety, and fear can impact humans and animals. The parallels between human and animal patients are examined, along with neurotransmitter serotonin.

The article presents information on various influential people discussed in the May 11, 2009 issue of "Time." U.S. President Barack Obama has 7,378,656 copies of his books in print. Musician A. R. Rahman has sold 200 million albums worldwide. Boxer Manny Pacquiao has won nine fighter of the year awards. Actor Brad Pitt has appeared on the cover of "People" magazine 45 times.

The article covers an overall view of global warming; the causes, threats and impact are outlined with a rundown of possible solutions. Reducing carbon dioxide emissions is the goal. Possible new energy sources are wind, solar, nuclear, and ethanol based oil. A new idea of sequestration is presented in which carbon dioxide is sent underground. Office building heating and cooling is cited as target for emission reduction. Efforts by Wal-Mart and other companies to be environmentally friendly are covered.

This article reviews medical news of 2006. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved over-the-counter sales of Plan B, a contraceptive to be taken after sex. A study determined that SIDS babies had more abnormalities among neurons in the brain stem than other infants. Lying down has been found to dampen senses, such as hearing and smell. News about pharmaceutical drugs, cavities, foods, depression, the eyes, gum, laughter, the Mediterranean diet, loneliness and nutrients are mentioned.

This article focuses on worry and how humans evaluate risk. According to scientists, part of the problem is that modern-day man moves through the world with a prehistoric brain that has not received the message that it lives in a predator-free environment. The misjudgment of risk when humans feel they are in control is discussed.

The article opens with background on publications including "The God Delusion" and "The End of Faith" challenging religion and the question of the compatibility of religious with scientific world views. There follows a debate between Oxford University's Richard Dawkins, an evolutionary biologist and avowed atheist, and Francis Collins, Director of the National Human Genome Research Institute and avowed Christian.

This article discusses the varied effects of global warming on the climate. Huge storms, such as Cyclone Larry in Australia and Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana, display the immediate and disastrous effects of changes in the environment due to global warming. Rapid polar ice melting and rising sea levels are occurring faster than environmentalists and lawmakers have predicted. Hotter summers and winters have also reduced the amount of snowfall, and, in turn, the amount of meltwater in the spring. INSET: SEEING THE PROBLEM, NOT THE SOLUTION.

Presents briefs related to medicine during the year of 2004. Consideration of the debate over the controversial use of antidepressants among children and adolescents; Findings regarding the lifesaving qualities of antioxidants such as blueberries; Infection of 44 people which resulted in the death of 32 due to the avian flu; Impact of environmental factors as well as genes on the risk of breast cancer; Evidence of a link between coffee consumption and a reduced risk of Type 2 diabetes; Reference to a government-funded study, the Women's Health Initiative, which found that women who took estrogen and progestin to replace hormones lost during menopause suffered from an increased risk of heart disease, stroke, and breast cancer; Benefits associated with the omega-3 fatty acids in fish-oil supplements according to the FDA.

Examines political campaigning and the mass media in the U.S. Significance of Dan Rather's report on "60 Minutes" concerning President George W. Bush's National Guard service; Rather's defense of his reporting after it was found the documents were forged; Issue of partisanship; Frustration of John Kerry supporters; Technological challenges to presidential candidates and their parties; Influence of the Internet; Transmission of political messages through mass media; Why the Republican campaign keeps a close eye on blogs; Speed with which information moves; Strategy of the John Kerry campaign; Outlook for the election.

Discusses new ideas from medical research, and how they are being used by athletes looking for a boost. Use of muscle-building drugs in fighting muscular dystrophy; How, in competitive sports, high stakes and high technology are combining to push the limits of human performance; Observation that Olympics athletes at the Athens Games will be policed by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA); Speculation that WADA will test for synthetic human growth hormone (HGH); Implications of the rapid development of gene-based compounds for athletes; Why gene-based compounds will be harder to track; The key to using insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) safely and effectively in muscular-dystrophy patients; Focus of some athletes on gene therapy; Overview of medical research.

Discusses the reasons why large numbers of Americans are overweight or obese. Statistics on obesity among adults and children; Statistics on the rapid increase in the numbers of overweight people over the past two decades; Details of the health problems associated with obesity, and statistics on the cost of treating obesity-related illnesses; Results of polls of Americans about their attitudes towards weight loss; Discussion of the theory that the tendency among people to overeat may stem from human evolution; Discussion of how the Western lifestyle encourages overeating; Description of the Stone Age diet; Effects of the introduction of meat into the diet; Description of the levels of exercise involved in hunting and gathering; Effects of the introduction of agriculture on human health; Effects of the invention of cars and other machinery on levels of exercise; Effects of the mass production of food on the human diet; Discussion of recent efforts by scientists, policymakers and educators to combat the trend towards obesity; Speculation about whether Americans are starting to slim down; Need for an anti-obesity public health campaign.

Presents brief descriptions of medical advances made in 2003. Diagnosis and treatment of Alzheimer's; Drug therapies and vaccines for AIDS; Discovery of a link between antibiotics and allergies in infants; Discovery that berries offer health benefits; Step towards legalizing the morning-after pill in the U.S.; Advances in cancer research; Finding that chocolate contains antioxidants; More.

Reports on the worsening diabetes epidemic in the United States. Amount of Americans with diabetes, including amount of new cases each year; Terms used to describe the disease, such as fasting blood glucose; Explanation of how the disease works; Difference between the various forms of diabetes; Tests that can be performed to check for diabetes; Prevention methods for diabetes, such as changing eating habits; Examples of children getting diabetes, something that is happening more. INSET: DIABETES SELF-TEST.

The article suggests ways to eat smarter and healthier. It's 6: 45 p.m. After a bruising day at the office and a hair-raising commute on the freeway, you are standing in the kitchen about to prepare a healthy, satisfying dinner for your spouse, your two school-age children and yourself. You dump a box of thin spaghetti into a pot of boiling water, zap 3 cups of green beans in the microwave, pop a loaf of frozen garlic bread into the toaster oven and pour a medium-size jar of marinara sauce into a saucepan to simmer. While this meal may be better than what most Americans eat for dinner, it's enough food for a family twice the size of yours. You may think you are eating right, but by making subtle changes in what you eat and how you eat it, you could start eating considerably healthier. INSET: Phytochemicals.

Discusses women and heart disease. How more women die in the U.S. each year of cardiovascular disease than of breast cancer; Implications of the condition for women; How women's cardiovascular systems differ from those of men's; Campaign by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute to publicize women's risk of heart disease; Risk factors; Uncertainty over why heart disease strikes men and women so differently; Overview of research; What women can do to reduce risks.

Discusses efforts to determine the cause for the destruction of the space shuttle Columbia upon re-entry of the Earth's atmosphere. Description of how the crew would prepare for reentry; Death of the seven crew members; Items that investigators will examine during the inquest into the Columbia accident; Examination of the last 45 minutes of the Columbia flight; Events at the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration Cape Canaveral site in preparation for landing; Weather conditions; Witness reports from eastern Texas and Louisiana, where debris landed; Remarks from U.S. President George W. Bush; Possibility that a piece of foam that broke from the insulation on the external fuel tank and struck the left wing of the ship during takeoff contributed to the deconstruction of the Columbia. INSETS: COLUMBIA'S FINAL FLIGHT;The Shuttle's Glory and Tragedy.

Presents a list of medicine-related topics form the year 2002 in alphabetical order. Topics covered including the Atkins diet, botox, cloning, hormone replacement therapy; mammography, smallpox, vaccines, West Nile virus and Zoloft; Others.

Discusses mental health and symptoms of clinical depression. Pathology and treatment of depression; Topics of brain biochemistry, a possible link between a steady heartbeat and depression, the role of serotonin, and diabetes; History of drugs used to restore the electrochemical imbalance; Interplay between depression and other diseases. INSETS: HOW STRESS TAKES ITS TOLL;FACTS.

Focuses on risk factors in 40% of deaths worldwide each year, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Overview of the list, which includes hunger, unsafe sex, high blood pressure and bad water; Contention of WHO that eliminating the factors could add years to healthy life spans in Africa and also in developed countries.

Reports on the discoveries made by scientists about the important developmental steps which occur in the life of an unborn fetus. How scientists can describe the genes and molecules involved at any developmental stage; Speculation towards the treatment of late-in-life diseases; Role of the prenatal environment on the embryo; Research of Caenorhabditis elegans embryos; Establishment of homeotic homeobox genes.

Examines weight-loss diets, in light of research on low-fat and low-carbohydrate diets. View that the low-carbohydrate diet of Dr. Robert Atkins is gaining credibility; The high percentage of adults in the U.S. who are overweight or obese; Research on the biology of obesity; Speculation on why Americans make unhealthy food choices; Focus on diets geared for life rather than quick weight loss; Discussion of carbohydrates, dairy products and fats; Outlook for an optimal postmodern diet. INSET: EATING IN THE EXTREME.

Discusses the risks and benefits of vegetarian meals. Reasons to eat meat, including the idea that it an American tradition; Topics of human nutrition, animal rights, and vegetarian philosophy in the United States; Vegetarian forms of sproutarianism, fruitarianism, raw foodism, veganism, ovo-vegetarianism, lacto-vegetarianism, ovo-lacto-vegetarianism, and pesco-, pollo-, and semi-vegetarianism; Research that indicates the benefits of meat-free meals; Mention of lobbying by the meat and dairy industries. INSET: Beyond Diced Carrots.

Profiles Jose Padilla, an American who joined the Al-Qaeda terrorist group. Efforts of Padilla to build a radioactive bomb to detonate in the U.S.; View that the arrest of Padilla is a warning that terrorists may still attack the U.S.; Biographical information on Padilla, who was a member of a gang in Chicago, Illinois. INSET: DEFUSING THE TERROR, by Jeffrey Kluger.

Reports on changes being made to operations at the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Effective rule changes for the FBI, which were drafted in order to improve the quality and effectiveness of information-gathering and crime prevention; Details of additional powers of FBI agents; Difficulty of changing such a complex organization. INSET: What's New at the FBI, by David Bjerklie and Elaine Shannon.

Reports on advances in medicine during 2001. Topics including Alzheimer's, bovine spongiform encephalopathy, cloning, diabetes, genetic engineering, low-tar cigarettes, mousepox virus, ovarian cancer, stem cells; Drugs such as Baycol, Cipro, Gleevec, oxycontin, Ritalin, and tamoxifen.

Reports on weaknesses in the United States public-health system. View that U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson and Homeland Security chief Tom Ridge made poor decisions in dealing with the anthrax cases; History of the system; Problem of funding; Efforts of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to make improvements.

Describes several aspects of the excavation process around the site of the World Trade Center buildings in New York City. The care with which workers are removing debris which contains body parts and victims of the terrorist attack; The reaction of workers to some of the gruesome discoveries; Estimated costs of the cleanup; Comment from Bruce Baughman, director of operations for the United States Federal Emergency Management Agency; Environmental concerns. INSETS: The Burn Unit, by Alice Park;MAPPING THE DAMAGE;Should They Be Rebuilt?, by Michael D. Lemonick.

Focuses on United States President George W. Bush's decision to abandon the 1997 Kyoto Protocol to cut carbon dioxide emissions and curb global warming. Reaction of world leaders; Bush's reversal of campaign promises regarding caps on carbon dioxide; Statistics on how Americans view global warming; Concerns of environmentalists.