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On the Cover

May-June 2016
Volume 104, Number 3

At any given moment, millions of computing systems connected to the Internet are fending off attacks. Security software company Kaspersky Labs has created a real-time global map of cyberthreats that its security network is subjected to. This image, showing recent attacks over the span of seconds,....


FEATURE ARTICLES

Energy–Water Nexus: Head-On Collision or Near Miss? *

Kristen Averyt

Energy production requires water, and clean water requires energy. How will we overcome this feedback loop in a warming, increasingly crowded world?


Paradoxes, Contradictions, and the Limits of Science *

Noson S. Yanofsky

Many research results define boundaries of what cannot be known, predicted, or described. Classifying these limitations shows us the structure of science and reason.


The Many Faces of Fool's Gold

David Rickard

Pyrite, an iron sulfide, may be worthless to gold miners, but the mineral has great utility in everything from fertilizer to electronics.


* access restricted to members and subscribers


SCIENTISTS’ NIGHTSTAND

Behind the Scenes, Between the Lines

Carolyn Beans

Geobiologist Hope Jahren’s memoir, Lab Girl, takes readers on a behind-the-scenes tour of science as she recounts the triumphs and misadventures of setting up three labs and conducting research in the Canadian Arctic, Ireland, Hawaii, and across the continental United States.

See all book reviews for this issue


DEPARTMENTS

FROM THE EDITORS

The Path to Self-Actualization

Jamie L. Vernon

COMPUTING SCIENCE

Cybersecurity Is Harder Than Building Bridges

Protecting the Internet and online computerized systems from attack is a difficult, messy problem. Here’s why.

Peter J. Denning and Dorothy E. Denning

ENGINEERING

Traffic Signals, Dilemma Zones, and Red-Light Cameras*

After almost a century of study, engineers are still debating the best ways to help drivers move as safely and efficiently as possible.

Henry Petroski

INFOGRAPHIC

Year one of our new view of Pluto

LETTER TO THE EDITORS

Microgravity's Hottest


SIGMA XI TODAY (PDF)

PERSPECTIVE

The Imprecise Search for Extraterrestrial Habitability

How can scientists hunt for alien habitats without defining life?

Kevin Heng

SIGHTINGS

A Fish's Armor

Clearing and staining the scalyhead sculpin reveals defensive solutions that are highly mobile.

Robert Frederick

SPOTLIGHT

Cuban and American Physics

As the political divide between the two countries begins to narrow, enthusiasm for scientific collaboration is running high on both sides.

Sandra J. Ackerman

Flint Water Crisis Yields Hard Lessons in Science and Ethics

Q&A with Virginia Tech civil engineer Marc Edwards on uncovering the water crises in Flint, Michigan and Washington, DC and his efforts to keep it from happening again.

Katie L. Burke

Moving Forward After Flint

Virginia Tech graduate student Siddhartha Roy speaks about his experiences uncovering the Flint water crisis and how it has affected his outlook on science and his career.

Katie L. Burke

Briefings


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