Magazine

March-April 2007

Current Issue

March-April 2007

Volume: 95 Number: 2

The slime mold Dictyostelium discoideum has served as the testing ground for mathematical modeling techniques in biology. This image simulates a pattern formed when Dictyostelium cells, in the face of starvation, abandon their existence as free-living amoebas and aggregate. The model that produced such images captures the combined effect of subcellular processes and self-organizing behavior. Red represents the highest cell density, blue the lowest. In "Multiscale Modeling in Biology," Santiago Schnell, Ramon Grima and Philip K. Maini discuss how similar techniques are now being used to model multiscale processes including cancer. (Images courtesy of John C. Dallon, Brigham Young University.)

In This Issue

  • Art
  • Astronomy
  • Biology
  • Chemistry
  • Communications
  • Computer
  • Environment
  • Evolution
  • Mathematics
  • Medicine
  • Physics
  • Policy
  • Psychology
  • Sociology
  • Technology

Uncovering Prehistoric Hurricane Activity

Kam-biu Liu

Environment Physics

Multiscale Modeling in Biology

Santiago Schnell, Ramon Grima, Philip Maini

Biology Mathematics

New insights into cancer illustrate how mathematical tools are enhancing the understanding of life from the smallest scale to the grandest

Imprinted and More Equal

Randy Jirtle, Jennifer Weidman

Biology Evolution

Why silence perfectly good copies of important genes? The answer may lie in a battle between mother and father staged in the genome of their offspring

Amber's Botanical Origins Revealed

Jorge Santiago-Blay, Joseph Lambert

Biology Chemistry

Large collections of the substances exuded by trees today may help to track backward from amber samples to the ancient plants that produced them

Plug-in Hybrid Vehicles for a Sustainable Future

Andrew A. Frank

Environment Policy Technology

Appropriately designed hybrid cars will help wean society off petroleum. The necessary technology is available now

Scientists' Nightstand

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