Magazine
January-February 2013

January-February 2013
Volume: 101 Number: 1
Wind tunnels—such as this one at the Max Planck Institute of Ornithology in Seewiesen, Germany—are at the cutting edge of methods for studying bird migration. This example, built in 1999 under the dome of a planetarium, has been used to study migratory bird metabolism, navigation and orientation. Paul Bartell and Ashli Moore explain what ornithologists and neurobiologists now know about birds that migrate only at night in “Avian Migration: The Ultimate Red-Eye Flight.” These small birds undergo extremes in sleeplessness and metabolism, feats that are not humanly possible. (Cover image courtesy of Axel Griesch.)
In This Issue
- Art
- Astronomy
- Biology
- Chemistry
- Communications
- Computer
- Engineering
- Environment
- Ethics
- Evolution
- Mathematics
- Medicine
- Physics
- Policy
- Psychology
- Sociology
- Technology
Switching Colors with Electricity
Roger J. Mortimer
Technology
Electrochromic materials can be used in glare reduction, energy conservation and chameleonic fabrics
Avian Migration: The Ultimate Red-Eye Flight
Ashli Moore, Paul Bartell
Evolution
Birds that migrate at night enter a state of sleepless mania and gorge on foods by day, behaviors mediated by their biological clocks.
Scientists' Nightstand
A Map of the Universe
Fenella Saunders
Astronomy Review Scientists Nightstand
A brief review of Space Atlas, by James Trefil
Series of Milestones
Fenella Saunders
Communications Mathematics Medicine Physics Review Scientists Nightstand
A brief review of The Math Book, The Physics Book and The Medical Book, by Clifford Pickover
An Ecology of Happiness
Anna Lena Phillips
Psychology Sociology Review Scientists Nightstand
A brief review of An Ecology of Happiness, by Eric Lambin, translated by Teresa Lavender Fagan
Picturing the Cosmos
Fenella Saunders
Astronomy Review Scientists Nightstand
A brief review of Picturing the Cosmos: Hubble Space Telescope Images and the Astronomical Sublime, by Elizabeth A. Kessler
From Plants to Planets: Our Favorite Coffee-Table Books of 2012
The Editors
Communications Review Scientists Nightstand
Each winter we peruse the year’s large-format books about science and present brief reviews of the ones we like best
A Supersized View of the Universe
Fenella Saunders
Astronomy Review Scientists Nightstand
A brief review of Planetfall: New Solar System Visions, by Michael Benson
At the Heart of Pine
Katie L. Burke
Biology Botany Forestry Review Scientists Nightstand
A brief review of Longleaf, Far as the Eye Can See: A New Vision of North America’s Richest Forest, by Bill Finch, Beth Maynor Young, Rhett Johnson and John C. Hall
The Power of Two Wheels
David Schoonmaker
Engineering Review Scientists Nightstand Transportation
A brief review of Cycling Science: How Rider and Machine Work Together, by Max Glaskin
Modern-day Botanicals
Anna Lena Phillips
Biology Botany Photography Review Scientists Nightstand
A brief review of Natural Companions: The Garden Lover’s Guide to Plant Combinations, by Ken Druse. Botanical photographs by Ellen Hoverkamp