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March-April 2004 Volume 92, Number 2

On the cover:

A pickerel frog (Rana palustris) lounges among the duckweed in a Penns...

FEATURE ARTICLES

Amphibian Decline and Emerging Disease *

Joseph Kiesecker, Lisa Belden, Katriona Shea, Michael Rubbo

What can sick frogs teach us about new and resurgent diseases in human populations and other species of wildlife?

The Artificial Nile *

Scott Nixon

The Aswan High Dam blocked and diverted nutrients and destroyed a Mediterranean fishery, but human activities may have revived it

The Origin of Matter *

James Cline

The question of how matter triumphed over antimatter in the formation of the universe still awaits a satisfactory answer

The Adaptive Value of Religious Ritual *

Richard Sosis

Rituals promote group cohesion by requiring members to engage in behavior that is too costly to fake

Internal Tides and the Continental Slope

David Cacchione, Lincoln Pratson

Curious waves coursing beneath the surface of the sea may shape the margins of the world's landmasses

* access restricted to members and subscribers

SCIENTISTS’ BOOKSHELF

Stargazing Siblings

J. Donald Fernie

Caroline Herschel's autobiographies shed light on her career as her brother William's loyal assistant

See all book reviews for this issue.

DEPARTMENTS

COMPUTING SCIENCE

Small-Town Story

Brian Hayes

What factors arrange cities and towns on a map?

MACROSCOPE

The Pipeline: Still Leaking

Fiona M. Goodchild

What should we make of the ongoing decline in the U.S. science and engineering workforce?

SIGHTINGS

Visualizing Data

Felice Frankel

MIT's Ben Fry discusses his innovative—and striking—visualizations of complex genomic data sets

MARGINALIA

A Tour of Geological Spacetime

Philip Morrison

A whirlwind itinerary for the globe-trotting geologist

ENGINEERING

Deployable Structures *

Henry Petroski

A look at deployable structures—from retractable tape measures to satellite solar arrays

SCIENCE OBSERVER

Note to Truckers: Drink More Coffee

David Schneider

Urea, among other things, may help to reduce the pollution spewing from diesel engines

Insect Inspiration

Greg Ross

A sharpshooting beetle may trigger new ideas for aircraft engineers

Galactic Leftovers

Michael Szpir

The Andromeda galaxy is still forming

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

IN THIS SECTION

American Scientist Classics

Authors

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