On the Cover
July-August 2004 Volume 92, Number 4
On the cover:
The burning of plant material releases several gases, including the oz...
FEATURE ARTICLES
Gordon Gribble
Although best known as synthetic toxicants, thousands of halogen compounds are, in fact, part of our natural environment
Sukhvinder Obhi, Patrick Haggard
Motor activity in the brain precedes our awareness of the intention to move, so how is it that we perceive control?
Paul Brown
Bovine spongiform encephalopathy provides a case study in how to manage risks while still learning the facts
J. Brendan Murphy, R. Nance
One theory prefers an accordion model; another has the continents travel the globe to reunite
Peter Shawhan
A worldwide network of detectors may soon measure subtle ripples in spacetime itself, ushering in a new era of astrophysical research
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SCIENTISTS’ BOOKSHELF
Robert Levine
It would be difficult to overestimate the influence of Stanley Milgram's controversial obedience experiments, in which subjects proved surprisingly willing to follow instructions to administer electric shocks to people. More than 40 years later, these "shock studies" are still being discussed, most recently for the light they may shed on the treatment of prisoners at Abu Ghraib. A new biography shows Milgram to have been "a brilliant, inventive, slightly spooky Renaissance man."
See all book reviews for this issue.