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Must Science and Religion Be Enemies? (see page 88 ) Warmer Water, SUPER HURRICANES page 44 July 2007 The www.SciAm.com MEMORY CODE Learning to read minds by understanding how brains store experiences Hijacked Cells How Tumors Exploit the Body’s Defenses Wireless Light Beats Radio for Broadband No-Man’sLand Suppose Humans Just Vanished ... COPYRIGHT 2007 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, INC. FEATURES ■ SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN July 2007 ■ Volume 297 Number 1 EN V IRONMENT 76 76 An Earth without People Interview with Alan Weisman One way to examine humanity’s impact on the environment is to consider how the world would fare if all the people disappeared. CL IM AT E CH A NG E 44 44 Warmer Oceans, Stronger Hurricanes 52 By Kevin E. Trenberth Evidence is mounting that global warming enhances a cyclone’s damaging winds and flooding rains. 60 C OV ER S T ORY: BR A IN SCIENC E 52 The Memory Code By Joe Z. Tsien Researchers are closing in on the rules that the brain uses to lay down memories. Discovery of this memory code could lead to new ways to peer into the mind. 60 68 MEDICINE 60 A Malignant Flame By Gary Stix Understanding chronic inflammation, which contributes to heart disease, Alzheimer’s and other ailments, may be a key to unlocking the mysteries of cancer. G ENE T IC S 68 The Evolution of Cats By Stephen J. O’Brien and Warren E. Johnson Genomic paw prints in the DNA of the world’s wild cats have clarified the feline family tree and uncovered several remarkable migrations in their past. w w w. S c i A m . c o m ON THE COVER Artist Jean-Francois Podevin (www.podevin.com) fancifully depicts the goal of uncovering a universal neural code: the rules the brain uses to identify and make sense of the body’s experiences. © 20 07 SCIENTIFIC AMERIC AN, INC. SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN 3 MORE FEATURES ■ INF ORM ATION T ECHNOL O GY 82 88 82 Broadband Room Service by Light By Mohsen Kavehrad Encoded light transmissions can provide the wireless devices in a room with multimedia Web services. DEBAT E 88 Should Science Speak to Faith? Two prominent defenders of science discuss how scientists ought to approach believers. SCI AM SciAm.com The Conversation Continues Find an extended version of the views of Lawrence M. Krauss and Richard Dawkins at www.SciAm.com/ontheweb WHAT IS IT? Find Out in the Gallery We’re Number Two ANTARCTIC URCHIN (below) is one of the astonishing array of previously unknown creatures that populate the cold depths of the Antarctic. Three expeditions to the Weddell Sea between Antarctica and the wider South Atlantic brought more than 1,000 species, ranging from single-cell foraminifera to oddly shaped crabs. Catch other breaking news, analyses of key issues, photo essays and more at www.SciAm.com/ontheweb For health care, Canada is as good as or better than the U.S. A recent study could fortify the argument that the U.S. should cease to be the only developed nation without universal health coverage. Podcast: Battered Brains Even when wearing headgear, amateur boxers suffer strokelike insults to the brain. ARMIN ROSE German Center for Marine Biodiversity Blog: Scent of a Man Sniffing around for a human pheromone. News: Scaling Back Greenhouse Gas Emissions While Keeping the Lights On Fact or Fiction? Underwire Bras Cause Cancer Is your bra killing you? Scientific American (ISSN 0036-8733), published monthly by Scientific American, Inc., 415 Madison Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10017-1111. Copyright © 2007 by Scientific American, Inc. All