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THE BRAINY SECRETS OF MUSIC’S POWER • THE PHOTONIC CONNECTION The Major Flaws of the New Missile Shield NOVEMBER 2004 WWW.SCIAM.COM COPYRIGHT 2004 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, INC. november 2004 contentsfeatures SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN Volume 291 Number 5 BIOTECHNOLOGY 44 Rebuilding Broken Hearts B Y S M A D A R C O HE N A ND J O N AT H A N L E O R The fledgling field of tissue engineering is closing in on one of its most ambitious goals: constructing a living patch for the human heart. PHYSICS 52 Black Hole Computers B Y S E T H L L O Y D A ND Y. J A C K NG With the laws of physics recast in terms of information theory, even black holes can process data, and the universe is the ultimate computer. ENVIRONMENT 62 Abrupt Climate Change BY RICHARD B. ALLE Y When the planet’s climate destabilizes, as it sometimes has, average seasonal temperatures can lurch six degrees Celsius within as little as a decade. DEFENSE 70 Holes in the Missile Shield B Y R I C H A R D L . G A R W IN The national missile defense now being deployed by the U.S. should be replaced with a more effective system. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY 80 Computing at the Speed of Light B Y W. WAY T G IB B S Photonic connections between microchips may dramatically change the speed and shape of computers over the next 10 years. NEUROSCIENCE 88 Music and the Brain B Y NOR M A N M. W E INBE R G E R What is the secret of music’s strange power? Scientists are piecing together what happens in the brains of listeners and musicians. INNOVATION 96 A Split at the Core B Y W. WAY T G IB B S Physics is forcing the microchip industry to redesign its most lucrative products. That is bad news for software companies. w w w. s c ia m . c o m COPYRIGHT 2004 SCIENTI