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Must Science and Religion Be Enemies? (see page 88 ) Warmer Water,
SUPER HURRICANES page 44
July 2007
The
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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 ...
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FEATURES ■ SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN July 2007 ■ Volume 297 Number 1 EN V IRONMENT
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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.
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44 Warmer Oceans, Stronger Hurricanes
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By Kevin E. Trenberth Evidence is mounting that global warming enhances a cyclone’s damaging winds and flooding rains.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN
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MORE FEATURES ■ INF ORM ATION T ECHNOL O GY
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82 Broadband Room Service by Light By Mohsen Kavehrad Encoded light transmissions can provide the wireless devices in a room with multimedia Web services.
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88 Should Science Speak to Faith? Two prominent defenders of science discuss how scientists ought to approach believers.
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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