Byte by byte
To increase disk drive capacity, both silicon chips and magnetic-memory disks will have to get better
Riding the waves
Adaptive sampling, a new oceanographic technique, will provide an accurate picture of complicated coastal environments
Precious mine
With the help of nickel and vitreous carbon, the industrial manufacture of diamonds becomes easier
Natural is in
Synthetics are no longer coveted as natural fibres are being used for making everything from cars to tennis rackets
Interior boundaries
Cracking of a fragment of the earth's crust in Canada provides a snapshot of an amazing geological event
On borrowed time
The Hubble telescope is slowly wearing out and efforts to repair it are on, alongwith preparations for its replacement
Clean power from coal
Giving coal a 'good scrub' by using small calcium oxide crystals might greatly reduce the pollution caused by coal-based power stations
Malaria cornered
The killer malarial parasite may become vulnerable if drugs that target a particular enzyme are developed
Read this properly
Recognised specifically as a brain disease uptil now, reading disorders are now linked to the language concerned
Distance dilemma
Are quasars near or far? Doubts appear as the astronomical calculator, red shift, is challenged
Space science, biology and politics
NASA hopes to solve its resource crunch by putting forward a case that uses space science for explaining the origins of life
Caught you!
It is now possible to detect the most inconspicuous mutants -- even those having only slight aberrations
The millennium hotline
The new century will explode into your home through plastic optical fibres, say US scientists, promising an amazing, "wired" future
Hammer of God
The collision of a meteorite with the Earth produced energy about a million times more than the largest earthquake ever recorded
Pressure play
If stress can reactivate latent viruses in mice, it can have the same effect in humans, say American scientists
Smooth operators
Tiny snake-like robotic appendages that worm into the human body and perform complicated operations. That's surgery of the future
Elvis inside
Tired of hearing yourself sing? Well, a new software can give you the voice you always adored but could never have
Keep talking
Once the electropalatograph hits the market, that's what people with speech problems will do easily: talk
Composition: critical
While the aircraft industry flies high with composites, one question nags engineers: are they really safe?
Light matters
Every kid knows that E=mc 2 . But this time, physicists are working backwards, converting energy into matter
The reanimators
Best out of waste? These scientists have taken it further, making a supercomputer out of electronic "junk"
A perfect ten, is it?
Two groups of scientists have claimed there is proof of a tenth planet in the solar system. Astrophysicists are sceptical
Challenge of the balance
When will scientists stop? The latest is the 'nanobalance', which would measure the mass of microorganisms and viruses
Y2K, and all that
Though India woke up late to the millennium bug, most large organisations seem on course to fix the problem
You've got Melissa
On March 26, thousands of computers across the world were infected with the 'Melissa' virus through the Internet. Many large corporations had to …