In Depth

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Long-form stories highlighting current scientific investigations that are changing and challenging the way we see the world.

  • The brains behind artificial intelligence
    May 3, 2013

    A nuclear weapon detonates. The explosion, an underground test, sends shockwaves through the earth, triggering seismic detectors installed across the globe by the United Nations (UN). The detectors constantly record a sea of vibrations, these nuclear blast waves among them. Complex algorithms scrutinize each of these signals, determining whether it is from an apple falling ten feet from a sensor, a tree collapsing a mile away, a small landslide 50 miles away, a large earthquake a thousand miles away or a nuclear explosion 10,000 miles away. »

  • Investigating the future of forensics
    February 26, 2013

    Much has been made of television’s crime dramas such as CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Bones, Without a Trace and Cold Case, and their effect on the criminal justice system. The so-called ‘CSI effect,’ a theory that the fictional portrayal of forensics influences public perception, has raised vital questions for forensic scientists and the trials that depend on analyzed evidence. »

  • Quantum computing: The next information revolution
    November 16, 2012

    Curiosity drives humanity. When confronted with a new phenomenon, we are compelled to search for understanding. We can then control the science with new technologies, making life easier. This, says AAAS fellow Raymond Laflamme, grants us time to be curious.

    In the rapidly evolving field of quantum computing, curiosity over the last hundred years has driven scientists to the brink of controlling this once exotic world. »

  • Behind the scenes with scientist ambassadors
    October 22, 2012

    Scientists who travel to foreign countries where political tensions run high become a sort of double agent. In addition to completing their science mission and objectives, they work to find threads of shared humanity, dispel stereotypes, and grow our global community. »

  • Antarctica; a world of living ice
    October 9, 2012

    When John Priscu looked out the window of the military aircraft taking him on his first trip to Antarctica, all he saw was white “dead” ice. But now, almost 30 years later, he knows that the ice he saw is actually teeming with life.

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