Interdisciplinary analyses are being used to assess the consequences of water-policy choices.

Water-resource engineering is a branch of environmental engineering that involves the analysis and manipulation of hydrologic systems, particularly in areas related to water quality and water ...

Someday we may be able to program cell behavior as easily as we program computers.

With recent advances in our understanding of cellular processes and DNA synthesis methods, we can now regard cells as programmable matter. Cells naturally process internal and environmental information in complex ...

Biocatalytic methods of detection and decontamination offer several advantages over existing methods.

The tragedy of September 11, 2001, and the ensuing anthrax attacks heightened public and governmental awareness of the need for reliable, cost-efficient, and deployable diagnostic and treatment ...

Spectacular science is coming out of research on molecular electronics.

In molecular-electronics research, molecules are used to yield the active and passive components (switches, sensors, diodes, resistors, LEDs, etc.) of electronic circuits or integrated circuits. For certain applications, ...

The effects of human activities on the environment pale by comparison with the effects of unicellular microorganisms.

Contributions from anthropogenic sources generally dominate the discussion on global change. And yet, although human activities have unquestionably left their mark on the ...

Attacks on the Internet can be expensive and inconvenient, but they are not generally dangerous.

One of the design principles of the Internet was to push the network intelligence to the “edges,” to the computers that use the network rather than the network itself (Saltzer et al., ...

The engineering and programming of biochemical circuits, in vivo and in vitro, could transform industries that use chemical and nanostructured materials.

Information and algorithms appear to be central to biological organization and processes, from the storage and reproduction of genetic ...

In Samuel Johnson’s 1755 Dictionary of the English Language, "frontier" is defined as "the marches [the utmost border bounding the jurisdiction of the King’s Steward]; the limit; the utmost verge of any territory; the border: properly that which . . . terminates not at ...