Cover
Graphic representation of an integrated quantum optics controlled-NOT chip. Single photons (represented as flashes) propagate on the chip, confined by silica waveguides, and are then coupled into optical fibers for detection.

A Bruising Battle Over Lung Scans
Doctors and researchers are sharply divided over the merits of screening smokers and others at high risk of lung cancer with costly computed tomography scans; a $200 million clinical trial has become a lightning rod.

Wishing for an African Einstein
Hoping to nurture Africa's talent into becoming elite scientists, cosmologist Neil Turok has plans to clone the math institute he founded.

Two Teams Report Progress in Reversing Loss of Sight
The first safety trials of gene therapy for a degenerative eye disease produced good results in adults; researchers now intend to treat children.

Tuberculosis Jumped From Humans to Cows, Not Vice Versa
At the American Association of Physical Anthropologists meeting, a DNA study showed that early humans were infected with strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which cause tuberculosis, long before they began herding cattle, suggesting that it was humans who transmitted the disease to bovids and other animals.

Fire-Derived Charcoal Causes Loss of Forest Humus
Charcoal enhances the microbial activity in soils, which in turn decreases the amount of carbon and humus in forests over time.

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