This Month in the Archives

[Dive into 172 years of groundbreaking research]( [Scientific American]( This Month in the Archives With an [All Access Subscription]( you’ll have exclusive access to 172 years’ of groundbreaking articles by some of the leading practitioners in their fields. This month, we’re celebrating one of the brightest objects in the summer skies, World Oceans Day, and a medical necessity that we probably don’t want to think about on a warm summer evening at the beach: blood transfusions. [SUBSCRIBE]( SUMMER SKIES: VENUS The planet Venus drawn in 1898 The three brightest objects in the sky are the sun, the moon and the planet Venus. These articles from our Archive covered the effort to uncloak that fascinating, mysterious planet. - [February 1898:]( Telescopes and patient observing confirms that the atmosphere of Venus is “denser and higher” than Earth’s. - [December 1940:]( “What is on Venus?” asks the famous astronomer Henry Norris Russell in this early take on the atmospheric chemistry of the planet. - [July 1981:]( A decade of exploration by automated probes reveals the hellish atmosphere of Venus: carbon dioxide hot enough to melt zinc and clouds of sulphuric acid whipping around at 200 miles per hour. - [January 1992:]( The Magellan spacecraft peers through the dense clouds of Venus to find pancake-shaped volcanoes and gigantic lava channels. WORLD OCEANS DAY Did comets seed the Earth with oceans? March 2015 At first the oceans were simply a source of food for humans; then they became a means to get places; then we realized how important they are as a foundation for climate and weather on our planet. This year, celebrate World Ocean Day on June 8. - [November 1849:]( How to measure the depth of the oceans? In an era of horse-drawn carriages, that question is contemplated. - [July 1925:]( Surveying the world oceans with the yacht “Carnegie,” a specially designed non-magnetic ship. - [August 1959:]( Waves. A consideration of the interesting physics and devastating power of this ocean force. - [September 1969:]( The Ocean, an entire issue of Scientific American was devoted to the value of the ocean to human survival and as a scientific subject. - [March 2015:]( The Earth is 100 times drier than old bone. Is it possible that the liquid on our “water planet” came from comets and asteroids? BLOOD TRANSFUSIONS A mouse “breathing” an artificial blood component, February 1998 350 years ago: the first transfusion of blood, from a sheep to a human. This milestone of medical progress ended with the death of the patients and a murder trial. But we’ve learned a lot in the past three and a half centuries and blood transfusions are a vital part of saving lives today. We may even be entering the era when we can manufacture blood substitutes. - [August 1911:]( Proudly proclaiming “The New Era of Blood-Transfusion,” this article looks at the surgery and practice of blood transfusion. - [February 1954:]( The mixture of cells and molecules that make up human blood is finally being separated into its different constituents, increasing their usefulness to medicine. - [February 1998:]( Blood is vital for medicine, but contamination remains a fear. Here’s a look at the artificial substitutes being developed. CURRENT ISSUE [Jan 2014] In our June cover story, “[The Quantum Multiverse]( there’s a surprising connection between cosmology and quantum mechanics that could unveil the secrets of space and time. Plus: - [The world’s oceans]( are becoming more acidic, which may alter the behaviors of fish in disastrous ways. - [Weight loss]( is easy in theory: you must burn more calories than you consume. But what you eat is more important than how much you exercise. - [Vikings]( ruled in the icy outpost of Greenland for hundreds of years, then their colonies collapsed. New findings may answer the puzzle of why. [READ THIS ISSUE]( Follow Us [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Google+]( [YouTube]( [RSS]( To view this email as a web page, go [here](. You received this email because you opted-in to receive email from Scientific American. To ensure delivery please add news@email.scientificamerican.com to your address book. [Unsubscribe]( [Manage Email Preferences]( [FAQs]( [Terms & Conditions]( [Privacy Policy]( [Contact Us](