Pipe Dreams

Personal DNA scans will only become more accessible and comprehensive. What promise do they hold for health care, and what are the risks?

by Greta Lorge

Former private eye Joe Gores took his knowledge of scams and scumbags and put it to work writing crime fiction. Now his prequel to Dashiell Hammett s seminal character, Sam Spade, came to "own" San Francisco.

by Kara Platoni

Six Stanford professors share their insights on terrorism, diplomacy and the role of scholarship in policymaking. What keeps us from stopping wars?

by Joel McCormick

Excavating whistles, beeps, hums and other sounds from his laptop, a Stanford professor is developing a new orchestral landscape, and a playground for a new kind of keyboardist.

by Erin Biba

As head of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Brooksley Born warned a decade ago that lack of oversight in the derivatives market could lead to economic disaster. Why didn t anyone listen?

by Rick Schmitt

Gliding a few hundred feet above the African continent in a contraption of his own design, photographer George Steinmetz produces images of beauty and wonder. And once in a while he goes headfirst into a sand dune.

by Katherine Seligman

In an excerpt from his new memoir, Stanford in Turmoil , former provost and president Richard Lyman analyzes the events surrounding a student takeover of Encina Hall in 1969, and reflects on a divisive era.

Ram's Head and its annual Gaieties variety show have been doing send-ups and put-downs for 100 years. A look at a Stanford tradition's amusing history.

by Karen Springen

Staying one step ahead of hackers has made Paul Kocher, '95, and his Stanford-laden team at Cryptography Research a world leader in securing digital data. Their technology protects everything from Blu-ray discs to credit card purchases.

by Ann Marsh

Andrew Luck is heralded as a major talent, a "franchise guy" capable of transforming a team. And he's also a pretty good football player.

by Mike Antonucci