Just finished reading the August 2002 issue of Scientific American and, once again, was dismayed at how this magazine that I grew up adoring has declined. There's an article by a scientist who states that his alternative equation for gravity explains the whole "missing mass" problem with the universe. Okay, fine, the guy's probably wrong but never mind the fact that the article doesn't give a mechanism, it doesn't even give the equation! What in the world is the point of such an article? It's neither a primary source nor an introduction sufficient to guide you towards claims or counter-claims regarding the subject. What a waste. (To be fair, there's an article on asynchronous computer chip design which I found worthwhile because it actually had helpful explanations of two interesting circuits.)
SA is now nothing but a pale imitation of New Scientist. A few years ago, when I was flush with cash, I paid up my SA subscription for something like five years. Then, last year I stumbled into some great offer to get New Scientist for a reasonable price (as opposed to its standard cost of US\$200 per year). That will be up in October and I am already anticipating New Scientist withdrawal.