Welcome to the latest edition of Mosaic Minds. This month we are exploring "Defining Moments." We have articles from several of our regular contributors, along with pieces from fresh voices. I'm particularly pleased to bring you several great short stories that will surely wow you.

Of course, we've got our usual mix of features and regular columns that will take you around the world and back again. We hope you enjoy everything.

If you're a writer, keep in mind next month's theme: Relativity. It's a vague term, so we are hoping to receive a wide variety of contributions. Will you take it literally and write about "relatives"? Will you write about differing points of view--his side/her side/the truth? Did you have a crazy physics class that taught you more than simple relativity theory? We'd love to hear from you.