Science Magazine and its online Signal Transduction Knowledge Environment (STKE) combine in the journal's 7 October 2005 issue to provide another look at the state of the art in cell signaling research. Three Viewpoint articles in the journal review the current understanding in topics ranging from stem cell birth to cell death. Each article is tied to several of STKE's online connections maps -- interactive depictions of the pathways and their components, linked to relevant literature, citations, data, and background information.