Featured Stories

April 2008
INVISIBILITY
A device that renders objects truly invisible may be commonplace within the next few decades. By Michio Kaku

March 2008
No Taming the Shrew
Good thing for us it’s small, because this predator gives no quarter to its quarry. Story by Kenneth C. Catania

February 2008
Fish Out of Water
Human ailments as varied as hernias, hiccups, and choking are a legacy of our “fishy” ancestry. By Neil Shubin

December 2007–January 2008
At a Loss for Words
The Native-American language Salish–Pend d’Oreille is on the brink of disappearing.
More than half the world’s 6,000 languages will be gone by the end of the century. By Sarah Grey Thomason

November 2007
Sold Down the River
Dried up, dammed, polluted, overfished—freshwater habitats around the world are becoming less and less hospitable to wildlife. By Eleanor J. Sterling and Merry D. Camhi

October 2007
Deep Trouble
Fishermen have been casting their nets into the deep sea after exhausting shallow-water stocks. But adaptations to deepwater living make the fishes there particularly vulnerable to overfishing—and many are now endangered. By Richard L. Haedrich

September 2007
Dark Matter
Most of the matter of the universe is neither bound up in stars or planets nor dispersed in clouds of “ordinary” particles. Experimenters are racing to answer the question, What is it made of? Story by Donald Goldsmith

July-August 2007:
Space, Time, and Timbuktu
The legendary city on the Sahara’s southern fringe can look back on a history of commercial, intellectual, and religious wealth. Today as in the past, however, political power eludes it. By Marq de Villiers and Sheila Hirtle
How Now, Little Cow?
The vaquita, the world’s smallest porpoise, lives only in the northern Gulf of California. It often drowns in fishing nets as bycatch, and just 200 individuals remain. Can the species survive? By Robert L. Pitman and Lorenzo Rojas-Bracho

June 2007:
Bones from the Tar Pits
La Brea continues to bubble over with new clues about life that flourished 40,000 years ago, where Los Angeles is today. By John M. Harris

May 2007:
Hidden Tombs of Ancient Syria
Evidence of animal and possibly human sacrifice suggests that burials at Tell Umm el-Marra were those of Bronze Age royalty. By Glenn M. Schwartz

April 2007:
Meerkats At Play
Evolution demands that activities costing a lot of energy provide survival value in return. But what do these rambunctious little mammals gain from having so much fun? By Lynda L. Sharpe ~ Photographs by Andrew J. Young

Universe: The Cosmic Perspective
For this month’s special anniversary of his “Universe”’column, Neil deGrasse Tyson explains how embracing cosmic realities can give us a more enlightened view of human life.

March 2007:
Bar Coding for Botany
A system modeled on commercial bar codes may soon enable anyone to identify any plant from a small fragment of its DNA. By Kenneth M. Cameron

February 2007:
Faces of the Human Past
Science and art combine to create a new portrait gallery of our hominid heritage. By Richard Milner and Ian Tattersall

December 2006-January 2007:
Dig It!
An air-lubber surveys the pleasures and perils of the burrowing life. By Robert R. Dunn

November 2006:
The Ritual World of Pocahontas
As Jamestown celebrates its 400th anniversary, the dramatic rescue of John Smith turns out to have been part of an elaborate piece of statecraft, misunderstood by the English colonists. By Frederic W. Gleach
Times of Our Lives
Gravity, along with dark energy, plays a key role in the timing of our cosmic appearance and sets strict limits on the span of life anywhere in the universe. By Robert L. Jaffe

October 2006:
Sociable Killers
New studies of the white shark (aka great white) show that its social life and hunting strategies are surprisingly complex. By R. Aidan Martin and Anne Martin
As Time Goes By
Comparing the human experience of time with the fundamental tempos of nature yields a startling new outlook on our place in the universe. By Robert L. Jaffe

September 2006:
Wildebeests of the Serengeti
Migrating in great numbers, the signature antelope of the African savanna must dodge predators, drought, and human development. On the side, it shapes its own habitat. By Richard D. Estes

July-August 2006:
The Scaly Ones
Squamata—lizards and snakes—have spread to almost every landmass and branched into more than 7,200 species. Ecological and molecular studies are bringing their family tree more clearly into focus. By Laurie J. Vitt and Eric R. Pianka

June 2006:
This Old House
At Çatalhöyük, a Neolithic site in Turkey, families packed their mud-brick houses close together and traipsed over roofs to climb into their rooms from above. By Ian Hodder

May 2006:
Cooking the Climate with Coal
In the U.S., China, and elsewhere coal is booming. But the boom may lead to environmental disaster. By Jeff Goodell

April 2006:
The Biggest Fish
Unraveling the mysteries of the whale shark. By Steven G. Wilson

March 2006:
Smart Weapons
With an arsenal of quills and chemicals, the porcupine mounts one of nature's most robust defenses against predators. By Uldis Roze

February 2006:
The Origins of Life
Have too many cooks spoiled the prebiotic soup? By Antonio Lazcano
A Shell with a View
It takes a cool blood to feel the earth’s warmth. By Verlyn Klinkenborg

December 2005–January 2006:
Land of Plenty
Austria’s red deer feast on handouts and live half the year in fenced enclosures. Can they still fend for themselves?  By Karoline T. Schmidt

November 2005:
Darwin & Evolution
Articles on the New Darwinism.  By Richard Dawkins, Richard Milner, Jonathan Weiner, Sean B. Carroll, and Neil deGrasse Tyson

October 2005:
Toxic Treasure
Poisons and venoms from deadly animals could become tomorrow’s miracle drugs. And few places on Earth harbor so many deadly animals as Australia’s Great Barrier Reef.  By Robert George Sprackland

September 2005:
Magic Flutes
Nine thousand years ago, Neolithic villagers in China played melodies on instruments fashioned from the hollow bones of birds.  By Zhang Juzhong and Lee Yun Kuen

July-August 2005:
Cold Fire
In Antarctica’s Dry Valleys, the deep chambers and conduits that poured hot lava onto the surface are exposed as nowhere else on Earth. By Edmond A. Mathez

June 2005:
Dance of the Sexes
A lemur needs some unusual traits to survive in Madagascar's unpredictable environment. By Sharon T. Pochron and Patricia C. Wright

May 2005:
The Varieties of Tyrannosaurs
Knowledge about the most fearsome dinosaurs and their relatives is finally measuring up to the animals' fame. By Mark A. Norell and Xu Xing

April 2005:
Fire Down Under
Bushfire season pays Australia a hellish visit each year. Drought and climate change could be making the infernos worse. By Dan Drollette

March 2005:
The Flower and the Fly
Long insect mouthparts and deep floral tubes have become so specialized that each organism has become dependent on the other. By Laura A. Sessions and Steven D. Johnson

February 2005:
Fat Chance
Doesn’t “everyone know” that serving supersize meals to a young couch potato is a sure recipe for an obese child? Then why is the current epidemic of childhood obesity such a mystery to science? By Susan Okie
Taming the River to Let In the Sea
Southern Louisiana is sinking into the Gulf of Mexico. The surprising culprit is overambitious flood control. By Shea Penland

December 2004–January 2005:
Destination: Titan
This January, a small space probe will parachute to the surface of Saturn’s largest moon. By John C. Zarnecki
Sight for Sore Eyes
A bright spot in an otherwise dismal prognosis for sub-Saharan Africa: Simple measures against trachoma, a bacterial infection that causes deformed eyelids, are saving the vision of millions. By James A. Zingeser

November 2004:
Ties That Bind
Hopi gift culture and its first encounter with the United States. By Peter M. Whiteley

October 2004:
Wherever the Wind May Blow
Albatrosses and frigatebirds spend most of their long lives soaring over the sea. Miniature electronic trackers and sensors are now showing ornithologists where the birds go. By Henri Weimerskirch

September 2004:
Secret Survivor
“Extinct” for 50 million years, an enigmatic fossil species may still live at the bottom of the sea—but it defies capture. By Peter A. Rona

July-August 2004:
With Hands or Swift Feet
The ancient Greek city-states were rarely as united as they were at the Olympic Games. By David C. Young

June 2004:
Where Have All the Frogs Gone?
Biologists have examined a rogues’ gallery of possible culprits. A leading suspect is an infective fungus. By James P. Collins

May 2004:
Egypt’s Young and Restless
Through Islam and the Internet, a new generation seeks its fair share. By Mary Knight

April 2004:
Virtual Universe
Centuries of astronomy, plus video-game technology, combine to offer a stunning new perspective on our place in space. By Brian Abbott, Carter Emmart, and Ryan Wyatt

March 2004:
Saving Nemo
Aquariums, once water-filled cabinets of curiosities, exert potent economic forces that can foster conservation in the wild. By Melanie L. J. Stiassny

February 2004:
Headstrong Hominids
The mysterious skulls of Java man and Peking man may have evolved because males were clubbing each other in fights. By Noel T. Boaz and Russell L. Ciochon

December 2003–January 2004:
What Became of the Water on Mars?
This January, a cluster of spacecraft will converge on the Red Planet, probing for clues to the mysterious but unmistakable role of water in its past. By Michael H. Carr

November 2003:
Trashed
Across the Pacific Ocean, plastics, plastics, everywhere. By Charles Moore

October 2003:
Promised Land
Several million years ago tectonic forces began to create an edenic corridor that led early humans out of Africa and into the Near East. By Zvi Ben-Avraham and Susan Hough

September 2003:
Bolts from Beyond
Some “shooting stars” come to Earth bearing secrets from other planets, as well as clues about the makeup of the solar system before the planets formed. By Donald Goldsmith

July-August 2003:
The Birth of War
An archaeological survey concludes that warfare, despite its malignant hold on modern life, has not always been part of the human condition. By R. Brian Ferguson

June 2003:
Patterns in Nature
The new focus on self-organizing processes links such diverse natural phenomena as a zebra’s stripes and a mound of termites. By Scott Camazine

May 2003:
A Plenitude of Ocean Life
A new census of the sea is revealing that microbial cells thrive in undreamed-of numbers. They form an essential part of the food web. By Edward F. DeLong

April 2003:
Date with Extinction
For a thousand years before people settled in New Zealand, a small alien predator may have been undermining the islands’ seabird populations. By Laura Sessions

March 2003:
Vietnam’s Secret Life
Naturalists exploring the country’s mountains and forests are finding that the keys to its extraordinary biodiversity may lie deep in the past. By Eleanor J. Sterling, Martha M. Hurley, and Raoul H. Bain

February 2003:
Genetic Hoofprints
The DNA trail leading back to the origins of today’s cattle has taken some surprising turns along the way. By Daniel G. Bradley

December 2002–January 2003:
Dry, Dry Again
The desert tortoise, by tolerating immense swings in its body chemistry, can survive a drought by hunkering down for years at a time. By Kenneth A. Nagy

November 2002:
And Then There Was Light
Einstein’s universe is subtle, but no longer beyond the reach of ordinary common sense. By Richard Panek

October 2002:
Trickle-Down Theory, Andean Style
Irrigation techniques good enough for the Incas make even more sense today. By Paul Trawick

September 2002:
Their Game Is Mud
Scientists go underground to get the lowdown on an amphibious fish. By Heather J. Lee and Jeffrey B. Graham

July-August 2002:
A Superorganism’s Fuzzy Boundaries
Combine heavy-breathing termites with heavy-breathing mushrooms, and what do you get? By J. Scott Turner

June 2002:
Avian Quick-Change Artists
How do house finches thrive in so many environments? By reshaping themselves. Literally. By Alexander V. Badyaev and Geoffrey E. Hill

May 2002:
Little Loggers Make a Big Difference
Red maple seedlings don’t stand a chance around meadow voles. By Richard S. Ostfeld

April 2002:
A Mouse’s Tale
Inbred for special roles in medical research, the adaptable house mouse remains fittest in the wilds of your pantry. By Steven N. Austad

March 2002:
Say It With Bowers
The world’s fanciest avian architecture continues to evolve in the mountains of New Guinea. By J. Albert C. Uy

February 2002:
The Unsung Ancients
Some trees have survived for millennia by being in the wrong place at the right time. By David W. Stahle

December 2001–January 2002:
Face the Music
Is there a biological basis for our capacity to organize–and respond to–musical sounds? By Susan Milius

November 2001:
A Superlative Penguin
The least known, last studied, strangest penguin takes a scientist on a most uncomfortable journey. By Lloyd Spencer Davis

October 2001:
Glaciers That Speak in Tongues . . . and other tales of global warming.
By Wallace S. Broecker

September 2001:
Freshwater Riches of the Amazon
To find the reasons for a river’s abundance, a scientist goes fishing in deep time. By John Lundberg

July-August 2001:
The Proof Is in the Plumage
From China comes the strongest evidence yet of the existence of feathered dinosaurs. By Mark Norell

June 2001:
The Beast with Five Genomes
Inside a termite’s gut lives Mixotricha paradoxa, an extreme example of how all plants and animals—including ourselves—have evolved to contain multitudes. By Lynn Margulis and Dorion Sagan

May 2001:
Mothers and Others
From queen bees to elephant matriarchs, many animal mothers are assisted by others in rearing offspring. By Sarah Blaffer Hrdy

April 2001:
Colonies in Space
An ingenious entomologist retrieves an insect city excavated by Florida’s harvester ants. By Walter R. Tschinkel

March 2001:
A World Apart
The larval lifestyle may seem alien to us terrestrial bipeds, but it comes quite naturally to most creatures—especially inhabitants of the world’s oceans. By Gregory A. Wray

February 2001:
Robbing the Archaeological Cradle
In the aftermath of the Gulf War, Iraq’s ancient heritage has landed on the endangered list. By John Malcolm Russell

December 2000–January 2001:
I Have Landed
In the final essay of this twenty-seven-year series, the author reflects on continuity—from family history to the branching lineage of terrestrial life. By Stephen Jay Gould

November 2000:
The Road to Ancient Helike
A Museum astronomer’s scientific journey started with earthquakes and led to a significant archaeological discovery in Greece. By Henry S. F. Cooper Jr.

October 2000:
Singing in the Brain
Hummingbirds don’t just hum—they sing. And they learn the tunes from one another. By Annette Heist
The Vikings’ Silent Saga
What went wrong with the Scandinavian westward expansion? By Thomas H. McGovern and Sophia Perdikaris

September 2000:
A Floral Twist of Fate
New Zealand mistletoes that bear strange, sealed flowers depend on savvy native pollinators to thrive. By Laura A. Sessions

July-August 2000:
Is Rattlesnake Venom Evolving?
Recent reports suggest that the venom of North America’s rattlesnakes is growing increasingly potent, making their bites more difficult to treat. By Steve Grenard

June 2000:
Inner Beauty
Remarkable photographs reveal the structure of fossil organisms whose tissues, over eons, have been replaced by minerals. Photographs by Giraud Foster and Norman Barker
A Star Is Born
How a small, blind, mud-dwelling mammal evolved a high-resolution scanning device on its nose. By Kenneth Catania

May 2000:
Dig It, and They Will Come
In the underground world of dung beetles, the strong, well-armored males always win the females—or do they? By Douglas Emlen

April 2000:
The Hidden Unity of Hearts
Question: How did the heart evolve from a simple tube to a multichambered pump? Answer: Quickly. By Carl Zimmer
And the Beat Goes On
A brief guide to the hearts of vertebrates. By Warren Burggren
The Virtual Heart
A beating heart is not just a biological organ—it’s a puzzle for physicists to solve. By Carl Zimmer

March 2000:
Duets and Drawls
When two scientists lent an ear to tropical stripe-backed wrens, they heard more than songs and calls; they heard family histories. Here they describe the unique vocalizing of a very social bird. By Jordan Price and R. Haven Wiley

February 2000:
The Heart of Matter
Physicists are still asking, What’s the universe made of? String theorists think they may know, and their discipline is zeroing in on a theory of everything. By Brian Greene
A Forgotten Cosmic Designer
Artist-scientist Howard Russell Butler painted moonscapes and portraits of “Earth’s richest man,” but his plans for a hall of astronomy were eclipsed. By Jenny Lawrence and Richard Milner

December 1999–January 2000:
Days of the Deinos
A paleontologist makes a case for the controversial view that a meat-eating theropod dinosaur of the American West hunted in packs. By Desmond Maxwell

November 1999:
Undertakers of the Deep
To an array of creatures on the ocean floor, the death of a whale is a gift of life. By Cheryl Lyn Dybas

October 1999:
Thornbug to Thornbug
A scientist eavesdrops on the surprisingly sophisticated conversations of insects. By Rex Cocroft

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