Death of a Star
Big stars explode and little stars last forever, but medium stars like our sun just fade away ... or do they?
by Jeffrey Winters
Sunset on the Savanna
Why do we walk? For decades anthropologists said that we became bipedal to survive on the African savanna.
Why Women Change
Why are human females hobbled in their prime by menopause?
Secrets in a Fly's Eye
How does a muddled mass of cells in a pale, witless maggot transform itself into the glittering, well-ordered crystal of an adult fly's eye? With the aid of mutants an monsters, biologists are learning the answer.
1996 Discover Awards
Our seventh annual awards honor innovative technologies, and people, in eight categories: Automotive & Transportation; Aviation & Aerospace; Computer Hardware & Electronics; Computer Software; 6; Sight; Sound; and, new this year, the Editors' Choice Award for Emerging 4. Also new is a $100,000 prize to foster innovation.