March 2004

20,000 Microbes Under the Sea

Scientists have discovered that nearly a third of all the life on this planet consists of microbes living under the seafloor in a dark world without oxygen. Many of these tiny creatures make so much methane gas that if even a small proportion of it is released, we might be overwhelmed by huge tsunamis, runaway global warming, and extinctions

by Robert Kunzig

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March

Departments

Emerging Technology

Tiny talking identification tags could change the very nature of consumerism
by Steven Johnson

Letter from Discover

Contributors

Letters

Observer

Sneaker Science
by Mark Frankel

Bogglers Solutions

Bogglers

Put your visual acuity and imagination to the test
by Scott Kim

Reviews

Sky Lights

Numbers expose the hidden synchronicity—and disorder—of the solar system
by Bob Berman

The Ecology of . . . Roadkill

Very, very carefully—yet alive and intact, thanks to new ""ecopassages"" for wildlife
by Alan Burdick

Vital Signs

Was it pneumonia, asthma, or something his mother drank?
by Mark Cohen

Discover Dialogue: Biologist Cynthia Kenyon

The idea that aging is something that's not a given is a new paradigm
by David Ewing Duncan