CURRENT ISSUE

SUBSCRIBE

DIGITAL EDITIONS
RENEW | GIVE A GIFT
ARCHIVES
CUSTOMER SERVICE

RECENT

OUR BLOGS

RECENT

TOPICS

RECENT

TOPICS

RECENT

TOPICS

RECENT

TOPICS

RECENT

TOPICS

RECENT

TOPICS

RECENT PHOTO GALLERIES

TOPICS

Home
»
July-August

Table of Contents July-August 2010

Discover Magazine's mission is to enable readers to lead richer lives by explaining and expanding their universe. Each month we bring you in depth information and analysis from various topics ranging from technology and space to the living world we live in.

FEATURES

Invisible Planetoids: The Search for Spock

by Phil Plait

Astronomers are ramping up their 400-year search for "vulcanoids"—planets, asteroids, or even rubble—in the solar system’s last remaining swath of empty real estate.

Fatal Crossing: The Lives That End at America's Desolate Border

by Jane Bosveld, Amy Barth

Each year, hundreds of immigrants lose their lives while slipping across the border into Arizona’s Sonoran Desert. DNA forensics is piecing together the identities and stories of the dead.

The Mathematics of Terrorism

by Andrew Curry

Seemingly random attacks contain an unexpected regularity: the same numerical pattern seen in Wall Street booms and busts.

Isaac Newton, World's Most Famous Alchemist

by Jane Bosveld

For centuries some of the world’s greatest geniuses struggled in secret to turn base metals into gold. In a sense they succeeded: In their restless quest, they unlocked some of nature’s greatest secrets.

In the Footsteps of Giants

by Amy Barth

The dinosaurs are long gone, but their tracks remain, telling strange tales of where the creatures went and how they lived.

Earth On Fire

by Kristin Ohlson

Thousands of hidden fires smolder and rage through the world’s coal deposits, quietly releasing gases that can ruin health, devastate communities, and heat the planet.

Why Scientific Studies Are So Often Wrong: The Streetlight Effect

by David H. Freedman

Researchers tend to look for answers where the looking is good, rather than where the answers are likely to be hiding.

The Alien Seekers of SETI Are Just Getting Started

by Michael Lemonick

For 50 years a devoted group of scientists has been listening for signals from intelligent life. Despite all the dead air, the true believers say the odds of success are now better than ever.

DEPARTMENTS

Discover Q&A

Discover Interview: Alarming Tales of International Hacking from a Cyber-Terrorism Czar

by Robert Keating

Spies and hackers know only too well about the security loopholes that riddle the Internet—and maybe even the guts of our computers. Former presidential advisor Richard Clarke has ideas for how we can prepare for the new world of virtual combat.

The Brain

The Brain: What Happens to a Linebacker's Neurons?

by Carl Zimmer

A blow to the head can change the neural architecture of the brain from elastic to brittle, with devastating consequences.

Sliced

Saturn's Giant Storms, Hidden Rings, and Bizarre Moons

by Laurie Rich Salerno

Observation of Saturn from near and far is revealing the complicated dynamics of the amazing phenomenon on this planet.

20 Things You Didn't Know About...

20 Things You Didn't Know About... Nanotechnology

by Rebecca Coffey

How it might kill us, how it might save us, and how it was used in the smallest ever marketing stunt