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October

Table of Contents October 2011

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

Dawn of the BioHackers

by Delthia Ricks

Do-it-yourself biologists are  hunting down genetic disorders and  creating synthetic life-forms  in garages, closets, and backyards  around the world. 

There's a Shot for That

by Jessica Snyder Sachs

Medical researchers are working  on new kinds of vaccines  that could cure everything from  diabetes to nicotine addiction.  

The End of AIDS

by Jill Neimark

Beyond the drug cocktail.  Beyond a vaccine. Scientists are  talking about total cure.  

World's Deepest Known Animal: Worm That Lives Under Almost a Mile of Rock

by Caroline Spivack

Researchers dubbed it "Halicephalobus mephisto," from the Greek for “he who loves not the light.”

How the Forest Service Saved Baseball

by Madeline Bodin

Tree experts solve a dangerous mystery involving the wooden bats used in America's pastime.

Lesson Learned From 9-11: We Need Better Rescue Bots

by Adam Piore

Robots that act like snakes rather than tanks may be our best chance to save some people stuck in rubble.

Next-Generation, Honking-Big, Recession-Proof Alien Hunting

by Gregory Mone

The Square Kilometre Array should be able to pick up signals coming from aliens living halfway around the galaxy.

The New WTC Tower: Tough on Terrorists, Easy on the Eyes

by Mara Grunbaum

One World Trade Center rises with a bomb-resistant fortified base, a  superstrong mix of concrete, and a fleet of elevators that can really move.

The Scatological Hitchhiker Snail

by Ed Yong

When you can't abide to fly coach and can't afford to fly first class, try flying in the guts of a bird.

How to Fix Our Most Vexing Problems, From Mosquitoes to Potholes to Missing Corpses

by Jason Daley, Adam Piore, Preston Lerner, Elizabeth Svoboda

No dice yet on getting a jetpack in every garage, but the near future will include some other nice improvements to our lives and communities.

DEPARTMENTS

Impatient Futurist

How to Achieve Near-Immortality: Wear the Right Clothes

by David H. Freedman

A cobbled-together, $10,000 suit can protect you from radiation, chemicals, bullets, and pretty much any other insult of modern life—including socializing.

20 Things You Didn't Know About...

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

by Leeaundra Keany

Fire makes water. Fire is a tree running in reverse. Fire is not a thing at all.

Big Idea

Big Idea: A Shock to the Heartland

by Amy Barth

This week's earthquake in Virginia calls to mind another part of the country that faces a surprising level of earthquake risk: the New Madrid Seismic Zone, near the middle of the Mississippi River.

Vital Signs

Vital Signs: Far From Oakay

by W. Roy Smythe

A body scan reveals a lemon-size mass in the chest  of a 16-month-old boy. Fearing cancer, surgeons perform a risky operation to save his life.

Out There

Welcome to the Multiverse

by Sean Carroll

Could our universe be just one of a multitude, each with its own reality? It may sound like fiction, but there is hard science behind this outlandish idea.

Hot Science

Hot Science: The Best New Science Culture

by Valerie Ross, Eric Powell, Nicole Dyer, Veronique Greenwood, Cillian Conahan

The huge decrease in human violence, the great risk of cyber attacks, and the paralyzing fear of pandemic disease.

Editor's Note

Science Wıth a  Common Touch

by Corey S. Powell

There’s an old joke: if you tell someone the universe is expanding, he’ll believe you. If you tell him there’s wet paint on the park bench, he’ll want to touch it to make sure...

The Brain

The Language Fossils Buried in Every Cell of Your Body

by Carl Zimmer

A British family with a bizarre speech deficit  has led linguists to FOXP2: a gene that begins to  explain how our ancestors acquired language.