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Table of Contents July-August 2012

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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.
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FEATURES

midnightsun
The Science You Don't See
by Pamela Weintraub
DISCOVER's fourth annual Invisible Planet special issue spots the best hard-to-see stories, from deep inside the Earth to the edge of the known universe.
leavebody
5 Ways to Leave Your Body
by Sherry Baker
Want to teleport through space or travel the world 
at will? Out-of-body technology can alter your sense of place and set you free.
colors
The Humans With Super Human Vision
by Veronique Greenwood
An unknown number of women may perceive 
millions of colors invisible to the rest of us. One British scientist is trying to track them down and understand their extraordinary power of sight.
sleepingspaniel
What Is Your Dog Thinking?
by Stanley Coren
A psychological guide to your dog’s dreams, emotions, 
interests, and 
tail-wagging 
body language.
serratia
Earth's Last Unexplored Wilderness: Your Very Own Home
by Bruce Barcott
Biologists are starting to 
explore the woolly ecosystems in our homes and hospitals, and figuring out how they can make us sick or keep us healthy.
dandelion
Fighting a Windy Giant
by Julie Powell
There’s an atmospheric conspiracy afoot. And on the streets of Queens, our reporter is determined to blow it wide open.
scanner2
The Smart Scanner That May Put Shampoo Back Into Your Carry-on
by Gregory Mone
New technology could allow big bottles 
back into your carry-on luggage. Oh, and it could 
fight cancer, too.
sound
Shhhhh... Scientists Are Listening for the Universe's Smallest Possible Noise
by Gregory Mone
A new "quantum microphone" can measure sound waves just a few quintillionths of a meter high—"much less than the size of a proton."
confound
The Algorithm That Finds Connections Scientists Never See
by Amos Zeeberg
Hundreds of complex variables can
 obscure a drug’s dangerous or lethal 
side effects. But a new mathematical 
trick can cut through the confusion.

riken
The Funky Physics of Turning an Animal Transparent
by Jason Daley
How the science of light rules organic tissue and fiber optics alike. 

scablands
Biblical-Type Floods Are Real, and They're Absolutely Enormous
by David R. Montgomery
Geologists long rejected the notion that cataclysmic flood had ever occurred—until one of them found proof of a Noah-like catastrophe in the wildly eroded river valleys of Washington State.
5 Obscure Formulas That Rule the World
by Valerie Ross
You probably don't think about the Dirac equation on an average day, but it describes just about everything that happens to you.
invisibilitycloak
How to Make Anything Disappear
by Adam Piore
Sophisticated cloaking devices 
may soon hide objects from light, 
sound, water, even earthquakes.
planet
This Is What Earth Will Look Like in 100,000,000 AD
by Paul Raeburn
To map the supercontinent of the future, geologists first had to solve a vexing magnetic riddle.

barkbeetle1
The Pheromone That Could Save Pine Forests From Oblivion
by Daniel McGlynn
To save forests from a deadly beetle epidemic, scientists are using the insects’ own chemicals against them.

DEPARTMENTS

Hot Science
Hot Science: The Best New Science Culture
by Mary Beth Griggs, Valerie Ross, Eric A. Powell, Veronique Greenwood, Sarah Zhang
Fooling the mind: illusion & magic, memory & fantasy
The Brain
Bottles Full of Brain-Boosters
by Carl Zimmer
Tonics laced with neurotransmitters, 
amino acids, and other active chemicals 
can sharpen your thinking. Or so they claim.
Discover Q&A
Discover Interview: Tullis Onstott Went 2 Miles Down & Found Microbes That Live on Radiation
by Valerie Ross
Bacteria found in gold mines and frozen caves show the extreme flexibility of life, and hint at where else we might find it in the solar system.
Saints + Sinners
Saints + Sinners: Creationism vs Science, Neutrinos vs the Universal Speed Limit
Getting Personal
Getting Personal: How I Rallied Locals to Help Save Madagascar’s Lemurs
by Patricia Wright
Editor's Note
Editor's Note: The Great Escape
by Corey S. Powell
DISCOVER's Invisible Planet issue can take you on a grand tour of just about everything in no time flat.
Out There
If the Aliens Have Cities, Will We Be Able to See Them?
by Steve Nadis
Strange glows on distant worlds could indicate extraterrestrial civilizations—or intriguing new astronomical phenomena.
20 Things You Didn't Know About...
20 Things You Didn't Know About... Deserts
by Adam Piore
One has been around for 40 million years, one is running into a wall, and one may soon power much of Europe.
Big Idea
Big Idea: Bring Ancient Voices Back to Life
by Jill Neimark
Rebuilding the vocal tracts of extinct creatures could let us hear long-lost sounds: an ancient whale song, the cries of our ancestors.
Vital Signs
Vital Signs: The Woman Who Needed to Be Upside-Down
by Louis F. Janeira
A doctor is baffled: Why did a 
giant man walk into the ER holding 
a tiny woman by her feet?

DATA

highenergy
Did NASA Find a New Kind of Super-Powerful Cosmic Blast?
by Gregory Mone
High-energy gamma rays don't just pop up everywhere in the universe...
lyme
Worried About Lyme Disease? Blame the Acorns
by Jennifer Barone
Fluctuations in the food chain mean there are tons of ticks out in the woods, and they'll be looking at us humans as food.
bowernest
The Bowerbird's Sexy Optical Illusion
by Kat McGowan
Male bowerbirds use forced perspective—and impressive building skills—to woo the females of the species.
pendulum
Tools of the Trade: The Pendulum That Detects 
Extra Dimensions
by Steve Nadis
Why is gravity so pathetically weak compared to other forces? An elaborate version of a very simple device may reveal the answer.
fukushima
The Contrarian: Why I’d Be the First to Return to the Fukushima Evacuation Zone
by Jeff Wheelwright
Health journalist Jeff Wheelwright says the evidence linking small radiation doses to cancer is flimsy.
campion
After 32,000 Years, an Ice Age Flower Blooms Again

by Eric A. Powell
Permafrost is like nature's freezer.
moons
Hunting Moons Outside the Solar System

by Adam Hadhazy
Because planets aren't the only places we might find alien life...
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