Discover Interview: The Radical Linguist Noam Chomsky
11.29.2011 Over 50 years ago, he began a revolution that's still playing out today.
by Marion Long and Valerie Ross
Discover Interview: Newt Gingrich
The former Speaker—now a leading candidate for the Republican presidential nomination—talked to DISCOVER in 2006 about evolution, stem cells, Washington's two cultures, and why kids should be paid to take science and math. 12.09.2011
Anton Zeilinger Dangled From Windows, Teleported Photons, and Taught the Dalai Lama
What started out as totally intellectual, impractical experiments could help pave the way for a revolution in computing. 08.29.2011
Discover Interview: Lynn Margulis Says She's Not Controversial, She's Right
It's the neo-Darwinists, population geneticists, AIDS researchers, and English-speaking biologists as a whole who have it all wrong. 06.17.2011
Discover Interview: The Love Neuroscientist
Believe it or not, says psychologist Stephanie Ortigue, lust makes heavy intellectual demands involving complex thought. (Care to come upstairs and see my diplomas?) 12.27.2010
Discover Interview: The Dark Hunter
Physicist Elena Aprile is certain that dark matter exists. She just hasn’t found it yet. 11.17.2010
Discover Interview: The Gene Doctor Will See You Soon
First he made a machine that can read DNA at lightning speed. Now Leroy Hood wants to reach into the genome to revolutionize medicine. 11.16.2010
Discover Interview: Alarming Tales of International Hacking from a Cyber-Terrorism Czar
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. 11.08.2010
Discover Interview: The Math Behind the Physics Behind the Universe
Shing-Tung Yau explains how he discovered the hidden dimensions of string theory. 04.27.2010
The Dr. Who Drank Infectious Broth, Gave Himself an Ulcer, and Solved a Medical Mystery
The medical elite thought they knew what caused ulcers and stomach cancer. But they were wrong—and did not want to hear the answer that was right. 04.08.2010
It's Gettin' Hot in Here: The Big Battle Over Climate Science
Two eminent climatologists share much different views: Michael Mann—whose private emails were hacked—points a finger at skeptics. Judith Curry believes humans are warming the planet but criticizes her colleagues for taking shortcuts. 03.10.2010
The Man Who Plucks All the Strings
Brian Greene says string theory is still scientific even if it's not falsifiable. 03.09.2010
Discover Interview: Space Is Getting Bigger, and It's Getting Bigger Faster
Saul Perlmutter changing our understanding of the entire universe by discovering that its expansion is accelerating. 02.22.2010
Discover Interview: The Man Who Builds Brains
Using computer processors that behave like neurons in the neocortex, Henry Markram is inching closer to building a simulated human brain—a truly conscious machine. 02.05.2010
Discover Interview: Miles of Wire, Reams of Print-Outs, and a Giant Discovery
Jocelyn Bell Burnell worked through old-school equipment and old-school sexism to find the first pulsar—the beginning of an extraordinary life in science. 12.29.2009
Discover Interview: Roger Penrose Says Physics Is Wrong, From String Theory to Quantum Mechanics
One of the greatest thinkers in physics says the human brain—and the universe itself—must function according to some theory we haven't yet discovered. 10.06.2009
Discover Interview: Thanks, Evolution, For Making the Great Building Material Called DNA
Electronic computers are great at what they do. But to accomplish really complicated physical tasks—like building an insect—Erik Winfree says you have to grow them from DNA. 08.11.2009
The Man Who Found Quarks and Made Sense of the Universe
Murray Gell-Mann had a smash success with particles, notorious dustups with Feynman, and a missed opportunity with Einstein. 03.17.2009
DNA Agrees With All the Other Science: Darwin Was Right
Molecular biologist Sean Carroll shows how evolution happens, one snippet of DNA at a time 02.19.2009
What Makes You Uniquely "You"?
Nobel laureate Gerald Edelman says your brain is one-of-a-kind in the history of the universe. 01.16.2009
Why Did Western Drs. Promote Tobacco While the Nazis Fought Cancer?
Robert Proctor looks at the way knowledge advances—and sometimes takes great leaps backwards. 01.08.2009
The "Monkey Whisperer" Learns the Secrets of Primate Economics
Laurie Santos penetrates the world of monkeys... and finds they're more like humans than we think. 10.13.2008
Fighting for the Right to Clone
Stem cell and cloning guru Robert Lanza has battled the Catholic Church, the White House, and violent protesters. 08.19.2008
The Lifesaving Work of the Man Behind "A Civil Action"
"Popular epidemiologist" Phil Brown comes to the aid of environmental contamination victims. 07.29.2008
Is the Universe Actually Made of Math?
Cosmologist Max Tegmark says mathematical formulas create reality. 06.16.2008
The Beautiful Mind of Freeman Dyson
Thoughts and illustrations from the head of a science legend. 06.09.2008
How Much Do Chemicals Affect Our Health?
Philip Landrigan tracks how dangers like the WTC can cause problems like ADD. 04.25.2008
From Haitian Zombie Poison to Inuit Knives Made of Feces
Wade Davis, a real-life Indiana Jones, chronicles cultures at the brink. 03.27.2008
George Schaller's Grand Plan to Save the Marco Polo Sheep
"Obviously humans are evolution’s greatest mistake," says the conservationist. 02.21.2008
A Chat With George W. Bush’s Conscience
Embryonic stem cells crashed against Leon Kass’ old-school moralism. 02.20.2008
Your Brain on Music, Magnets, and Meth
No one has seen oddities of the mind quite like Oliver Sacks has. 01.01.2008
The Man Who Imagined Wormholes and Schooled Hawking
Kip Thorne revolutionized physics, fixed up Contact, and straddled the Cold War divide. 11.09.2007
The Granddaddy of Space Colonization?
Fifty years after Sputnik, Burt Rutan leads a new space race. 10.08.2007
Why Has Steven Pinker Studied Verbs for 20 Years?
The rules of language may reveal how our brains really work. 09.17.2007
Discover Interview: Director of Iraq's National Museum
The archaeologist talks about the loss of artifacts and why he fled his homeland. 08.03.2007
William Gibson on the Past and Future
Somehow, cyberspace and the real world switched places. 07.30.2007
Sun's Shifts May Cause Global Warming
Physicist says carbon dioxide's no big deal 06.25.2007
David Brin Predicts the Future
Sci-fi author knew all about the Web, global warming, and more 06.07.2007
Is Morality Innate and Universal?
A hardwired moral code leaves a lot of room for interpretation. 05.10.2007
The Discover Interview: Paul Allen
Microsoft's co-founder throws his fortune at the frontiers of science. 04.23.2007
Raw Data: Beacon Bird of Climate Change
Penguin poop reveals secrets of the Antarctic climate. 04.04.2007
The Discover Interview: Jane Goodall
For 47 years, Goodall has studied, communicated with, and lived with chimps. 03.28.2007
The Discover Interview: Francis Collins
Top geneticist is a devout Christian and true believer in stem cell research. 02.20.2007
Discover Interview: Marvin Minsky
The legendary pioneer of artificial intelligence ponders the brain, bashes neuroscience, and lays out a plan for superhuman robot servants. 01.12.2007
The Discover Interview Jeffrey Sachs
He's got a plan to save the world. All it needs is a smart dose of science, some enlightened politicians, and about 0.7 percent of your money. 11.27.2006
The Discover Interview: David Baltimore
The retiring president of Caltech delivers some straight talk on AIDS research, celebrity science, and his role in one of the most talked-about fraud scandals of the past 25 years. 09.01.2006
Discover Interview: Will Wright
The master of the computer god game tackles alien life and dreams up a world that would make Darwin drool. 08.01.2006
The Discover Interview: Lisa Randall
One of physics' brightest stars ventures into 10 dimensions, visits other universes, explains gravity, and keeps her sense of humor. 07.29.2006
Discover Interview: E.O. Wilson
Biology's chief provocateur explores the evolutionary origins of cooperation, warfare, and the tribal mind 06.25.2006
The Discover Interview: John McCarter
The head of Chicago's Field Museum lends a powerful new voice to the evolution debate 05.28.2006
Interview: Nobel Laureate Eric Kandel
Does psychotherapy work? We'd be a lot more certain if we slapped a little science on it. 04.02.2006
