http://discovermagazine.com Science, Technology, and The Future http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/46 http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/46 The amount of skin indicates how muscular the hadrosaur was and, consequently, how fast it could run. Megan Talkington http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/46/key_image Sun, 07 Feb 2010 09:30:00 -0600 Sun, 07 Feb 2010 09:30:00 -0600 Print Article http://discovermagazine.com/2009/dec/06-destination-science-hunting-dinosaurs-with-jack-horner http://discovermagazine.com/2009/dec/06-destination-science-hunting-dinosaurs-with-jack-horner Exploring with Horner is part rugged outdoor workout, part evolutionary adventure, which helps explain why some 40 people trek to this remote part of Montana each summer to join him on his fossil hunts. Boonsri Dickinson http://discovermagazine.com/2009/dec/06-destination-science-hunting-dinosaurs-with-jack-horner/key_image Sat, 06 Feb 2010 11:15:00 -0600 Sat, 06 Feb 2010 11:15:00 -0600 Print Article http://discovermagazine.com/2009/dec/28-intellectual-property-fight-that-could-kill-millions http://discovermagazine.com/2009/dec/28-intellectual-property-fight-that-could-kill-millions <p>Ngurah Rai International Airport in Bali is best known as a tourist hub, the bustling port of entry to a volcanic paradise. But when Indonesian authorities learned that a Mexican swine flu had gone global, that hub became a surreal microcosm of flu politics. Each arriving passenger was scanned for fever. A Dutch woman, apparently ill while in flight, was greeted by health workers in hazmat suits and whisked into quarantine while fellow passengers were spritzed with disinfectant. The woman was found to have nothing more than a bad sore throat, according to news reports, but that did not change a thing. The controversial head of the Indonesian Health Ministry, physician Siti Supari, quarantined sick foreigners at warp speed. Already embroiled in a battle royal with the world’s superpowers over another flu virus—the ultra-lethal bird flu—Supari did not have time to deal with a new enemy. She would do everything possible, she told her fellow citizens, to protect them from the new pathogen spawned by a pig.</p> <p> The recent frenzy in Bali stood in notable contrast to the research paralysis that has gripped this tropical archipelago since late 2006, when Supari declared that flu viruses circulating in Indonesia belonged to her government alone. It was a bizarre, 21st-century twist on an age-old intellectual property argument. Developing nations had long fought passionately over plant and native human genes, but no one had ever before staked claim to microbes that birds could carry anywhere. Yet the 57-year-old health minister insisted she had cause: Rich Western nations were patenting the viral genomes, then using the information to create vaccines that were sold for profit to other Western powers while benefiting Indonesia not at all.</p> <p> If Supari had stopped there, she might have garnered real support. But she ramped up the rhetoric, launching a barrage of fear bombs by accusing the United States of genetically engineering H1N1 (the swine flu virus) and H5N1 (the bird flu pathogen) as biological weapons. Wielding those charges, she flouted agreements with the World Health Organization (WHO), refusing to share samples from Indonesians infected with avian influenza—specimens the rest of the world desperately needs to track a virus on the move.</p> Delthia Ricks http://discovermagazine.com/2009/dec/28-intellectual-property-fight-that-could-kill-millions/key_image Thu, 28 Jan 2010 11:30:00 -0600 Thu, 28 Jan 2010 11:30:00 -0600 Print Article http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/42 http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/42 New imaging techniques show viruses and bacteria in action. Megan Talkington http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/42/key_image Tue, 26 Jan 2010 09:30:00 -0600 Tue, 26 Jan 2010 09:30:00 -0600 Print Article http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/44 http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/44 <p>Charles Darwin would have turned 200 in 2009, the same year his book On the Origin of Species celebrated its 150th anniversary. Today, with the perspective of time, Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection looks as impressive as ever. In fact, the double anniversary year saw progress on fronts that Darwin could never have anticipated, bringing new insights into the origin of life—a topic that contributed to his panic attacks, heart palpitations, and, as he wrote, “for 25 years extreme spasmodic daily and nightly flatulence.” One can only dream of what riches await in the biology textbooks of 2159.</p> <p>1. Evolution happens on the inside, too. The battle for survival is waged not just between the big dogs but within the dog itself, as individual genes jockey for prominence. From the moment of conception, a father’s genes favor offspring that are large, strong, and aggressive (the better to court the ladies), while the mother’s genes incline toward smaller progeny that will be less of a burden, making it easier for her to live on and procreate. Genome-versus-genome warfare produces kids that are somewhere in between.</p> <p>Not all genetic conflicts are resolved so neatly. In flour beetles, babies that do not inherit the selfish genetic element known as Medea succumb to a toxin while developing in the egg. Some unborn mice suffer the same fate. Such spiteful genes have become widespread not by helping flour beetles and mice survive but by eliminating individuals that do not carry the killer’s code. “There are two ways of winning a race,” says Caltech biologist Bruce Hay. “Either you can be better than everyone else, or you can whack the other guys on the legs.”</p> <p>Hay is trying to harness the power of such genetic cheaters, enlisting them in the fight against malaria. He created a Medea-like DNA element that spreads through experimental fruit flies like wildfire, permeating an entire population within 10 generations. This year he and his team have been working on encoding immune-system boosters into those Medea genes, which could then be inserted into male mosquitoes. If it works, the modified mosquitoes should quickly replace competitors who do not carry the new genes; the enhanced immune systems of the new mosquitoes, in turn, would resist the spread of the malaria parasite.</p> Jessica Ruvinsky http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/44/key_image Tue, 26 Jan 2010 09:30:00 -0600 Tue, 26 Jan 2010 09:30:00 -0600 Print Article http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/41 http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/41 The barreleye always looks up, through its own head, to find food. Janet Fang http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/41/key_image Tue, 26 Jan 2010 09:30:00 -0600 Tue, 26 Jan 2010 09:30:00 -0600 Print Article http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/12 http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/12 Sponges may have sprung up in special mini-ecosystems 850 million years ago. Douglas Fox http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/12/key_image Mon, 25 Jan 2010 23:00:00 -0600 Mon, 25 Jan 2010 23:00:00 -0600 Print Article http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/14 http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/14 “This type of preservation isn’t supposed to be possible,” says Mary Schweitzer, the guru of finding well-preserved dinosaurs. “But here it is.” Amy Barth http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/14/key_image Mon, 25 Jan 2010 22:50:00 -0600 Mon, 25 Jan 2010 22:50:00 -0600 Print Article http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/26 http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/26 The pioneering scientist/entrepreneur on biology's next leap: digitally designed life-forms that could produce novel drugs, renewable fuels, and plentiful food for tomorrow’s world. Pamela Weintraub; photography by Mackenzie Stroh http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/26/key_image Mon, 25 Jan 2010 15:20:00 -0600 Mon, 25 Jan 2010 15:20:00 -0600 Print Article http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/33 http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/33 The smallest snake, biggest stick insect, smallest sea horse, and a tree that kills itself by flowering. Jill Neimark http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/33/key_image Mon, 25 Jan 2010 14:05:00 -0600 Mon, 25 Jan 2010 14:05:00 -0600 Print Article http://discovermagazine.com/2009/dec/20-field-notes-meddling-with-mosquito-romance-in-name-public-health http://discovermagazine.com/2009/dec/20-field-notes-meddling-with-mosquito-romance-in-name-public-health The duets sung by male and female mosquitoes are a critical part of their mating ritual. If researchers can master mosquito music, they may be able to abort a whole generation of disease-carriers. Dava Sobel http://discovermagazine.com/2009/dec/20-field-notes-meddling-with-mosquito-romance-in-name-public-health/key_image Wed, 20 Jan 2010 12:35:00 -0600 Wed, 20 Jan 2010 12:35:00 -0600 Print Article http://discovermagazine.com/2009/dec/05-reasons-science-hearts-google http://discovermagazine.com/2009/dec/05-reasons-science-hearts-google For most of us, “Googling” is synonymous with Web hunting: dredging up an old friend, say, or locating a late-night pizzeria. But the world’s leading search engine and its related applications are turning out to be powerful research tools, too. Scientists have begun tapping into Google Maps, Google Earth, and Google News to monitor volcanoes, find fossils, and track infectious diseases. Elizabeth Svoboda http://discovermagazine.com/2009/dec/05-reasons-science-hearts-google/key_image Tue, 19 Jan 2010 15:15:00 -0600 Tue, 19 Jan 2010 15:15:00 -0600 Print Article http://discovermagazine.com/2009/nov/06-lichens-fungi-that-have-discovered-agriculture http://discovermagazine.com/2009/nov/06-lichens-fungi-that-have-discovered-agriculture The often misunderstood symbiote can poison wolves, break down rocks, and live for thousands of years. Gordon Grice http://discovermagazine.com/2009/nov/06-lichens-fungi-that-have-discovered-agriculture/key_image Wed, 06 Jan 2010 16:25:00 -0600 Wed, 06 Jan 2010 16:25:00 -0600 Print Article http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/058 http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/058 By putting leaves between their lips, the apes apparently make themselves sound bigger and more threatening. Jane Bosveld http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/058/key_image Tue, 29 Dec 2009 14:20:00 -0600 Tue, 29 Dec 2009 14:20:00 -0600 Print Article http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/060 http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/060 He says a big Arctic melt is inevitable and readies us for what comes next. Pamela Weintraub; photograph by Beth Wald http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/060/key_image Mon, 28 Dec 2009 22:05:00 -0600 Mon, 28 Dec 2009 22:05:00 -0600 Print Article http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/061 http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/061 The brains of people who were abused as children and then commit suicide show DNA modifications that made them particularly sensitive to stress. Amy Barth http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/061/key_image Mon, 28 Dec 2009 18:45:00 -0600 Mon, 28 Dec 2009 18:45:00 -0600 Print Article http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/063 http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/063 If fluid water does persist on Mars, life could be hanging on in thin layers of salty water just beneath the surface. Andrew Grant http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/063/key_image Mon, 28 Dec 2009 13:30:00 -0600 Mon, 28 Dec 2009 13:30:00 -0600 Print Article http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/065 http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/065 The 40-foot monster is helping scientists figure out what happened in our hotter past—and perhaps what awaits us in the future. Andrew Grant http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/065/key_image Sun, 27 Dec 2009 12:35:00 -0600 Sun, 27 Dec 2009 12:35:00 -0600 Print Article http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/069 http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/069 Big money awaits innovators who can build rockets, sequence genomes, predict people's movie preferences, harvest energy from the tides, or explore the Moon. Darlene Cavalier http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/069/key_image Fri, 25 Dec 2009 10:40:00 -0600 Fri, 25 Dec 2009 10:40:00 -0600 Print Article http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/070 http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/070 Modern whale babies come out tail first to prevent drowning. A new fossil suggests ancestral whales came out the other way. Lindsey Konkel http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/070/key_image Thu, 24 Dec 2009 15:10:00 -0600 Thu, 24 Dec 2009 15:10:00 -0600 Print Article http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/071 http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/071 In the harsh dry air, the hermit crab-like animals needed shields to keep their gills warm. Jeremy Labrecque http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/071/key_image Thu, 24 Dec 2009 15:05:00 -0600 Thu, 24 Dec 2009 15:05:00 -0600 Print Article http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/076 http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/076 Pterosaurs could fly 40 up to miles an hour but were unable to launch themselves like modern birds. So how did these prehistoric giants get off the ground? Jane Bosveld http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/076/key_image Tue, 22 Dec 2009 15:25:00 -0600 Tue, 22 Dec 2009 15:25:00 -0600 Print Article http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/077 http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/077 Early organisms apparently survived the Late Heavy Bombardment—which may have made our planet a much comfier place to live. Michael D. Lemonick http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/077/key_image Tue, 22 Dec 2009 14:45:00 -0600 Tue, 22 Dec 2009 14:45:00 -0600 Print Article http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/080 http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/080 “Santino has a great time scaring visitors, and as the group’s dominant male, he is showing the other chimps that he can protect them.” Jane Bosveld http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/080/key_image Mon, 21 Dec 2009 16:30:00 -0600 Mon, 21 Dec 2009 16:30:00 -0600 Print Article http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/081 http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/081 Researchers don't know exactly what FOXP2 does in humans, but it's the gene most directly linked to speech that we know of. Allison Bond http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jan-feb/081/key_image Mon, 21 Dec 2009 12:00:00 -0600 Mon, 21 Dec 2009 12:00:00 -0600 Print Article