Smithsonian Magazine: March 2013
Features
Lost Tribes of the Amazon
Deep in the jungles of Colombia, shadowy groups of Indians believed to have vanished long ago are living the way their ancestors have for thousands of years – And refusing to encounter the modern world
By Joshua Hammer
Amazon Warriors
Napoleon Chagnon’s new memoir reignites the firestorm over his study of the Yanomamö
By Joshua Hammer
Light Fantastic
Why do so many undersea creatures glow in the dark? A pioneering scientist dives deep to explore the dazzlingworld of bioluminescence
By Abigail Tucker
The Beauty of Life
From a bunny that glows to a cathedral that grows, artists are borrowing from biology to create dazzling “biodesigns” that challenge our aesthetics—and our place in nature
By Megan Gambino
Mean Girls
Female elephants have long been celebrated for cooperation and altruism. But new research reveals a shocking amount of pachyderm competition—and even bullying
By Caitlin O’Connell-Rodwell
No Egrets
100 years ago, two society women ended the slaughter of birds
By William Souder
Roots of a Naturalist
She’s spent much of her life among the chimpanzees of Gombe, unraveling the mysteries of the primate world. Now Jane Goodall reveals her long-time fascination with plants
By Jane Goodall
First Blood
One of our greatest historians shines his light on America’s Dark Ages
By Ron Rosenbaum
Departments
From the Castle
From the Castle
Smithsonian Secretary G. Wayne Clough journeys to Front Royal, Virginia, to find out the latest in animal research
By G. Wayne Clough, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution
50 Shades of Gray Matter
Neuroscientists prove what we always suspected: Men and women see the world differently.
By Libby Copeland
Flashes of Light
As the fastest thing in the universe, light certainly gets around
By Smithsonian magazine
Around the Mall
No Fluke
Brian Skerry dives deep to capture the beauty, and fragility, of sea life
By Joseph Stromberg
Around the Mall
Playlist
A new album from Smithsonian Folkways will brighten anyone’s St. Patrick’s Day
By Leah Binkovitz
Books
Books
Cooperative dolphins, heartbroken cheetahs and thinking chimps. Plus: the ruins of Detroit and the science of competition
By Chloë Schama
Fast Forward
Fast Forward
The AMS can detect and sort hundreds of billions of high-energy particles whizzing through space
By Elizabeth Quill
