How Much the Hope Diamond is Worth and Other Questions From Our Readers
From American art, history and culture, air and space technology, contemporary art, Asian art and any of the sciences from astronomy to zoology, we'll find an answer
February 07, 2012 |
By Aviva Shen
To the Bottom of the World—and Back Again
When Felicity Aston, on skis, caught sight of Antarctica's coastal mountains, she told me, "they were like a neon sign flashing at me saying, 'You have finished!' "
February 01, 2012 |
By Alastair Bland
The Devastating Costs of the Amazon Gold Rush
Spurred by rising global demand for the metal, miners are destroying invaluable rainforest in Peru's Amazon basin
February 2012 |
By Donovan Webster
Ancient Popcorn Unearthed in Peru
New discoveries indicate people were eating our favorite movie snack far longer ago than we thought
January 27, 2012 |
By Joseph Stromberg
Saving the Whales (And Eating Them Too?)
What does whale meat taste like, and is it anything like jojoba oil, prosciutto or jellied crustaceans?
January 27, 2012 |
By Peter Smith
The Curious Case of a Gigantic Sham Clam
Geoducks are a staple of Chinese New Year. But did one grow to the size of a wheelbarrow?
January 23, 2012 |
By Peter Smith
What Does Home Smell Like?
Salmon's powerful, ingrained sense of smell allows them to return to the exact stream of their birth for spawning.
January 09, 2012 |
By Peter Smith
Into New Zealand’s Strange Waters and Prehistoric Forests
The absence of native mammals, aside from bats and pinnipeds, gives the impression that New Zealand is still in the age of dinosaurs
January 05, 2012 |
By Alastair Bland
Journey to the Bottom of the Earth – Almost
Anyone would be a fool to visit the South Island and not see the cliffs and marine scenery of Milford Sound, maybe the closest thing the real world knows to the fabled “Cliffs of Insanity" of The Princess Bride
January 04, 2012 |
By Alastair Bland
Best Bets to See a Big Predator
Get your grizzlies, polar bears, big cats, wolves and crocs here
December 30, 2011 |
By Alastair Bland
Climbing Mount Everest in the Internet Age
Are people playing games while climbing the world’s tallest mountain? That's hard to say, but they’re definitely texting
December 27, 2011 |
By Alastair Bland
Faux Pas: Mortifying Missteps of the Innocent Abroad
It was only weeks later that I learned what a klutz I'd been. It's a miracle I wasn't thrown to the bears
December 20, 2011 |
By Alastair Bland
Holiday Gift Ideas for the Adventure Traveler
A chess set, soccer ball, bear spray and other items, even dog food, make the list of gifts to give your favorite hardened traveler
December 16, 2011 |
By Alastair Bland
Have Kids, Will Travel
"It just felt like what we would do. We were travelers. It was in our blood, and the idea that we would ever stop traveling just because we had kids never sat well with us"
December 14, 2011 |
By Alastair Bland
Farthest South: News from a Solo Antarctic Adventurer
Aston is in no-man's land, where schedules, deadlines and responsibility seem to carry little relevance, but she is tightly bound by one crucial logistic: "I can't miss the last plane out"
December 09, 2011 |
By Alastair Bland
The World’s Muddiest Disaster
Earth’s most violent mud volcano is wreaking havoc in Indonesia. Was drilling to blame? And when will it end?
December 02, 2011 |
By Erin Wayman
What We're Still Learning About Hawaii
The fiery forces beneath the island chain still mystify geologists
December 2011 |
By Erin Wayman
Preparing for a New River
Klallam tribal members make plans for holy ancestral sites to resurface after the unparalleled removal of nearby dams
December 2011 |
By Abigail Tucker
Descending Into Hawaii's Haleakala Crater
A trip to the floor of the Maui volcano still promises an encounter with the "raw beginnings of world-making"
December 2011 |
By Tony Perrottet
The Wonders that Wash Ashore: Malarrimo Beach
The attraction of beachcombing is that one isn't perusing an actual garbage dump; much of what one sifts through on a remote stretch of sand are valuables lost at sea
November 22, 2011 |
By Alastair Bland
