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Science

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Midas Touch

To clean highly polluted groundwater, Michael Wong has developed a detergent based on gold

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How to Make a Dodo

Biologist Beth Shapiro has figured out a recipe for success in the field of ancient DNA research

It is possible to see the world in a grain of sand—big chunks of the world, anyway, including the Himalayas and other mountain ranges (Elizabeth Catlos at Oklahoma State University with a piece of granite whose grains may reveal the history of Turkey’s Menderes Massif.)

Rock of Ages

Where did the world’s highest mountains come from? Geologist Elizabeth Catlos takes a new view

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Creatures of the Deep!

A new book of photographs taken in the ocean depths reveals a world abounding in unimagined life

Guerrillas in Their Midst

Face to face with Congo’s imperiled mountain gorillas

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Teaming up with Thoreau

One hundred fifty years after the publication of Walden, Henry David Thoreau is helping scientists monitor global warming

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Wild Things: Life As We Know It

Tail-waving squirrels, black-footed ferrets and tool-using crows

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Fred Spoor

The evolution scholar talks about a landmark new study challenging the classic view of human ancestry

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Hatching a New Idea

Electronic eggs hatch new insights into breeding exotic birds at the National Zoo

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From the Castle

Health Checks

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Mystery at Sea

How mercury gets into tuna and other fish in the ocean has scientists searching from the coast to the floor

"It's like a mystery novel," says veteran volcanologist Richard Fiske of his field work. "We're uncovering clues."

FOR HIRE: Volcanologist

Richard Fiske discusses his groundbreaking work

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Oceans as Blue as Windex

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Loggerheads Losing

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The Fate of Tuvalu

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EcoCenter: The Land

A look at man-made and natural causes that are threatening the Earth

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EcoCenter: Air

Forty years after the passage of the Clean Air Act, researchers have seen great progress while studying the dangers of pollution

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Turning the Tide

Our oceans are in trouble, says Nancy Knowlton. But it’s not too late to do something about it

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