Discover

Discover Magazine will amaze you, enlighten you, and open your eyes to the awe and wonder of science and technology. Discover reveals secrets, solves mysteries, and debunks old myths. Discover shares new findings and shows you what makes our universe tick.

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INBOX

THE LATEST NEWS AND NOTES • GERMAN BOARS: HOG WILD AND RADIOACTIVE THE MICROPLASTICS INSIDE US HOW THE DINOS SNOOZED THE SCIENCE OF A GOOD SPIN HAWKING’S INVITATION TO TIME TRAVELERS WHY FEAR IS FUN

Why Are Wild Pigs in Germany So Radioactive? • FOR YEARS, RESEARCHERS DIDN’T KNOW WHY BAVARIAN FERAL PIGS CONTAINED SERIOUS LEVELS OF RADIOACTIVE ISOTOPES. NOW, SCIENTISTS FINALLY UNDERSTAND THE MYSTERY OF THE “WILD BOAR PARADOX.”

ARE MICROPLASTICS HARMING OUR HEALTH? • THE AVERAGE HUMAN REGULARLY INHALES MICROPLASTICS INTO THEIR AIRWAYS AND LUNGS. NEW RESEARCH IS LOOKING INTO THE IMPACT THIS HAS ON OUR BODIES.

LET SLEEPING DINOS LIE • FOSSIL EVIDENCE POINTS SCIENTISTS TOWARD DIFFERENT THEORIES ABOUT HOW THESE PREHISTORIC CREATURES LIKELY SNOOZED.

HUMANS LOVE SPINNING, AND RESEARCHERS WANT TO KNOW WHY • ONE THEORY IS THAT THE DESIRE FOR DIZZINESS ORIGINATED IN A COMMON APE ANCESTOR.

STEPHEN HAWKING ONCE THREW A PARTY FOR TIME TRAVELERS • IF YOU WANT TO ATTEND STEPHEN HAWKING’S INFAMOUS COCKTAIL PARTY, YOU’D BETTER FIGURE OUT HOW TIME TRAVEL WORKS FOR A JOURNEY BACK TO 2009.

The Science of Recreational Fear • WHETHER IT’S A HAUNTED HOUSE OR A HORROR FLICK, SOME OF US CAN’T RESIST A GOOD SCARE. EMERGING RESEARCH SUGGESTS THAT RECREATIONAL FEAR MAY ALSO BENEFIT OUR MENTAL HEALTH.

Sleeping Beauty • OTHERWISE COMPLETELY HEALTHY, THIS 5-YEAR-OLD GIRL ARRIVED IN THE PEDIATRIC EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT SOUND ASLEEP — AND NOTHING WOULD WAKE HER.

BURIED TREASURE • HOW LONG DO SEEDS RETAIN THEIR ABILITY TO SPROUT? ONE OF THE WORLD’S LONGEST-RUNNING EXPERIMENTS EXAMINES THE MYSTERY.

EVERYTHING WORTH KNOWING ABOUT NEANDERTHALS • A BRUTAL RELATIVE OF OURS, OR UNDERRATED GENIUS OF PREHISTORIC TIMES? Recent (and sometimes controversial) research sheds new light.

FIRST FIRES

WHAT DID NEANDERTHALS MAKE?

COULD NEANDERTHALS SPEAK?

DID THEY COEXIST WITH MODERN HUMANS?

MUSEUMS, REIMAGINED • Natural history museums are like time machines, putting us up close with the distant past. But as technology encroaches and pointed questions arise, what does their future look like?

OUR MOON ON EARTH • There’s no place on our planet that’s quite like the lunar surface. But a trip to NASA’s Lunar Sample Lab in Houston can certainly feel like a journey to another world.

Idle Imaginations • THE MIND IS A POWERFUL TOOL THAT ALLOWS US TO IMAGINE AND CREATE. BUT EVEN IN OUR MOST VIVID DAYDREAMS, WE OMIT VISUAL CHARACTERISTICS AS ESSENTIAL AS COLOR AND SIZE.

Beyond Stonehenge • THE U.K. IS FULL OF LESSER-KNOWN PREHISTORIC STONE CIRCLES AND OTHER MONUMENTS. WHO BUILT THEM AND WHY?

POOLS ON THE LAKE