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Can Stuffing Germs up Ferrets Unleash a Human Pandemic?
Don't believe the hype about the would-be killer flu. 05.18.2012
Does Rain Come From Life in the Clouds?
Scientists are making their first forays into the mysterious world of biology miles up in the air. Their startling conclusion: That ecosystem in the sky might influence tomorrow's weather and next year's harvest. 04.20.2012
#91: Unmasking Earth’s First Life
Paleontologists discover what may be the oldest fossilized bacteria ever found, but questions remain. 12.22.2011
#63: How Many Species Inhabit the Earth?
It's a tough question, but we now have the best answer yet. 12.22.2011
The Big Debate Over the Oldest Life on Earth
One researcher says he has the oldest fossils ever found; another says that's just mangled, pressure-cooked rock. 12.07.2011
The Sperm Crisis: A Tough Nut to Crack
Bad food, bad genes, and monogamy are sucking the life out of human sperm. But conceptive gels and stem cells could bring some virility back. 11.08.2011
5 Questions for the Microbial Puppet-Master
Timothy Lu gets bacteria to make enzymes that attack their own biofilms, setting them up for the kill. 09.11.2011
Discover Interview: Lynn Margulis Says She's Not Controversial, She's Right
It's the neo-Darwinists, population geneticists, AIDS researchers, and English-speaking biologists as a whole who have it all wrong. 06.17.2011
Why Did Earth Have a Poison-Filled "Boring Billion" Years?
Andrew Kroll argues that during this apparently stagnant time, monumental changes were afoot, setting the stage for the geyser of evolutionary change that followed, and the complex world we see today. 02.26.2011
#47: Early Dawn for Earth’s Complex Life
12.16.2010
The 100 Top Science Stories of 2010
Every year DISCOVER sorts through the scientific accomplishments of the past 12 months, and assembles a list of the coolest experiments, most brilliant discoveries, and most world-changing events. As you page through the countdown to the #1 science story, we think you'll come to the same conclusion we did: 2010 was quite a year. 12.16.2010
Superbugs Emerge From the School of Hard Knocks
“It’s the bacterial equivalent of ‘That which doesn’t kill you makes you stronger,’” says biomedical engineer Jim Collins. 11.22.2010
When Animals Attack Our Attempts to Categorize Them
For three centuries, scientists have divided living things into tidy species. But the real world seems more slippery: a continuum in which one variety of life flows seamlessly into the next. 11.19.2010
The Evolution of a Punk-Rock Scientist
We talk with Bad Religion frontman Greg Graffin about his dual careers in music and science, non-religious faith, and his problems with authority. 10.06.2010
The Alluring and Alien Sights of a Bee in Ultra Close-up
See the honeybee's hairy eyeball, barbed stinger, and detachable wings at astounding magnifications. 05.18.2010
Serpents, Flyers & Hammers: Strange Fish That Rule the Open Sea
These magnificent wanderers of the open ocean have inspired sailor's legends and blockbuster movies. 04.12.2010
How Animals Suck: 9 Creatures That Slurp Creatively
Moths that steal tears while their victim sleeps, bats with tongues that start near their hearts, and more animals with weird techniques for eating and drinking. 03.04.2010
The Clever Tricks That Let Caterpillars Reach Butterflyhood
These wingless larvae outwit predators through ingenious disguises, alarming appendages, and choreographed chaos. 02.09.2010
8 Marine Creatures that Light Up the Sea
How bioluminescence makes the ocean go round. 02.01.2010
#43: Five Big Additions to Darwin's Theory of Evolution
He had the main idea right, but in the past 150 years, scientists have filled out a lot more of the picture. 01.26.2010
Impostors! Ten Species That Survive by Imitation
Disguises, fake sex, and eau de rotting flesh: These plants and animals use the weirdest ruses to get by. 01.26.2010
#12: Oldest Animal Fossils Uncovered
Sponges may have sprung up in special mini-ecosystems 850 million years ago. 01.25.2010
#30: Human Hunters Accelerate the Pace of Evolution
If people want bucks with big horns, it pays to not have big horns. 01.25.2010
Stunning High-Speed Photos of Birds
Photographer Andrew Zuckerman earns the title of the new Audubon with his high-definition, high-speed avian portraits. 01.19.2010
#70: Ancestral Whales May Have Given Birth on Land
Modern whale babies come out tail first to prevent drowning. A new fossil suggests ancestral whales came out the other way. 12.24.2009
#71: First Ground Animals Borrowed Shells
In the harsh dry air, the hermit crab-like animals needed shields to keep their gills warm. 12.24.2009
#77: Did an Early Pummeling of Asteroids Lead to Life on Earth?
Early organisms apparently survived the Late Heavy Bombardment—which may have made our planet a much comfier place to live. 12.22.2009
#90: Fossil Bonanza for an Animal That Doesn't Fossilize: The Octopus
“The preservation of these soft-bodied creatures is the result of a chain of lucky chances.” Paleontologists hit the luckiest stash of all in Lebanon. 12.18.2009
#97: Tropical Heat Speeds Up Evolution
"The biggest, most obvious pattern in nature" is that there are more species in warmer areas. But why that's the case has been a mystery—until now. 12.16.2009
#98: First Molecule of Life Discovered?
In the beginning there was RNA. RNA begat DNA, and DNA begat lipids, carbohydrates, and proteins: That's Genesis according to the “RNA world” hypothesis. 12.16.2009
The First, and Greatest, Reality Show: Evolutionary Biology
Sex, death, deception—it's all part of the dances between species. 11.23.2009
The Calculating Beauty of Butterflies
How butterflies' colorful wing patterns help them hide, lie, and impress the ladies. 11.11.2009
The Big Idea That Might Beat Cancer and Cut Health-Care Costs by 80 Percent
Paul Ewald says infections are responsible for at least four-fifths of all cancers—and we have the tools to prevent them. 09.30.2009
Intelligent Design's 8 Biggest Fails
The latest incarnation of creationism keeps trying—and failing—to take down Darwin. 09.17.2009
The Most Incredible Things Ants Can Do
They're organized and ruthless, brilliant engineers and cold killers. They're ants, and this is their world. 07.30.2009
The Science of Obama’s Fly-Swatting
A combination of good strategy and some facets of human evolution overcame the bug's impressive natural defenses. 06.18.2009
The Best New Science Books
Neil deGrasse Tyson, Area 51, modern life vs human nature, and more 02.20.2009
DNA Agrees With All the Other Science: Darwin Was Right
Molecular biologist Sean Carroll shows how evolution happens, one snippet of DNA at a time 02.19.2009
Darwin's Dystopias: Ghastly Visions Inspired by Evolution
A new collection of art shows how one scientist shocked the world. 02.12.2009
We All Live in Darwin's World
“Survival of the fittest” is helping us understand not only the origin of species but also love, politics, and even the cosmos. 02.11.2009
Six Sites That Are the Galapagos For Modern Darwins
Researchers see amazing twists of evolution at the biological hot spots. 02.10.2009
DISCOVER Special Evolution Section
The future of Homo sapiens, genetic proof of evolution, the next Galapagos, and more. 02.04.2009
#30: Magpies Recognize Themselves in the Mirror
The birds pass the test for "rudimentary sense of self." 12.17.2008
#36: Creationism Lurks in Public High Schools
One in six teachers say they believe the earth is 6,000 years old. 12.15.2008
#63: Lizardlike Tuatara Sets a Speed Record for DNA Change
The reptile undergoes rapid molecular evolution but is largely unchanged since the time of the dinosaurs. 12.10.2008
#75: Chilies' Fire Is Self-Defense Against a Surprising Foe
Capsaicin keeps fungus from chomping on pepper plants but does nothing to dissuade hungry bugs. 12.09.2008
#87: Speedy Sperm Explains Flower Power
The quickest out of the gate, angiosperms dominate the plant world. 12.07.2008
#92: A 380-Million-Year-Old Fish Gives Birth
Paleontologists unearth a prehistoric pregnant skeleton. 12.05.2008
#98: You're More Like a Sponge Than a Comb Jelly
A gelatinous zooplankton can now trace its roots back to the world's first life. 12.04.2008
Mom and Dad Are Fighting in Your Genes—and in Your Brain
Our brains may contain a battle of the sexes that can cause schizophrenia and autism. 11.10.2008
Could Pandas Be an Evolutionary Mistake—or Proof of an Intelligent Designer?
They don’t seem to care for sex or proper nutrition, raising questions about whether the fittest have survived. 08.05.2008
Your Inner Fish
Learn to love your body for what it really is: a jury-rigged fish. 02.21.2008
Did Life Evolve in Ice?
Funky properties of frozen water may have made life possible. 02.01.2008
97. Hot-Tailed Squirrels vs. Rattlesnakes
01.15.2008
88. Did Mice Domesticate The House Cat
01.15.2008
84. Chimps Show Altruistic Streak
01.15.2008
99. Who Shrunk the Dogs Down
01.15.2008
73. Parasite Invades Its Host’s DNA
01.14.2008
Bacteria Invade Genomes, Not Just Bodies
A bacterial genome sets up shop right in a fruit fly's DNA. 12.07.2007
Why Aren’t All People Beautiful?
Maybe the genes that make hot males make distinctly un-hot females. 11.27.2007
The Real Dirty Secret about Sex
Life doesn’t need it, so why do we do it? 11.12.2007
One Universe, Under God
Creationism battles for the hearts and minds of America’s teachers. 10.01.2007
The Simplistic Manifesto
Intelligent design misses the point. Again. 07.02.2007
Aliens Among Us
Do we share Earth with alternative life forms? 06.27.2007
Against All Odds, Sex Has Returned
A mite reevolves sex after hundreds of millions of years without it. 06.19.2007
Darwin’s Lost World
Evolution is alive and swimming in Borneo. 04.26.2007
Not So Fast, Einstein
Human brain evolution seems to be slowing. 04.11.2007
Blinded by Science: Stuck in Creationism
The designers of the Creation Museum insist that science is fundamental. 02.12.2007
Jaron's World: Frozen in Time
Birth reveals the transitional nature of the design. 12.12.2006
The Exact Cost of Diversity
Temperatures can affect how new fast species arise. 09.01.2006
Unintelligent Design
A monstrous discovery suggests that viruses, long regarded as lowly evolutionary latecomers, may have been the precursors of all life on Earth 03.15.2006
The Ur-Plant
DNA analysis reveals the identity of the first plants. 11.01.1998
The Importance of Noses
They do more than smell: they contain tiny bones that keep us from getting dehydrated. 08.01.1994
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