Innholdsfortegnelse for Apr-14 i National Geographic Magazine

About 15 years ago I had an assignment to photograph wild dogs in Botswana’s Okavango Delta. A pack had hunted down an impala and dragged the carcass near my Land Rover. I crawled under the vehicle so I would be as inconspicuous as possible while photographing the scene, but an adult male trotted over to me, sniffed my face, and started tugging at my leg. I stayed absolutely still, heart racing, hardly breathing. It was an intimate encounter with one of Africa’s most endangered carnivores but was completely on the animal’s terms, not mine. Turning a wild animal—a lion, a lemur, a bear— into a pet creates a different dynamic. The relationship exists on the terms of the human owner, and I question the wisdom of that for both sides.…

Bosnia and Herzegovina In Mostar a competitive diver holds torches as he jumps from the Old Bridge into the Neretva River. The 78-foot-tall limestone span—completed in 1566, destroyed by war in 1993, reopened in 2004—is a World Heritage site. Spain During the Descent of the Angel festival in Peñafiel, seven-year-old Pablo Leal Requejo “flies down” to remove the Virgin Mary’s veil of mourning. The Easter celebration may have evolved from medieval plays. It draws about 2,500 people each year. Russia Lit by a torch, an ice cave in a Kamchatka glacier glows like an entrance to the underworld. The pocked walls and ceiling are layers of compacted snow—more than 20 feet thick—carved by hot springs from the Mutnovsky Volcano.…

By 8 a.m., rush hour is at full throttle in most cities. Accidents, the cost of fuel, and the quality of public transportation aren’t the only factors that can make the drive to work range from ho-hum to hellish. According to traffic analyst Jim Bak, there’s another thing that can cause commuting lengths to fluctuate: the state of the economy. “When the recession hit in 2008, congestion across the U.S. dropped 30 percent,” he says. Four years later, in 2012, drivers in Italy, France, and Spain also spent less time on the road as unemployment, especially among youth, skyrocketed in the wake of Europe’s debt crisis. That same year, European Union officials tasked with managing the problem flocked to Brussels, Belgium—causing traffic and commute times in that city to soar.…

Researchers study the internal structures of bodily organs to understand disease and function. The surrounding tissue can get in the way, though. Biologist Takeshi Imai’s team has a fix: Bathe the tissues in a solution of fructose and water, and they turn clear (see mouse embryo, below). Previously scientists used chemicals to achieve transparency, but those work slowly and can sometimes be toxic. They can also change structures and degrade dyes meant to trace nervous systems. Imai’s sugar solution is the first to leave the object of study intact—bringing a more accurate picture into view.…

Part two | The visible impacts The world gets huge amounts of energy from coal—and puts huge energy into extracting it from the ground. The carbon that ends up in the atmosphere is just a ghostly echo of an industry of monumental scale and impact. QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA An automated bucketwheel excavator loads coal into ships bound for China and India. Australia is second only to Indonesia in coal exports. CHINA It burns nearly half the world’s coal, mostly to support a 13-fold increase in electricity generation since 1980. Demand is still growing. So is public outrage over the filthy air in Chinese cities, which has been linked to 1.2 million deaths a year. SHUOZHOU, CHINA Amid the withered stalks of last year’s corn, a farmer prepares for spring near a…

The isolated villages of Brittany, in the northwest corner of France, were once known for their distinctive headdresses and costumes. Now a younger generation is continuing the tradition. Plouguenast, Côtes-d’Armor Each Breton ensemble is specific to a place: an individual village and sometimes the surrounding area, known as a pays. In these photos, taken in Brittany with a translucent backdrop, each outfit is identified by village and département, an administrative unit of modern France. Climbing out of a tiny European car is challenging enough; it’s nearly impossible in a hat 13 inches tall. Yet Alexia Caoudal, 87, and Marie-Louise Lopere, 90, manage to cantilever out of the backseat of a friend’s silver Citroen with remarkable dignity, if not grace. Their host hurries to greet them with such smiling deference that…

Imagine a place where the Arctic Circle is 200 miles to the south and the nearest neighbor is several hours away. This is remote Alaska, and its few human inhabitants are a rugged bunch. Find out how they manage day to day—from traveling by sled dog (left) to warding off hungry grizzly bears. It’s all part of Life Below Zero, back for its second season this month on the National Geographic Channel. LECTURE LENS OF ADVENTURE Bryan Smith finds innovative ways to film in extreme locations. Join him for stories of what goes on behind the scenes during the making of a National Geographic film. Speaking dates in the United States and Canada are listed at nglive.org. EXHIBIT EARTH EXPLORERS This interactive exhibit introduces visitors to diverse environments, including rain…

On my wall I have a Buckminster Fuller Dymaxion map of the world. Many times I have gazed into it, fantasizing about (someone) taking the walk from the southern tip of Africa to the southern tip of South America. Given the right weather conditions, even the small gap between Cape Dezhneva in Russia and Cape Prince of Wales in Alaska could perhaps be crossed. I’m really looking forward to finally taking that walk, albeit from the comfort of my armchair, thanks to the next seven years of what I’m sure will be adventurous reporting from Paul Salopek. Eagle Rock, California Paul Salopek has the eye of an artist, the insight of a philosopher, and the candor of a poet. What better way to understand what it means to be human…

Your Assignment When senior photo editor Sadie Quarrier and photographer Cory Richards launched this assignment for Your Shot members, “Explore Our Changing World,” they looked for images that captured what the eye can’t always register. These two shots did just that. Find more from this assignment online. EDITORS’ CHOICE Klaus Priebe Santa Fe, New Mexico After Priebe saw storms predicted over Utah’s Canyonlands National Park, he hopped in his truck—where he’d also slept four nights—to snap this bolt, using a lightning trigger that detects rapid changes in light intensity. READERS’ CHOICE Juan Carlos Osorio New York, New York Osorio wanted to photograph this solar plane, which was the first to fly at night. He used an eight-second exposure. “This plane runs on no fuel,” he says. “Amazing!”…

Artist Fritz Haeg’s work is taking root. Over the past decade he’s helped 15 families around the world turn their grass-only lawns into lush, organic gardens that he calls edible estates. Planted in front yards from Tel Aviv, Israel, to the Twin Cities in Minnesota, the plots give nourishment and pleasure. More important, says Haeg, they provide a sharp contrast to surrounding properties—which typically lack biodiversity. Confronting the issue of land use is an idea that resonates with environmental geographer Paul Robbins. Turfgrass lawns are ecologically problematic because they keep other species from thriving. “Nature abhors a monoculture,” says Robbins. “Lawn maintenance is a desperate struggle against nature.” Siblings Andrea and Aaron Schoenherr tend their Woodbury, Minnesota, garden—part of a global art project.…

JULIETTE, GEORGIA Steam and smoke rise from the cooling towers and chimneys of the Robert W. Scherer power plant, the largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the U.S. It burns 12 million tons of coal a year. It’s the dirtiest of fossil fuels. We burn eight billion tons of it a year, with growing consequences. The world must face the question: Coal provides 40 percent of the world’s electricity. It produces 39 percent of global CO² emissions. It kills thousands a year in mines, many more with polluted air. POCA, WEST VIRGINIA The Poca High School “Dots” practice near an American Electric Power coal-fired plant that powers nearly two million homes. Scrubbers clean some of the sulfur and mercury— but not the carbon—from the smoke.…

One of a pair of tiny French territories tucked between Madagascar and southern Africa provides a mating area for green turtles. The other is home to Galapagos sharks. picture two boulders dancing. That’s an approximation of green turtle sex: two sumo-size behemoths clipped to each other’s shells, finning languidly through the crystal waters of a coral reef. A reef such as the one that encircles Ile Europa, off the southwestern coast of Madagascar, where on average more than 10,000 female green turtles congregate each year to mate, later going ashore to lay their eggs. Green turtles have a reproductive strategy known as “scramble polygamy.” Rather than expend energy defending a territory or engaging in combat, males focus their elephantine effort on finding an unattached female—or attempting to cut in on…

The perilous attraction of owning exotic pets John Matus bought Boo Boo impulsively as a cub. Last summer the Ohio man gave her to a wildlife sanctuary. “She needs to be with her own kind,” he says. “It’s a lonely life.” All across the nation, in Americans’ backyards and garages and living rooms, in their beds and basements and bathrooms, wild animals kept as pets live side by side with their human owners. It’s believed that more exotic animals live in American homes than are cared for in American zoos. The exoticpet business is a lucrative industry, one that’s drawn criticism from animal welfare advocates and wildlife conservationists alike. These people say it’s not only dangerous to bring captive-bred wildlife into the suburbs, but it’s cruel and it ought to…

His ten-hour workday is finished. But now this miner burns coal from 4 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. After the flames die down, what’s left are pieces of coke, a hot-burning fuel his family can use for cooking and for heating their home. His wife will sell any extra at the nearby market in Ranchi, in northern India. “I look at this man—he’s got three kids, I’ve got two,” says photographer Robb Kendrick. “The only difference between him and me is our circumstances.” The man’s village is located inside a mining complex, where he works six days a week hauling 60-pound baskets of coal on his head, nearly five tons daily, for about four dollars a day. There is little relief from the smoky air. Coal fires, which have smoldered for…

National Geographic Grantee EXPERTISE Forest Ecologist LOCATION Costa Rica Caught Up I’ve studied the plants and animals that live in forest canopies for 30 years. It’s like climbing mountains—there’s always some danger in moving up and down a tree. When you climb day after day, though, sometimes for months on end, you forget that you’re up more than a hundred feet. Eating a sandwich and an apple up there can seem like having a picnic on the ground. I used to wear my long hair in two braids that I kept tied up behind my head to keep them out of the way. One day I forgot to tie them back. I noticed a tugging on my rappelling gear a few feet down. Within seconds the rope was so taut…

MONKFISH ARE VORACIOUS PREDATORS. They also happen to be among the most commercially valuable finfish in the northeastern United States. Yet despite the fish’s importance, researchers don’t know crucial details about it, including whether it lives in distinct populations. To find out more, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration scientists have set up the Monkfish Egg Veil Sighting Network. Adult monkfish (below) lurk on the ocean bottom, but their eggs—which can emerge a million or more at a time, knitted together in a gauzy veil—float near the water’s surface. People who spot the veils, which may measure up to 40 feet, are encouraged to record their sightings on the network’s website. “The veils are buoyant. They’re built for dispersal,” notes researcher Anne Richards. Tracking them, she says, “will help us understand…

Rob Rhinehart thinks the future of food isn’t in farms and animal husbandry. When the computer programmer didn’t want to spend the time or money on traditional meals anymore, he created another option “by breaking food down to a molecular level.” After several months of research into what human cells are made of and what they produce, Rhinehart ended up with a thick, bland liquid with a slightly chemical aftertaste he calls “soylent” (above). It has more than 30 ingredients, including calcium carbonate, copper, and selenium. Cost and efficiency aren’t Rhinehart’s only drivers. He hopes soylent might bolster nutrition in food-scarce areas. “Food produced independently of agriculture could be a lot more sustainable,” he says. “And there’d be plenty to go around.”…

Part one I The invisible carbon Environmentalists say that clean coal is a myth. Of course it is: Just look at West Virginia, where whole Appalachian peaks have been knocked into valleys to get at the coal underneath and streams run orange with acidic water. Or look at downtown Beijing, where the air these days is often thicker than in an airport smoking lounge. Air pollution in China, much of it from burning coal, is blamed for more than a million premature deaths a year. That’s on top of the thousands who die in mining accidents, in China and elsewhere. These problems aren’t new. In the late 17th century, when coal from Wales and Northumberland was lighting the first fires of the industrial revolution in Britain, the English writer John…

Witnessing the birth of stars would require a telescope larger in diameter than many cities. Say hello to ALMA. A view of the colliding Antennae galaxies, 70 million light-years from Earth, combines visible light (blue) captured by the Hubble Space Telescope with never before seen swirls of interstellar gas revealed in a test image from the ALMA telescope. Photographs by Dave Yoder ON A MAY MORNING TWO PICKUP TRUCKS PASSED THROUGH THE QUIET TOWN OF SAN PEDRO IN CHILE’S ATACAMA DESERT AND HEADED UP A MOUNTAINSIDE ON A DIRT ROAD. IT WAS 1994, AND THE FIVE MEN INSIDE THE TRUCKS WERE ON A PECULIAR QUEST: TO FIND THE HIGHEST, DRIEST, FLATTEST PLACE ON THE PLANET. They had already spent a week and a half scouting other locations in the Atacama,…

The Romans had a serious trash problem, though by our standards it was good-looking trash. Their problem was amphorae. They needed millions of the curvy clay jars to ship wine, olive oil, and fish sauce around the empire, and often they didn’t recycle their empties. Sometimes they didn’t even bother to pop the cork—it was quicker to saber the neck or the pointy base, drain the thing, then chuck it. In Rome there’s a five-acre, 160-foot-high hill, Monte Testaccio, that consists entirely of shattered amphorae, mostly 18-gallon olive oil jars from Spain. They were tossed out the back of warehouses along the Tiber River. Spanish archaeologists who’ve been digging into the dump believe its rise probably began in the first century A.D., as the empire itself was rising toward its…

“The biggest tire ever made will cruise a lifeless continent,” boasted the caption for this photo—taken in Akron, Ohio, near Goodyear headquarters—in the February 1940 Geographic. Ten feet in diameter and weighing 700 pounds, the tire was made for a huge snow cruiser specially built for Admiral Richard Byrd’s 1939-1941 Antarctic expedition. The cruiser never cruised much in Antarctica, though. It had trouble enough in the United States. The plan was to drive the vehicle from Chicago to Boston’s port, where it would be shipped south to Byrd. Among other mishaps along the way, it got stuck in a rural Ohio creek for three days and had two motors replaced in Erie, Pennsylvania. In Antarctica things only got worse. First the cruiser crashed through the loading ramp. Then its great…