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.

Leaning Forward

Discover

INBOX

THE LATEST NEWS AND NOTES • EGYPT’S MUMMIFIED BABOONS • HOW BEAVERS HELPED ANCIENT HUMANS • EMPATHY OVERLOAD • DREAMS CHANGE AS WE AGE • VOLCANIC PLUMES ON JUPITER’S MOON • ANESTHESIA EXPLAINER • FRUIT FLIES CONFRONT THEIR MORTALITY

THE SECRETS OF ANCIENT EGYPT’S SACRED, MUMMIFIED BABOONS • RELIGIOUS AND CULTURAL BELIEFS LIKELY INSPIRED THE MUMMIFICATION OF THESE MONKEYS.

Beavers Helped Shape the Lives of Ancient Humans • HUMANS RELIED ON BEAVERS FOR FOOD AND THEIR FURS, BUT THESE TOOTHY RODENTS MAY HAVE PLAYED A LARGER ROLE IN OUR ANCIENT PAST.

FEELING EXHAUSTED? MAYBE IT’S EMPATHY • MANY PEOPLE CAN EXPERIENCE EMPATHY OVERLOAD, BUT IT’S OFTEN PRESENT IN THOSE IN THE HELPING PROFESSIONS, SUCH AS NURSES AND THERAPISTS.

HOW OUR DREAMS EVOLVE AS WE AGE • DREAMS ARE FAR FROM STATIC, AND CAN CHANGE DRASTICALLY ACROSS OUR LIFESPAN. HERE’S WHAT SCIENTISTS ARE UNCOVERING ABOUT HOW OUR DREAMS EVOLVE OVER TIME.

JUNO PHOTOGRAPHS BILLOWING VOLCANIC PLUMES ON IO • THE NASA SPACECRAFT SNAPPED AN IMAGE OF TWO PLUMES ON JUPITER’S MOON.

This Is Your Brain on Anesthesia • YOU MIGHT BE OUT FOR THE COUNT, BUT SCIENTISTS CAN STILL LEARN A LOT FROM THE ANESTHETIZED BRAIN.

FRUIT FLIES AGE FASTER AFTER SEEING DEATH • FRUIT FLIES THAT SAW OTHER FLIES’ CORPSES DIED SOONER THAN THEIR PEERS. SCIENTISTS LOOKED INTO THEIR PINT-SIZED BRAINS TO IDENTIFY THE CLUSTER OF NEURONS RESPONSIBLE.

A Spine-Tingling Tale • FOR THIS FIT AND HEALTHY 50-YEAR-OLD, IT WAS NOTHING BUT NUMBNESS IN HIS FEET. THE POSSIBILITY OF A SERIOUS SPINAL INJURY, HOWEVER, LOOMED LARGE.

Family Ties • FOOTPRINTS MADE 80,000 YEARS AGO AND ANCIENT DNA ARE AMONG THE CLUES THAT HINT AT NEANDERTHALS’ SOCIAL AND COMMUNITY LIVES.

PASS IT DOWN

THE OPIOID CRISIS IS NOT OVER • AS FENTANYL AND SYNTHETIC OPIOIDS CLAIM RECORD NUMBERS OF LIVES, RESEARCHERS AND PUBLIC HEALTH TEAMS ARE RACING TO REVERSE THE DRUGS’ DEADLY EFFECTS. YET DURABLE SOLUTIONS ARE PROVING ELUSIVE.

How to Detect and Respond to a Fentanyl Overdose

CHIP BY CHIP • From rendering animal testing obsolete to reducing HIV and preterm birth, the future of organ-chip technology is bright. Donald Ingber is already making that future a reality.

EXPLORING THE FUTURE

SLEEP SPELUNKING • Embarking on a month-long expedition in Mammoth Cave, a pioneering physiologist pulled the science of sleep from obscurity.

Taking the High Road • WILDLIFE-VEHICLE COLLISIONS EXACT A DEADLY TOLL, KILLING THOUSANDS OF ANIMALS IN THE U.S. EACH YEAR. BUT EFFORTS TO BUILD CROSSINGS THAT ALLOW THE WILDLIFE TO PASS UNSCATHED ARE RAPIDLY GAINING TRACTION.

Is Earth the Only Goldilocks Planet? • SOME SCIENTISTS BELIEVE THE UNIVERSE IS TEEMING WITH LIFE. OTHERS AREN’T SO SURE.

MEET STEVE