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.

A Wonder Year

Discover

SOUNDING SMALL

THE LATEST NEWS AND NOTES • HOW WILL EARTH END? • LANGUAGE LEARNING • ON-SCREEN SCIENCE • ANIMAL DISCOVERIES

How Will Life on Earth End? • ASTEROID STRIKES, SUPERNOVA BLASTS AND OTHER CALAMITIES THAT COULD TAKE OUT HUMANITY.

Learning a Language Literally Changes Your Brain • PICKING UP A NEW LANGUAGE COULD MAKE YOU A BETTER PERSON, AND MAY EVEN HELP STAVE OFF DEMENTIA.

Hollywood Science • THANKS TO SCIENCE ADVISERS, MOVIES AND TV SHOWS ARE WORKING TO GET THE DETAILS RIGHT.

5 NEW ANIMALS DISCOVERED IN 2021 • THE WORLD’S TINIEST LIZARD, A NEW TYPE OF OCTOPUS, AN ANT NAMED BY A ROCK MUSICIAN, AND MORE AMAZING CREATURES.

Business as Usual • A NIGHT OUT ON THE TOWN LEADS TO AN UNEXPECTED CRISIS FOR A 60-YEAR-OLD SALESMAN.

THE STATE OF SCIENCE • The successes and lessons that made science news in 2021 — and what they mean for you in the year ahead.

PANDEMIC: YEAR 2 • Vaccines are here. Still, the pandemic rages on.

mRNA Takes on COVID • Perhaps the most significant technological achievement of 2021, the mRNA vaccine combatted COVID-19 across the globe with startling speed and efficacy.

NEW ROVERS CHASE LIFE ON MARS • The Red Planet bustles with robots, as two new rovers, a helicopter and a satellite set out to search for signs of ancient life.

ALIEN ANTIMATTER CRASHES INTO EARTH • It came from outer space, and it was tiny.

A Glimpse of New Physics • A heavy particle’s magnetic moment goes beyond the Standard Model.

THE DEATH OF CLIMATE DENIAL? • Data and extreme weather events are making it harder than ever to ignore our warming world.

UN REPORT: CLIMATE CHANGE IS IRREVOCABLE

THE FIGHT AGAINST MICROPLASTICS • Researchers continue to grapple with the reality of tiny plastic shards — everywhere.

All-Time Dry • As drought spreads wider than ever across the Western U.S., water rations and other emergency measures have begun.

MIND THE GAP • In the first reported gene transfer from plants to animals, whiteflies likely pilfered a pesticide-blocking gene from plants millions of years ago.

A NEW WHALE SPECIES IS FIGHTING FOR SURVIVAL • When a mysterious 40-foot-long creature washed up on a Florida beach in 2019, researchers gained crucial evidence for what’s now known as the Rice’s whale, whose survival is threatened by the shipping industry.

Asteroid Aftergrowth • The same asteroid strike that spelled doom for the dinosaurs likely helped create modern South American rainforests.

MORE THAN MEETS THE FUNGI • A series of discoveries have upended long-held beliefs about fungus, and shed some light on carbon sequestration in nature.

THE TIP OF THE VOLCANO • Pūhāhonu is barely visible above the ocean. Recent seafloor mapping has revealed it’s actually the planet’s largest volcano.

LIGHTNING STRIKES IN THE ARCTIC • A recent surge in Arctic lightning may be yet another indicator of rising global temperatures.

Nepal’s Rhino Win Links Conservation and Social Justice • In 2021, the country announced its rhino population had jumped by over 16 percent from 2015. But struggles like the COVID-19 pandemic still risk both human and rhino health.

2021’S HOTTEST FOSSIL WAS ACTUALLY FOUND OVER 85 YEARS AGO • A skull hidden for nearly a century may belong to an elusive type of ancient human, or a brand new species.

HAVE SCIENTISTS FOUND THE BIGGEST DINOSAUR? • Paleontologists have...