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.

Discover

Unsung Heroes

NEXT-GEN FEEDBACK • (Nov/Oct 2022)

THE LATEST NEWS AND NOTES • ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE SPEAKS: VOICE REPLICATION • THE SECRETS OF EYE CONTACT • SQUISHY-FOOTED DINOSAURS • IRREGULAR SLEEP RISKS FOR SHIFT WORKERS •

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IS CHANGING POP CULTURE • AI VOICE REPLICATION IS RESTORING JAMES EARL JONES’ VOICE (AND MORE) FOR A SLEW OF STAR WARS PROJECTS. HERE’S HOW THE TECHNOLOGY WORKS — AND A FEW OF THE ETHICAL QUAGMIRES IT RAISES.

The Power of Eye Contact • NEUROLOGISTS HAVE ONLY RECENTLY PEERED INTO THE BRAINS OF TWO PEOPLE ENGAGING IN EYE CONTACT. PRELIMINARY FINDINGS SHOW UNIQUE SYNCHRONICITY IN KEY REGIONS.

Walking on Air • PALEONTOLOGISTS SAY SAUROPODS, THE LARGEST AND HEAVIEST DINOSAURS TO EVER ROAM EARTH, HAD SQUISHY FEET.

IRREGULAR SLEEP SCHEDULES CAN POSE HEALTH RISKS • SHIFT WORKERS ARE AT RISK OF DEVELOPING SHIFT WORK DISORDER, WHICH CAN SERIOUSLY IMPACT PHYSICAL AND MENTAL HEALTH.

The Villain With a Thousand Faces • HE DIDN’T SEEM LIKE HE WAS IN DANGER. BUT A COLD SWEAT AND SHORTNESS OF BREATH WERE THE FIRST SIGNS THAT THIS 60-YEAR-OLD WAS IN SERIOUS TROUBLE.

Down on the Digital Farm • SILICON MEETS SOIL AS TODAY’S FARMERS LEVERAGE POWERFUL TECHNOLOGY TO SOW AND SAVE THEIR CROPS.

BLUE MARBLE, RED PLANET • Before he fell to his death in the Antarctic mountains, microbiologist Wolf Vishniac helped pioneer the search for life in extreme environments. Today, his work lives on in our quest to detect life on Mars.

LIFE AS WE KNOW IT • The more we learn about life on Earth, the more one thing becomes clear: It’s far stranger than we ever imagined. Organisms often behave in ways that clash with the typical rules of biology, sparking mysteries — and lessons — about the true nature of life and death.

DEFINING LIFE • From the tallest tree to the tiniest bacterium, all living things share some common ground. They’re all made of cells, they all take in and use energy from their environment, they’re all capable of reproducing themselves, and they all grow and evolve.

3 LIFE-DEFYING ORGANISMS

Q + A

THE TRICKY BOUNDARIES BETWEEN ONE LIVING THING AND ANOTHER

ZOMBIE GENES AND RESURRECTED CELLS: THE RESEARCH THAT’S REDEFINING DEATH

FAR AWAY • ON THE WORLD’S MOST REMOTE INHABITED ISLAND, THE CONNECTION BETWEEN CONSERVATION AND SURVIVAL IS IMPOSSIBLE TO IGNORE.

BAD BUSINESS

MAKING WAVES • A CENTURY AFTER EINSTEIN PREDICTED THE OUTCOME FROM A BLACK HOLE COLLISION, FRANS PRETORIUS HELPED PAVE THE WAY FOR THE ACTUAL DISCOVERY OF THE RIPPLES THAT WOULD EXPAND OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE UNIVERSE

The Archaeology of Flavor • WE CAN OFTEN TELL WHAT ANCIENT PEOPLES ATE BY STUDYING THE EVIDENCE OF RAW INGREDIENTS THEY LEFT BEHIND. BUT THERE’S NO FOSSIL RECORD FOR FLAVOR — SO HOW CAN WE LEARN HOW A LONG-AGO LUNCH MAY HAVE TASTED?

Dream Weavers • NEW TECHNOLOGY IS TAKING RESEARCHERS — AND ADVERTISERS — INTO BARELY CHARTED TERRAIN: YOUR SLEEPING MIND.

CANYON ARCHITECTS