October 2006
Table of Contents
This month’s print edition of Natural History includes the following
articles (click on the hyperlinked titles to read selected articles online).
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articles (click on the hyperlinked titles to read selected articles online).
Click here to subscribe
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Cover: White shark launches itself skyward in pursuit of seal, False Bay, South Africa Photo © Chris and Monique Fallows www.SeaPics.com |
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| Features |
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Sociable Killers New studies of the white shark (aka great white) show that its social life and hunting strategies are surprisingly complex. Story by R. AIDAN MARTIN and ANNE MARTIN  Broken Pieces of Yesterday’s Life Traces of lifestyles abandoned millions of years ago are still decipherable in “fossil genes” retained in modern DNA. Story by SEAN B. CARROLL Life and Death in a Pitcher Carnivorous plants that seem to employ a simple dunk-and-drown tactic for capturing prey turn out to have more up their leaves. Story by JONATHAN MORAN |
| Departments |
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THE NATURAL MOMENT: Blast Off! UP FRONT: Cover Shot CONTRIBUTORS LETTERS SAMPLINGS PERSPECTIVES: As Time Goes By Comparing the human experience of time with the fundamental tempos of nature yields a startling new outlook on our place in the universe. BIOMECHANICS: Nice Threads Orb weaver spiders can draw on a wide selection of silks that span a huge range of stretchiness and strength. ADAM SUMMERS NATURALISTS AT LARGE: Blues’ Revival Can a change in diet—and a little laboratory assistance—help a Florida butterfly escape extinction? JARET C. DANIELS and STEPHANIE J. SANCHEZ BOOKSHELF LAURENCE A. MARSHALL nature.net: Ripping Earth OUT THERE: My Three Suns How many planets survive in multiple-star systems?. THE SKY IN OCTOBER AT THE MUSEUM ENDPAPER: Winning Miss Muffet’s Heart |
| Featured in the September issue |
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Wildebeests of the Serengeti Migrating in great numbers, the signature antelope of the African savanna must dodge predators, drought, and human development. On the side, it shapes its own habitat. Story by RICHARD D. ESTES |