July–August 2008

baseball
Biomechanics

Battered Expectations

Do baseballs obey the conventional laws of physics?

Aelurodon ferox pack pursues a three-toed horse
Features

How Dogs Came to Run the World

During the past 40 million years, three great lineages arose in the dog family.

fern
Nature.net

Paleobotany

An Internet guide to the evolution of plants

Whalebone
Samplings

Many Whales Ago

A 3,000-year-old carved walrus tusk sheds light on early Arctic whaling.

DNA
Samplings

A Whiff of DNA

Scientists can tell whether bullfrogs are at hand by examining just a tablespoon of pondwater.

mosquito
Samplings

Bugs Smell Funny

Insects dispense with many of the in-cell reactions that other animals rely on to smell.

Photomicrograph of a soil bacterium growing on the blockbuster antibiotic Levofloxacin as the sole carbon source.
Samplings

Poison Control

Some bacteria not only resist antibiotics—they eat the drugs for breakfast.

Milky Way
Samplings

Clouds and Mirrors

The Milky Way’s central black hole was once radiant with X-rays.

stripes
Samplings

Sea of Stripes

The worlds’ oceans are banded with mysterious, slow-moving currents.

brain sampling
Samplings

Brain Freeze

The mind starts to wander up to half a minute before the body errs.

Petal Effect
Samplings

Petal Effect

Texture lets rose petals hang on to water droplets.

Trees
Samplings

Six-Legged Agents of Change

An explosion of beetles is making British Colombian forests net producers of carbon dioxide.

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Recent Stories

Caves are among the predators’ favorite spots.

The brain doesn't much care whether an experience is real.

Humans will never win a sprint against your average quadruped. But our species is well-adapted for the marathon.

Recent Interview

Xiaoming Wang

Hear author Xiaoming Wang interviewed by Vittorio Maestro, Editor in Chief of Natural History. (MP3, 17 minutes)