CURRENT ISSUE

July 2009

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Features

Close-up shot of terra-cotta soldiers

On the March

A traveling exhibition of China's 2,200 year-old terra cotta soldiers sheds new light on the ruler whose tomb they guarded

Nikita Khrushchev watching Can Can

Nikita in Hollywood

When Khrushchev went to Tinseltown at the height of the cold war, the Soviet dictator put on a show of his own

Crowd looking at Apollo 11 launch

We Have Liftoff

Forty years ago this month, the Apollo 11 mission put men on the moon—and brought America to Florida's shore

Javier Movellan with robot

Birth of a Robot

Can scientists build a machine that, like a child, learns as it goes and plays well with others? A California-based group is finding out

Annette von Jouanne at Oregons Otter Rock Beach

Catching a Wave

Engineer Annette von Jouanne is pioneering an ingenious way to generate clean, renewable electricity from the sea

Dr Carlo Croce in his lab

High Hopes for a New Kind of Gene

With "microRNA" transforming how researchers think about disease, Carlo Croce eyes new treatments for cancer

Departments

Indelible Images

"Salami, Mr. Holcomb?"

The first women to attend the Naval Academy became seniors in 1979. Photojournalist Lucian Perkins was on deck as the old order changed.

Phenomena

Forest Primeval

An Illinois coal mine holds the world's largest fossil wilderness, a snapshot of life on earth 300 million years ago

My Kind of Town

Keeping Company

Observing ibises and kayaking among sharks, the noted writer savors life "up this Keys"

Presence of Mind

The Great Escape

Thornton Wilder sought a place where he could "refresh the wells." He found it in the desert

From the Editor

My Favorite Commie

Khrushchev Comes to America

Letters to the Editor

Letters

Readers respond to the May Issue

Wild Things: Life as We Know It

Whale of a comeback, dancing cockatoos, sticky bees, and waltzing pond scum

This Month in History

This Month in History

Momentous or Merely Memorable

From the Castle

Forever Yours

Around the Mall

Ant Eye View

A new photo exhibit at the Natural History Museum reminds us that we still live in an age of discovery

The Object at Hand

Stealth Machine

The SR-71 was the ultimate spy plane

What's Up

What's Up

The Last Page

There Oughta Be a Law

Centuries hence, historians may wonder: Where exactly did Congress store all those pork barrels?