CURRENT ISSUE

April 2010

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Features

South Pole Telescope

Probing the Biggest Mystery in the Universe

Astronomers are going to the ends of the earth to study "dark energy," a force greater than gravity that will determine the fate of the cosmos

mastodons

All-American Monsters

Long before dinosaurs were discovered, mammoths and mastodons gave the young United States a symbol of national might

Indonesia Jakarta shopping mall

Return to Indonesia

A reporter who saw the nation go up in flames now finds it has a new hold on prosperity

Lemur Silky Sifaka grooming

Saving the Silkies

In Madagascar, an American researcher leads the effort to protect one of the world's rarest mammals, a lemur called the silky sifaka

Goddess Tara

Glimpses of the Lost World

Threatened Buddhist art at a 900-year-old monastery high in the Indian Himalayas offers a rare look into a fabled civilization

Brown Ranch

The Best Bull Ever?

Texas cattle breeder Donnell Brown hit the jackpot with a Red Angus named Revelation. Then his luck changed

Departments

From the Editor

Reorientations

Cowboy Culture and the Universe

Letters

Letters

Readers Respond to the February Issue

Indelible Images

On the Waterfront

Baltimore photographer A. Aubrey Bodine captured the dignity of work in painterly tones

Wild Things: Life as We Know It

Feathered dinosaurs, white-coated horses, giant redwoods and more...

Digs

Ireland's Forgotten Sons

In Pennsylvania, amateur archaeologists have discovered the date of immigrant railroad workers who disappeared nearly two centuries ago

From the Castle

Bi-Centennial

Around the Mall

Hue and Cries

In 1851, Levi Hill claimed he invented color photography. Was he a genius or a fraud?

The Object at Hand

Dressed for Success

Apollo 13 Flight Director Gene Kranz's homemade vest would become a fitting symbol

Q&A

Q&A: Jane Lubchenco

The marine ecologist and administrator of NOAA discusses restoring the bounty of the world's oceans

What's Up

What's Up

This Month in History

April Anniversaries

Momentous or Merely Memorable

Presence of Mind

Unusual Suspect

Why did Lewis Carroll's reputation undergo such a dramatic reversal?

The Last Page

Like a Dog in a Canoe

A novice's guide to foreign idioms