fairest

THE Saharan silver ant (Cataglyphis bombycina) is one of the most heat-tolerant land animals known. When the midday Saharan sun forces the ant’s predators to seek shade, the ant makes brief forays from

FEW fish grab our attention the way the clown fish does. Perhaps it wins our hearts with its fancy coloring, which may remind us of a circus clown. Or maybe we are struck by its surprising choice of

LIKE barnacles, marine mussels attach themselves to rocks, wood, or ship hulls. However, unlike barnacles, which fasten themselves tightly to a surface, marine mussels dangle by a network of thin filaments

OVER 2,300 years ago, Aristotle made major contributions to science and philosophy. His works have commanded sustained interest and have been widely translated and studied. History Professor James MacLachlan

THE CHALLENGE A boy looks at various ways to receive information—the Bible, a book, and electronic devices Just a few decades ago, parents had at least a good chance to be the first to talk to their son

“No element is more essential to life than carbon,” says the book Nature’s Building Blocks. The unique characteristics of carbon enable it to bond with itself and many other chemical elements, thus forming

CICADAS, insects resembling locusts, live on all continents except Antarctica. Unique to the northeast of America, however, are the periodical cicadas, which have long fascinated biologists. A cicada Consider:

SURROUNDED by towering, ice-covered peaks, Kyrgyzstan is nestled in Central Asia and is bordered by Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and China. Mountains cover nearly 90 percent of the country. Kyrgyzstan

MECHANICAL ENGINEERS marvel at the ability of a common ant to lift weights many times heavier than its own body. To understand this ability, engineers at Ohio State University, U.S.A., reverse engineered

So many things happening in my dear country

Emily: “I put down my fork and started to feel uneasy. I had an itchy sensation in my mouth, and my tongue was swelling. I started to feel light-headed and was having trouble breathing. Hives were breaking

BRILLIANT colors burst from the forest canopy as a flock of birds take wing! This magnificent sight amazed the European explorers who arrived in Central and South America beginning in the late 15th century.

CUTTLEFISH can change their color and camouflage themselves, becoming almost invisible to the human eye. According to one report, cuttlefish “are known to have a diverse range of body patterns and they

IT IS one of the smallest countries in the world, situated in the Alps between Switzerland and Austria. Over the centuries Celts, Rhaetians, Romans, and Alemanni have all lived in this region. Today about

Every year, beginning in July, female southern right whales (Eubalaena australis) arrive at the southern coast of Santa Catarina, Brazil. They come from as far as the subantarctic, thousands of miles away,

AMONG the numerous mechanisms that make human life possible is the body’s ability to heal wounds and regenerate damaged tissue. The process begins as soon as an injury occurs. Consider: The healing process

PLANTS use a complex process called photosynthesis to extract energy from sunlight to create food. Studies on certain species have revealed that they perform yet another feat​—they calculate the optimum

IN 2010, almost five million barrels (800 million L) of crude oil leaked into the Gulf of Mexico after a drilling rig exploded and sank. Yet, within months much of the contamination had disappeared. How

MECHANICAL GEARS have long been thought to be solely a product of human ingenuity. That view has been proved wrong! Interlocking gears have been discovered in a living creature​—the juvenile Issus leafhopper,