4/06
“a\ THE BIGGEST : FISH
a
| Paes + _o& "ee oe © ade sre ts S ° . met AT ie ce ye e — - © te Soe ee oe ¢ eee Mie ete, ® a > e.,,¢ t's @ we @,-*s aU * 2 * * ”** a. a ‘« e ee * ‘wih © ote dl ioe Pee s%e'w, f " ee ite sy ‘ve aes, © Fw oes ar Se, ee Oe A “a ‘* an o™ “2 ef tune ter.e @ ®@ hee eT ee :,o° aie md sa Ve $20 MPS a wee” p “Lee cone te! *2 op tear to Ye SK ae : "Ss: oe « * ug THe Ae ig A SSE SE SB otG® SSeS Shey” ~ * - a o * - oot e.¢« oy i SP ES Pee aye t* i :
*2005 Center for Automotive Research study. Includes direct, dealer and supplier employees, and jobs created through their spending. **Toyota vehicles and components are built using many U.S. sourced parts. ©2005
}
UTOMOTIVE DESIGN IS A FIELD FOR A DREAMERS. Eventually, the best dreams become real. The project ends, a new one begins, and back to the drawing board the designers go. Our Calty Design
Research centers are full of such inspired y dreamers. Together with the talented +}
engineers at Toyota Technical an Center (TTC), they bring these
ere V ye o BO A
dreams to life. Yet Calty and TTC may be two of Toyota’s best kept secrets.
By now, most people know that we build vehicles in the U.S** But what they might not know is just how much we
rely on Calty and TTC. They’re an
integral part of our investment in KY America, and we can't wait to see what they draw up next.
Opening July Fourth 2006
i
\ {LDCENTER.ORG 45 MUSEUM DRIVE
STORY
APRIL 2006 VOLUME 115 NUMBER 3
48 THE WORLDS BEHIND THE GLASS
Museum dioramas create such a compelling
“virtual reality” that visitors can forget the artifice and engage with nature itself. STEPHEN CHRISTOPHER QUINN
ON THE COVER: Whale shark accompanied by pilot fish off the coast of Western Australia. Photograph by Gary Bell.
FEATURES
COVER STORY 42 THE BIGGEST FISH
Unraveling the mysteries of the whale shark STEVEN G. WILSON
54 ALASKA‘S
UNDERGROUND FRONTIER An observatory that looks down—not up—at the planet’s microbial diversity CHRISTINE MLOT
34
40
62
64
67
70
74
76
80
Joe Rao
THE NATURAL MOMENT I Spy Photograph by Simon D. Pollard
UP FRONT Editor’s Notebook
CONTRIBUTORS LETTERS
SAMPLINGS News from Nature
UNIVERSE When the Moon Hits Your Eye Neil deGrasse Tyson BIOMECHANICS
Secrets of the Sacred Lotus Adam Summers
THIS LAND Green Fingers
Robert H. Mohlenbrock
BOOKSHELF Laurence A. Marschall
nature.net New Moon Robert Anderson
OUT THERE Crash! Charles Liu
THE SKY IN APRIL
AT THE MUSEUM
ENDPAPER Chernobyl] Paradox
Mary Mycio PICTURE CREDITS: Page 10
Visit our Web site at www.naturalhistorymag.com
EXPLORE YOUR WORLD
LIFE In THE UNDERGROWTH
Dowelas H. Erwin
“Douglas Erwin blends care- ful scholarship and graceful prose in this authoritative
“An engrossing and well- written book. . . . Simon Lamb has done a masterful
“The very best in his series.”*
This beautifully illustrated book by veteran naturalist Sir David Attenborough offers a rare glimpse into the secret life of invertebrates. Life in the Undergrowth, part of his inno- vative series on natural history topics, looks at invertebrates the world over, their arrival on land and mastery of every habitat, and their fantastic variety of hunting, mating, and highly organized social behaviors.
* Brian D. Farrell,
Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University
Cloth: $29.95
For sale only in the United States and Canada
“The book skillfully weaves together descriptions of El Nifio physics, the historical
“An intelligent and stimulating account of the islands.”*
A renowned ecologist and Galdpagos ecotour guide presents a detailed natural history of this spectacular archipelago, weaving the
4 # intriguing history of evolutionary biology that is intimately connected with the islands, and describes Darwin’s adventures and observations while he was visiting in 1835. *_ Peter R. Grant, author of Ecology and Evollution of Darwin’s Finches New in paper $19.95 85 illus.
“Clive D. L. Wynne... seems to take delight in animals, and possesses great
elucidation of Earth’s greatest mass extinction. Although framed in terms of hypotheses and their tests, Erwin’s story unfolds as a gripping who- done-it for the ages.”
— Andrew H. Knoll, author of Life on a Young Planet
Cloth $24.95
PRINCETON
University Press
job in piecing together the Andean puzzle in a way that
seems to make perfect sense.”
—David E. James, Nature
“Lamb gives his readers a wonderful feel for how geolo- gy works.” —Carl Zimmer, New York Times Book Review New in paper $17.95 Due July
backdrop that led to wide- spread interest in El Nitto, and the philosophical perspectives on the role of scientific research in address- ing present-day environmen- tal problems.”
— Michael J. McPhaden,
Nature New in paper $17.95 23 illus. Due May
knowledge about them, yet he prefers them at arm’s length. The constant message is that animals are not people.”
—Frans B.M. de Waal,
Natural History New in paper $17.95
800-777-4726 © Read excerpts at www.pup.princeton.edu
uy saa Si
Ys, Nes
8
THE NATURAL MOMENT
~ See preceding two pages
E nthroned on a golden flower, a female crab spider holds dominion over most visitors that stop to rest or refuel. But there’s not much pomp: no intricate web, no hairy legs, no red hourglass. Instead, the spider—weighing in at about 0.005 ounce—hides in ambush among the corridors of her petal palace. Crab spiders cam- ouflage themselves superbly, usual- ly matching the color of their home flower. In the ultraviolet spectrum, though, the spiders may actually advertise their presence; extra UV flare apparently lures in certain insects, such as bees, that are attracted to patterned flowers. When an unsuspecting mite or pollinating honeybee alights, the spider sinks its fangs into the vic- tim’s head or neck, injects a diges- tive fluid that liquefies the internal organs, and sucks the carcass dry. Nothing larger than a micron across can fit in its mouth—hence the need to liquefy. The drained hull is soon tossed or blown away, leaving a clean floral plate. Photographer and seasoned arachnologist Simon D, Pollard sighted this crab spider (Thomisus sp.) in Bukit Timah, a nature re- serve in Singapore. Eyes elevated on pointy projections characterize the genus Thomisus, and at one point Pollard could see only two little eyes—two of the spider’s eight—peeping over a petal at him. Crab spiders may be hard to spot (they see you more often than you see them), but they’re not rare. More than 2,000 species exist worldwide. Remember that the next time you stop for a sniff. —Erin Espelie
NATURAL HISTORY April 2006
UP FRONT 2s
Fish Story
ost anyone who’s ever put on a mask and flippers knows the thrill of tropical reef snorkeling. You've slathered on the SPF 45, rubbed spit and seawater into your mask to clear the view, waded into the warm, clear waters off the beach, and kicked across the lagoon to the reef. The underwater world is mes- merizing, and you watch in fascination as stylish little Moorish idols skitter among the sea fans, and long, impossibly thin, almost trans- parent needlefish hang motionless above a growth of staghorn coral. Then you sense a murky form, almost invisible in the distance, much larger than anything in your immediate vicinity. Brain flash: how safe are these waters, anyway? If it’s a shark, do you stop to avoid the splashing that is said to attract them, or do you make a quick U-turn and head for shore? Whew! It’s just a sea turtle—but, oh, what a turtle! Four feet long from stem to stern, and big enough to ride. You swim with the creature while it drifts along, allowing you within touching range, and for a moment, until it tires of the lazy pace a human swimmer can manage, you feel as if you’ve met a visi- tor from another planet. Such a close encounter can be life-changing. Imagine, then, the frisson of coming nose to nose with a thirty- five-foot version of the leviathan that appears on our cover this month, the whale shark. Steven G. Wilson (“The Biggest Fish,” page 42) doesn’t need to imagine; he swims with them for a living. “I felt a jolt to my lower back,” he writes, “and suddenly found myself being propelled through the water. All I could see was a whirl of spots. It took me a moment to comprehend that another, much larger whale shark had struck me with its dorsal fin and was pushing me forward.” Wilson’s experience was startling, to be sure, but he was never in real danger: whale sharks are filter feeders, and nothing much bigger than krill and other puny prey are at risk of becoming food. The en- counter, in any event, was a bit unusual; he was deliberately stirring up trouble by trying to dart another whale shark with an electronic tag. Most of the time, the animals are as docile as dairy cattle, and a lively ecotourism industry is building up around swimming with the creatures. On a number of reefs throughout the world—in the Yu- catan of Mexico, off the coast of western Australia, in the waters off the town of Donsol, in the Philippines, and elsewhere—you too can swim with whale sharks, if you dare!
> ome well-deserved recognition came to our superlative colum- nists recently. Neil deGrasse Tyson, our regular “Universe” columnist, will receive the prestigious American Institute of Physics Science Writing Award this May, for best article by a scientist, for his column “In the Beginning” (September 2003).
Joe Rao, our long-time “Sky” columnist (“The Sky in April,” page 74) and the weeknight TV weatherman on News 12 Westch- ester, has been nominated for a New York Emmy for On-Camera Talent in the weathercasting category.
Congratulations to both! —PETER BROWN
OUR . , a HEADSTRONG 2 . Destin ANCESTORS
ATION: TITAN
A World of Adventure in Every Issue
Natural History takes you to the ends of the earth and the far reaches of the universe to answer common questions with uncommon insight. From astronomy to zoology, the big bang to microscopic organisms, the depths of the sea to distant stars, Natural History spans the spectrum of science, nature, and history.
[SUBSCRIBE NOW AND RECEIVE:
> 10 issues for just $25—a savings of 37% off the regular newsstand price
> FREE (one-time only) general admission pass to the American Museum of Natural History
> Discount on a ticket to the Museum’s spectacular IMAX” theater during your visit
> Discount on unique items in Museum gift shops, including books, crafts, jewelry, and collectibles
“ae ; z "PSEC Mere TO ORDER, CALL 1-800-234-5252 7
f. : or write to us at Natural History, P. O. Box 5000, Harlan, IA 51593-0257... Oo i the U. S., please add $10 for postage and call 515-247-7631 for customer service.
Re alr A i ead
Wer. aman an Ns ees — ncn
_ AREER AP RI re ~ manegpene ~ ee sme peer .
10
CONTRIBUTORS Sots TT
Spotting a spider, even one hiding between the petals of a flower, has become second nature to arachnologist SIMON D. POLLARD (“I Spy,” page 4). After earning his Ph.D. from the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand, Pollard began study- ing how flower-dwelling crab spiders drink nectar. Since then, his research interests have included jumping spiders in Borneo and the Philippines, water striders in China, and crab spiders that live and commit suicide in pitcher plants. He is the author of several earli- er articles in Natural History, and his work has also appeared widely in other publications. Pollard is curator of invertebrate zoology at the Canterbury Mu- seum in Christchurch.
STEVEN G. WILSON (“The Biggest Fish,’ page 42) earned his doctorate from the University of Western Australia in 2001 for studies on the physical and biological factors that affect the ag- gregation of whale sharks at Ningaloo Reef, off the coast of Western Australia. Wilson had earlier worked as a high school biology teacher, dive-boat captain, and pearl diver. His research focuses on the migratory movements and vertical behavior of
—
aig § me all large pelagic fishes: tunas, billfishes, and sharks. He holds an appointment as a
postdoctoral research scientist at Hubbs—SeaWorld Research Institute in San Diego, California. This May, Wilson will return to Ningaloo Reef to contin-
ue his studies of the whale shark.
Naturalist and artist STEPHEN CHRISTOPHER QUINN (“The Worlds behind the Glass,” page 48) joined the staff of the Ameri- can Museum of Natural History in 1974. He apprenticed under masters of diorama art Raymond deLucia, Robert Kane, and David J. Schwendeman. His first assignment was as a foreground artist for the wood stork diorama in the Leonard C. Sanford Hall of North American Birds in the museum. He is now senior project man- ager for exhibitions at the museum, where he oversees the creation of new diora-
mas as well as the conservation and restoration of existing ones. Quinn illustrated the book What Color Is That Dinosaur? by Lowell Dingus (Millbrook Press, 1994).
CHRISTINE MLOT (“Alaska’s Underground Frontier,’ page 54) studied microbi-
a ology as an undergraduate, then switched fields to do graduate study in sclence communication. She has written for such mag- azines as Science and Science News. Recently she returned to her microbiology roots as a reporter, doing bench work in Jo Han- delsman’s plant-pathology laboratory at the University of Wis- consin—Madison. The lab work combines two of her favorite topics, Alaska and microbial diversity. Mlot was awarded a Knight Science Journalism Fellowship, and she has taught writing at the University of Wisconsin. She is a contributing editor for Nature Conservancy magazine.
| PICTURE CREDITS Cover: ©Gary Bell/oceanwideimages.com; pp. 6-7: ©Simon D. Pollard; p. 29(top): Beth Wald/ Aurora Photos; p. 29(bottom left): OMrs. Nina de Garis Davies/Bridgeman; p. 29(bottom right): Paul Weldon/ TONAL VISION; p. 30(top): Andrew Peacock/©Lonely Planet Images; p. 30(bottom): ©Plush Studios/Getty Images; p. 32(top): Christian Ziegler; p. 32(bottom):; Roy Beckham/www.efinch.com; p. 34: ©David De Lossy/Getty Images; p. 36: ONASA/|SC/JPL; pp. 40-41: Illustrations by Tom Moore; pp. 42-43: ©Tom Campbell; p. 44: ©Ron and Valerie Taylor/ SeaPics.com; p. 45: Illustration by Emily Damstra with consultation by Jonathan Nelson and R. Aidan Martin; p. 47: ©Jurgen Freund/naturepl.com; p. 48: CAMNH Photo Studio; pp. 50 & 53: OAMNH archives; p. 51: Denis Finnan/OAMNH, p. 52: Beckett/Finnan/OAMNH,; pp. 54-55: ©Patrick J. Endres/AlaskaPhotoGraphics; p. 55: Map by Joe LeMonnier; pp. 56-57: Illustration by Patricia J. Wynne; p. 58: ©David Benson; p. 59: ©USDA Forest Service; p. 60: Courtesy the Author; p. 62: ©Bill Banaszewski/Finger Lakes Images; p. 63(bottom): OMarjorie Tweedale/Finger Lakes National Forest; p. 63(top): Map by Joe LeMonnier; p. 64: ©Ralph A. Clevenger/CORBIS; p. 65(top): ©Anup Shah/
NATURAL HISTORY April 2006
PETER BROWN Editor-in-Chief
Mary Beth Aberlin Steven R. Black Executive Editor Art Director Board of Editors Erin Espelie, Rebecca Kessler, Mary Knight, Avis Lang, Vittorio Maestro
Jennifer Evans Assistant Editor
Geoffrey Wowk Assistant Art Director
Hannah Black Picture Editor Graciela Flores Editor-at-Large Samantha Harvey, Intern
Contributing Editors
Robert Anderson, Charles Liu, Laurence A. Marschall,
Richard Milner, Robert H. Mohlenbrock, Joe Rao,
Stéphan Reebs, Adam Summers, Neil deGrasse Tyson
CHARLES E. Harris Publisher
Edgar L. Harrison Advertising Director Gale Page Consumer Marketing Director Maria Volpe Promotion Director Sonia W. Paratore National Advertising Manager Meredith Miller Acting Production Manager Michael Shectman Fulfillment Manager For advertising information call 646-356-6508
Advertising Sales Representatives Detroit—Barron Media Sales, LLC, 313-268-3996
Chicago—R obert Purdy & Associates, 312-726-7800 West Coast—On Course Media Sales, 310-710-7414
Toronto—American Publishers Representatives Ltd., 416-363-1388
Atlanta and Miami—Ruackles and Co., 770-664-4567
National Direct Response—Smyth Media Group, 914-693-8700
TODD HapPER Vice President, Science Education
Educational Advisory Board
Myles Gordon American Museum of Natural History David Chesebrough COSI Columbus
Stephanie Ratcliffe Natural History Museum of the Adirondacks
Ronen Mir Sci Tech Hands On Museum Carol Valenta St. Louis Science Center
NATURAL HIistoRY MAGAZINE, INC. CHARLES E. HARRIS President, Chief Executive Officer CHARLES LALANNE Chief Financial Officer Juby BULLER General Manager CECILE WASHINGTON General Manager CHARLES RODIN Publishing Advisor
To contact us regarding your subscription, to order a new subscription, or to change your address, please visit our Web site www.naturalhistorymag.com or write to us at
Natural History PO. Box 5000, Harlan, IA 51593-0257.
Natural History (ISSN 0028-0712) is published monthly, except for combined issues in July/August and December/January, by Natural History Magazine, Inc., in affiliation with the American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street, New York, NY 10024, E-mail: nhmag@nacural historymag.com. Natural History Magazine, Inc., is solely responsible for edito- rial content and publishing practices. Subscriptions: $30.00 a year; for Canada and all other countries: $40.00 a year. Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY, and at additional mailing offices. Canada Publications Mail No. 40030827 Copyright © 2006 by Natural History Magazine, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this periodical may be reproduced without written consent of Natiunal History. If you would like to contact us regarding your subscription or to enter a
new subscription, please write to us at Natural History, PO, Box 5000, Harlan, IA 51593-0257. Postmaster: Send address changes to Natural History, P.O. Box 5000, Harlan, [A 51537-5000. Printed in the U.S.A
'
The fastest way to learn 4 a language. Guaranteed. ~*
Finally, a different approach that has millions of people talking. Using the award-winning Dynamic Immersion” method, our interactive software teaches
without translation, memorization or grammar drills. Combining thousands
of real-life images and the voices of native speakers in a step-by-step immersion
process, our programs successfully replicate the experience of learning your first language. Guaranteed to teach faster and easier than any other language
French Italian German Chinese Vietnamese Russian English Spanish Farsi
(US or UK) (Latin America or Spain)
Award-winning software successfully used by U.S. State Department diplomats, Fortune 500° executives and millions of people worldwide.
Step-by-step immersion instruction in all key language skills:
Listening - Rosetta Stone uses native speakers and everyday language to develop your understanding of * the spoken language naturally and easily.
Reading - Text exercises develop your reading ¢ skills by linking written language to real-life objects, ™ actions and ideas.
Speaking - Speech-recognition feature records, | diagrams and compares your voice to the native speaker's, grading your pronunciation.
™} Writing - Dictation exercises evaluate your spelling, » syntax and punctuation.
“your program is the absolute best, bar none. | am shocked at how quickly | learn.” - Michael Murphy Texas, USA
“Stupendous...the juxtaposition of text, sound and picture was masterful. The quality of both sound and graphics was first rate.”
- The Boston Globe
Japanese Indonesian Portuguese
Thai Arabic Turkish Polish Swedish Korean Hebrew Danish Welsh Pashto Hindi Greek Swahili Dutch Latin
Each fully interactive course includes:
* CD-ROM curriculum with 20 activities in each of 92 lessons
* Previews, comprehensive exercises and testing for each lesson + Automated tutorials that “learn” where you need extra help
* Curriculum Text and 45-page User's Guide
= RosettaStone g 2] f g ? |Z.
Level 1 Program Level 2 Program Level 1&2 Regularly $195-00 Regularly $225-00 Regularly $329-00 BEST VALUE! GOs RO FOws Your Price Your Price Your Price $175.50 $202.50 $296.10 Personal Edition. Solutions for organizations also available
Call today or buy online for a 10% discount.
RosettaStone.com/nhs046 1-800-695-5409
Use promotional code nhs046 when ordering.
RosettaStone
Language Learning Success
12
Eu Meein
Weevil Evil
Robert W. Jones’s fascinat- ing article on the boll wee- vil, “March of the Weevils” [2/06], recalls the lines from an old blues song de- scribing with chilling effect what the weevil did to African-American farmers in the South:
Boll weevil told the farmer, “You'll need no Ford machine, I'll eat up all your cotton, Can't buy no gasoline.”
I don’t see no water,
But I'm about to drown, I don't see no fire,
But ’'m a-burnin’ down.
In my work on Maya plant use and agriculture in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo, I found that Maya in isolated vil-
NATURAL HISTORY
April 2006
lages were growing strange (often very large) and an- cient varieties of cotton, usually under the name “snake cotton” (tamankaan in Maya). Those local vari- eties of cotton never had a bit of weevil damage. They should be sought out. Eugene N. Anderson University of California Riverside, California
Robert Jones’s article pre- sents the history of the boll weevil invasion of the USS. Cotton Belt with great clarity. His presentation of one of the sidelights to the story was particularly lucid—the seemingly eso- teric questions concerning the taxonomy and classifi- cation of boll weevils and
their host plants. The an- swers to those questions, which have added to biol- ogists’ knowledge about the life history and evolu- tionary history of the wee- vil, have also led to new avenues of research in the development of possible control measures. For ex- ample, investigators have discovered that parasites might be able to replace pesticide sprays 1n extermi- nating the weevil. Paul A. Fryxell Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden Claremont, California
ROBERT W. JONES REPLIES: Eugene N. Anderson’ in- triguing comment pertains to the larger question of
whether the pre-Colum- bian cultures of Meso- america had to deal with the boll weevil. Some in- vestigators maintain that the weevil is a recent pest, having switched from its wild host, Hampea, only shortly before invading the United States. But the dis- covery of a weevil in a cotton boll from Central Mexico dating from A.D. 900 indicates that the wee- vil was a pest of cultivated cotton long before it ap- peared in the US. Yet in- digenous cultures were clearly able to grow sizable quantities of cotton, which suggests they had a variety of tactics and, as Mr. Anderson proposes, resis- (Continued on page 75)
ON SAFARI
WITH @END?TE2 4AN.
... there's simply nothing that com- pares. With more than 35 years of experience, we have perfected the African safari into a seamless, sensory-rich adven ture that our guests” consistently praise
as the journey of a lifetime.
¢ South African Wildlife Safari © Tanzania Wildlife Safari
¢ Personalized Individual Safaris from Our Southern Africa Desk
BIND Tre 4A. Exploring the World Since 1959
For Free Brochures, Call ‘ (800) 964-0500 or Contact |
Your Travel Consultant
@ EARTHJUSTICE
i 3ecause the earth needs a good lawyer
SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION
An island of tides
red sandstone.cliffs
Barrett & MacKay
wavelike sands
bluebonnets *& birds
the worlds oldest civilizations a Mediterranean cruise
_..and more
DISTINCT]
ROoTrT i.
SPRING 2006
be
y 1rnys en Mo] Nolit a 4 PaNESS 2 2 a ss
im
FIND YOURSELF AMONG THREE-HUNDRED- million-year-old plant fossils embedded in some of the oldest visible rock on Earth. The natural wonders here are like nothing you've seen before. The world’s highest tides... they rise to over 48ft. (14 m) in some places. Falls reverse themselves and start to flow backward, and powerful tides sculpt the landscape. At low
tide, spelunk through
caves and touch the
base of giant rocks reaching up from the ocean floor; at high tide, kayak around miniature islands. That's just the tip of the many natural wonders in New Brunswick.
There's diverse landscape here. Extending northeast from the Bay of Fundy are some of Canada's most popular swimming beaches with some of the warmest salt water north of Virginia. Here you'll find the world’s second longest sandbar, and one of the continent's last remaining white sand dunes at the Irving Eco-Centre,
La Dune de Bouctouche. On the northern portion of
With 100 billion tons of seawater rushing in and out of the bay twice a day, bizarre things happen.
the province lies the Baie des Chaleurs, named one of the world’s most beautiful bays.
Along the interior of the province, rivers and waterways account for some of the best canoeing and kayaking to be had. Tour the St. John River Valley for 400 km (248 mi.) of pure inspiration. Witness the change in land- scape from the calm of lush, green valleys to the whitewater rush of the Grand Falls Gorge. The world- renowned Miramichi River beckons you to cast a line
with some of Canada’s best salmon fishing, and the beautiful Restigouche, St. Croix, and Kedgwick rivers will let you canoe for endless days along unspoiled wilderness. Be awed by the untouched vastness of some of the oldest mountains on the planet. Hiking possibilities abound throughout the province; for a spectacular view, climb some of the mountains, which are part of the Appalachian Range.
With waterfowl parks and designated wetlands, New Brunswick is a true birdwatching paradise. Up to 95 percent of the world’s sandpipers depend upon the Bay of Fundy mudflats for their survival. Prepare to be awestruck when they are airborne; coordinating their movements, the birds resemble a school of fish in flight. Not to be missed is the Grand Manan archipelago with
eagles, puffins, and ospreys. On the eastern tip of the
Clockwise from top left: The Hopewell Rocks, Hopewell Cape; Atlantic puffin: Chaleur Bay; Appalachian Range; Grand Falls Gorge, Grand Falls/Grand-Sault; Fundy National Park of Canada, Alma
province, the eco-friendly Cape Jourrmain Nature Centre is also an important stopover for migratory birds and offers an educational look at history, art, and green tech- nology systems. Whether seeking forest-dwelling crea- tures while on a hike, spotting seals from a kayak or whales from a boat, you're sure to find an outdoor wildlife adventure in New Brunswick, Canada!
From the phenomenal Fundy tides to the top of the Maritimes, New Brunswick welcomes you to discover all of its island retreats, coastal crags, horticultural
ers, and panoramic mountainous views. Take your taste buds on a tour of the most succulent seafood and down-home cooking. Keep an eye out for the colorful flags that adorn lighthouses and boats all along the Acadian coast, a symbol for a lively culture that’s ready to take you by the hand. The whole northeastern coast runs through the heart of Acadia. Take a walk back in time at the Village Historique Acadien for a lively inter- pretation of the fascinating history of the Acadians, and, for a toe-tapping good time, visit the island of legends and laughs at Le Pays de la Sagouine.
Unique shops in our hometowns ... galleries in our
fej (o) Il
cosmopolitan cities ... incredible values. That legendary East Coast hospitality will greet you down every street with the coziest B&Bs and inns to welcome you at the end of the day.
It’s a world of natural wonder and it’s all waiting
for you here in New Brunswick, Canada.
The Hopewell Rocks, Hopewell Cape
LAS Cai er
Z a
Pe es ty It was like walking on the moon... but it was the Y : ocean floor and the views were out of this world! That's New Brunswick's phenomenal Bay of Fundy—One of the Marine Wonders of the World!
And we were just getting started... We strolled beside some the earth's last great sand dunes. A rich habitat for rare plants and birds.
— oe Keep Exploring
7 |
{ 9
APRIL, WHEN THE LONE STAR STATE IS ABLOOM WITH WILDFLOWERS, IS A PERFECT TIME TO ENJOY ITS CITIES OR DO SOME SPECTACULAR BIRDWATCHING.
YOUR VISIT TO TEXAS MAY START OUT IN Dallas, a thriving metropolis that began with a sin- gle log cabin built in 1841, or in Houston, the state's largest city, first settled in 1836. In Austin, the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, dedicat- ed to native plants, is spectacular this month. All of these sophisticated cities will keep you busy with a plethora of historical and cultural attractions including many fine museums (be sure not to miss the Natural History Museum in Dallas). But in Texas, nature is never far away.
As you head east from Houston toward the island of Galveston, about an hour away, stop by the
Armand Bayou Nature Center, one of largest urban
wildlife and wilderness preserves in the country.
Top left: Mission San Jose, founded in 1720, 1s part of the San Antonio Missions Home to bison, raptors, and reptiles, the center
National Historical Park; top right: along the Pine Canyon Trail in the Chisos Mountains. comprises three ecosystems —bayou, forest, and
THE STATE 1 2 5 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
P : = ’ } ; wow. LravelTex.com/D 2 . wow. LravelTex.com B-14 win. LravelTex.comn/A-18 «+ www. TravelTex.com/E-20
SPEC
[AL ADVERTISING
With over 600 bird
species,
well be the birding ‘apital of the United States.
prairie—as well as butterfly gardens and 1800s.
In Corpus Christi, the center of Texas's
a typically Texan farm from the
Gulf Coast region, visit the Texas State Aquarium. Don't miss Port Aransas, which claims to be one of the top twelve birding sites in the country. In the spring, watch migrating
hummingbirds, which are attracted to these wet- g
lands, as well as wading and shorebirds. South of
Port Aransas, you'll find Mustang Island, where acres of sand dunes, sea oats, and beach morning glory combine to offer the best of seaside camping, surfing, fishing, swimming, and shell collecting.
In ‘he lower Rio Grande Mexico, visit the World Birding Center, headquar- tered in the Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park. At Bentsen, you'll see birds found nowhere else in the United States but deepest South Texas, as well as rare visitors from across the Rio Grande. Green Jays and Plain Chachalacas congregate regularly in this
floodplain forest, and flocks of migrating Swainson's
Valley, just north of
Texas May
fall. Bentsen is only one of nine sites that make up the center, whose habitats range from dry chaparral brush and verdant river-
side thickets to freshwater
marshes and coastal wet- South Padre
birds making the arduous Gulf crossing from south-
lands. Island is the first landfall for
ern Mexico and northern Central America. In
spring, you'll find warblers, tanagers, orioles, and
thrushes in wooded areas and shorebirds and water- fowl in the wetlands; with luck, spot endangered species such as Piping Plover and Peregrine Falcon.
For more information and to order a FREE Texas
State Travel Guide, call I-800-8888-TEX, Ext. 3860
Follow the Official Bluebonnet Trail, which stars the State flower, in bloom this month. Acres of this native flower were planted along Texas highways, thanks to Lady Bird Johnson
and Broad-winged hawks are common in spring and __ or visit TravelTex.com. G3 lhe a ws her OF TEXAS 20
Index
Inner cowboy released
Wild West tamed
Serenity discovered............0......
State understood
000 4000
16 I7 18 19
© 2006 Office of the Governor, Economic Development and Tourism, OJARO6 |
Understand a way of life.
other state can offer. Travel Guide, Accommodations Guide and Texas Highway Map, visit TravelTex.com or call 1-800-8888-TEX (ext. 3861). M5 like a whole other COUNTY.
Understand a culture. Understand a breed. Understand something no For your free Texas State
Department of Tourism
New Mexico
i ee
NEW MEXICO IS FAMOUS FOR ITS ANCIENT past. It is where dinosaurs once roamed, and where the Anasazi built their unique cliff-side dwellings, whose ruins are preserved at the Mesa Verde National Park. But the state is also worth visiting simply for its natural beauty. Learn about caving first-hand at the Carlsbad Caverns National Park. Known for their gigantic and often bizarre formations, the caves formed some 250 million years ago when the region With an average of was an inland sea. Take a 310 davs of sunshine, New Mexico is an outdoors
ranger-led tour or explore on
your own, but dont miss Lechuguilla, the nation’s deep- pa radise for nature lovers. est limestone cave, or the Big Room, as large as eight foot- ball fields. At El Malpais National Monument, would- be volcanologists can explore underground lava flows formed 115,000 to 2,000 years ago. Hike on an estab-
lished trail or go out on your own amid the volcanic fea-
tures that dominate the landscape, including cinder cones, pressure ridges, and complex lava tube systems. Volcano buffs also will enjoy the Capulin Volcano
National Monument; follow the two-mile road to the
Top: Field of wildflowers; northern New Mexico landscape. Left: the steam-era Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad. Right: unusual sand formations at the Bisti Badlands.
SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION
NEW MEXICO FROM HOT SPRINGS HIGH IN THE MOUNTAINS TO THE WORLD’S
LARGEST DEPOSIT OF GYPSUM SAND, NEW MEXICO IS INTRIGUING TO THOSE WITH A PASSION FOR NATURAL HISTORY.
New Mexico Department of Tourism
rim for spectacular views of the volcanic landscape.
At the northern end of the Chihuahan Desert, the White Sands National Monument comprises almost 300 square miles of glistening, wavelike dunes of gyp- sym sand. The dunes are always moving and changing their appearance, making them fascinating to photogra- phers as well as nature lovers. They are home to a few plants and animals, many of the latter camouflaged in white, that can survive the harsh environment. Take an eight-mile drive from the visitor center to the heart of the monument, or a one-mile hike along the Dune Life Nature Trail. In contrast to White Sands, the Bistt which
makes then all the more attractive to those seeking soli-
Badlands are almost unknown and little visited
tude in the high desert. The Bisti’s fragile sandstone for- mations, colorful and undulating mounds, and unusual eroded rocks make up a landscape that sometimes feels like it's on another planet.
For more information, please visit www.newmexico.org.
%
for stg, ce
cise was a Shade of blue
jaa: 0
FOR A VACATION EXPERIENCE THAT WILL TAKE YOU FULL CIRCLE, VISIT NEWMEXICO.ORG OR CALL 1-800-733-6396 EXT. 3343.
SCANDINAVIA & NORTHERN EUROPE
10- to 38-day CruiseTours»
from 1,599"
Captivating CruiseTours visit lands of castles, soaring fjords and Viking chieftains and explore cities like Stockholm, Helsinki, St. Petersburg and Tallin. All at a relaxed pace aboard the award-winning Marco Polo, with plenty of time ashore. You'll also enjoy hotel stays in Copenhagen, London and/or Reykjavik, Iceland. Discover for yourself why Orient Lines is known as
“The Destination Cruise Specialists”.
ORIENT LINES’
THE DESTINATION CRUISE SPECIALISTS
www.orientlines.com
For reservations, see your travel agent. For brochures, call 1-800-333-7300.
r ponsible for typogray Corporation Lid, All Rights Reser
SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION
BUFFALO BILLS CODY) VEEIEO W S:P QIN CONGING aaa
PARK COUNTY, IN NORTHWEST WYOMING, is Buffalo Bill’s Cody/ Yellowstone Country. In 1896 Col. William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody founded Cody, the heart of this county, which still maintains a true Western flavor. To learn about Buffalo Bill and local history, take Cody's trolley tour. Cody is the eastern
gateway to Yellowstone National Park, the nation’s
first national park (1872); the county also includes Shoshone National Forest, our first national forest (1891). Wildlife is plentiful: buffalo, deer, moose, bighorn sheep, elk, grizzly bear, black bear, and eagles are easily spotted in the grass prairies, mountain slopes, and wildflower meadows. Try your hand at fly-fish- ing on spectacular trout streams; float through the rapids of the Shoshone River Canyon; rock-climb the steep granite cliffs; hike or horseback-ride on the Cody PathWays, a sys- tem of paths and trails. Stay at the Victorian-style Irma Hotel, founded by Buffalo Bill in 1902 and named after his youngest daughter, or the Pahaska Teepee Lodge, which he founded in 1904 in the heart of the forest; both are on the National Register of Historic Places. Cody also has many museums devoted to Buffalo Bill, the Plains Indians, firearms, Western art, and natural history. The Buffalo Bill Dam, completed in 1920, was one of the first concrete dams in the country and transformed the area’s landscape. Don't miss Cody Nite Rodeo or the Branson-style Cowboy Music Revue. For more information, visit www.yellowstonecountry.org.
WE HAVE PLACES WHERE TIME STANDS STILL.
BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN YOU HAVETO.
The past is present in Cody, Wyoming. You'll also find wildlife, rodeo, shopping, dining and more. Call or write for FREE travel information.
836 Sheridan Ave. Dept. NH * Cody, WY 82414 800-393-2639 * www.yellowstonecountry.org
MUNITED
<SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION
Ee |
EGYPT IS ONE OF THE WORLD'S OLDEST CIVILIZATIONS—ITS HISTORY GOES BACK SOME 5,000 YEARS—AND PROBABLY ONE OF THE OLDEST VACATION DESTINATIONS, TOO.
ITS MOST FAMOUS SITE IS PROBABLY THE Great Pyramids of Giza (including the Great Sphinx and the pyramid of Khufu), but there are about a hundred other pyramids in the country, and almost
all are grouped near Cairo. In addition to monu-
ments from the era of the pharaohs, Egypt has a
- x QS SS ee = a
It’s where you always wanted to go.
wealth of mosques, ancient Christian churches, and Jewish temples, testifying to its importance in the birth of these religions. Luxor, which has been called an open-air museum, is famed for its temples. The Temple of Karnak (just north of Luxor) is still the world’s largest religious structure, and the Temple of Luxor, built by Amenhotep II] and Ramses III, housed the festivals of Thebes. In between these famous sites, take a trek in the Western Desert, per- haps to the oasis of Fayuum, about 100 kilometers southwest of Cairo (an oasis is a depression in the desert where you'll find trees, springs and wells, and a year-round pleasant climate). Visit the beaches of the Red Sea, which has become known for its diving; or take a traditional cruise down the Nile River, heading south from Cairo, for an all-encompassing view of the country.
For more information, visit www.egypttourism.org.
There's never been a better time to visit Egypt. See the land wher
Seven thousand years of culture, religion and timeless treasures await you the Ten Commandments. Explore the majesty of the Valley of the Kings. Divin«
re
of the Red
5ea. You can do that in only one place
on Earth
C yt. Ve ea ent re youve a Ways areamed adou Egypt. Live the adv Ir | 1 lal t
Call us at 1-877-77-Egypt www.egypttourism.org
Left: Diving in the Red Sea Top: Horus Temple at Edfu
Top: Victoria; Green Gables in Cavendish; West Point Lighthouse
<SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION)
PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND
WHAT IF THE WORLD HAD BEEN TO PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND?
THIS GENTLE ISLAND OFF CANADA‘S EAST COAST |S A SPECIAL PLACE WHERE ROLLING FARM FIELDS SPILL INTO THE SEA AND THE
BRILLIANT COLORS OF THE LANDSCAPE GLOW IN OCEAN AIR.
AVISIT TO OUR ISLAND REMINDS YOU OF the important things in life; it is a place where strangers are friendly and people have a sense of per- spective. If the world had been to Prince Edward Island, we think the world would be a better place.
Imagine a complete holiday destination all tied up in one neat, compact, green package, a smile- shaped slice of paradise—this is our gentle island.
Prince Edward Island is geographically and
VO : A " = *s topographically seductive, with acres of m rolling pasture, potato fields, and woodlots,
stitched together by country lanes and wind-
ing rivers, all fringed by miles of coastline
made up of alternating red sandstone cliffs
and white sandy beaches.
erly Touring Canada’s smallest province by car
can mean following coastal drives in and out
of uny fishing villages; exploring tree-lined,
red clay roads through farms and woodlots;
or plotting a course that takes you from warm
ocean waters to top-class golf courses, antique
shops to museums, or theaters to community concerts. Start in the capital city of Charlottetown, where
Canada Was born; the event is commemorated at
Founders Hall and the national historic site of
Province House. Anne of Green Gables was born
here too, and almost everyone wants to visit the Green Gables site in Cavendish and see the musical that has been on stage at the Charlottetown Festival for 42 seasons now.
Touring the island by bicycle becomes almost irresistible once you've reviewed the network of trails and quiet back roads that crisscross the province. A cycling trail that connects one end of the crescent-shaped province to the other invites ambitious cyclists to take on a tip-to-tip Confederation Trail adventure. If land-based touring is just too dry, think of joining a sea kayak expedition. There are tour companies that will guide you from inn to inn, or to special deserted islands just off the coast. Paddling all day in the salty air develops an appetite and you can count on delicious evening meals of fresh island seafood, whether served at the table of a country inn, or over an open fire on a quiet beach,
Save time for basking or strolling on the miles of deserted white and pink sand beaches followed by an evening at the theater, local pub, or concert of tra- ditional music in a community hall. You will fall asleep listening to the waves mingled with echoes of Celtic mustie.
For more information visit www.gentleisland.com or telephone I-800-463-4PEI.
€f WbAT If THE WORLD DAD BEEN TO PRINCE EOWARO ISLAND? (&
Peopte STUCK IN TRAFFIC WOULD WAVE TDEIR WDOLE DANO AT EACHD OTDER ANO NOT JUST ONE FINGER.
} . )\ : : ©Dyjuro . TAY mm! [here’s a place where things are different. A place where the bi ibd ; mn y (ito ’ A, —_ ’ : we gt ae roa Is Open an 1 ther ire no strangers, just frien u ha Ee u AVC } 6) - ’ Oac ( . r ¢ ere are oO C pers, S enas you Nave Bt 3 FP ( ar vai 3 [sland mS y “ey Poptart toe rahmon yet to meet. We invite you to our Island where thx point ol ee i. . yr a fay, Aan \ Y Nhe Y every journey is never just a destination but the journey itself The Gi ay = Wo .
Ole Noy < O cel aA Se Ph Nes he FOR YOUR ISLAND GUIDE, VISIT GENTLEISLAND.( 4 04 ON Canali OR CALL 1-800-463-4PEI AND ASK FOR LE¢ )
¥ \ } oF oy CHECK OUT OUI EIGHE I ( I COM EK -
SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION
ORIENT LINES
ORIENT LINES, THE DESTINATION CRUISE specialist, offers extraordinary vacations to every part of the world. Its flagship, the Marco Polo, carries over 800 passengers on journeys of luxury and discovery; every modern convenience 1s provided, and guest lecturers are on board to enhance the experience. In spring and fall, the Marco Polo visits the Mediterranean (primarily Italy ) and the Greek Isles, with journeys ranging from a 10-day jaunt from Athens to Venice, to a 26-day Grand Mediterranean Discovery from Athens to Barcelona. For a grand and leisurely experience, take a classic transatlantic cruise, from Montego Bay to Barcelona or to Athens. In the summer, cruises focus on Britain and Scandinavia, the Baltic capitals, St. Petersburg, and the Norwegian fjords, with two nights in hotels in London or Copenhagen. Orient also offers cruises akin to the Grand Tours of old, including a 36-day Great Cities of Western & Northern Europe from Rome to Stockholm, and a 38-day Journey to the Top of the World from London to Copenhagen. In winter, explore South America, from the fjords of Chile to the rain forests of the Amazon, on three different cruises; take a 15-day
tour of Central America; or journey to Antarctica.
For more information, visit www.orientlines.com.
WHILE JN FILM SCHOOL, ERIC DINERSTEIN—WHO BY his own admission was “training to be the anti- Thoreau"—was cap- tivated by a little green heron. He spent the next 30 years exploring the natural world, traveling to all ends of the Earth to discover and pro- tect wildlife. Now the chief scientist at the World Wildlife Fund-US, a aS ; : : is anor
=) fe = Dinerstein recounts his explorations of the wildlife and landscapes he taco encountered — from the forests of Nepal to the Galapagos Islands to the eastern plains of Montana—in Tigerland and Other Unintended Destinations.
Seeking the Sacred Raven, by Mark Jerome Walters, tracks the fate of the 'Alala, a sacred Hawaiian bird and member of the raven family. Walters
explores the role of the bird in Hawaiian culture and its decline to near- Beaking the
extinction; once numbering in the thousands, today only SO 'Alala sur- me Sacred vive in captivity. He travels through the cloud forests of Mauna Loa Raven
interviewing biologists and others to assemble the story of the sacred bird and the people who battled to save it. Walters captures not only
the many dimensions of species loss but also the story of the Hawaiian
people and culture, from the ancient Polynesian settlers, to Captain Cook, to the would-be saviors of the 'Alala in the 1990s.
Both these titles are published by Island Press, which issues approximately 40 new titles per year on topics ranging from biodiversity and land use to forest management, agricul- ture, marine science, climate change, and energy. For more information about this
innovative publisher, visit www.islandpress.org.
SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
@XFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
is the world’s largest university
press. Its publications are written at a variety of levels, for a wide range of audiences in almost every aca- demic discipline. Brian Fagan’s From Stonehenge to Samarkand is a history of our fascination with antiquity, captured in the writings of noted archaeolog- ical tourists, from Herodotus to Rose Macaulay. Fagan, a renowned schol- ar and author, explores our irre- sistible impulse to visit strange lands in search of lost cities and forgotten monuments. His history features excerpts from earlier writings: Herodotus describes the construction of Babylon, Gibbon wanders through the ruins of the Roman Forum, Flaubert watches the sunrise from atop an Egyptian pyramid, and more.
The Atlas of the United States offers a closer look at the oldest, richest, and most populous country on the continent, with newly drawn maps and instructive charts and graphs. The heart of this comprehensive volume is a unique thematic section covering topics ranging from environmental change to religious practice, and indigenous peoples to migration patterns. With hundreds of maps rendering every region from Barrow, Alaska to Venice, Florida in
layer-colored contours, this atlas is the United States as it hasn't been seen before.
ENA EGER
BEFORE YOU EMBARK ON YOUR TRIP = : eee Rese aa me0eE— to a Distinctive Destination, spend some time Departure Lobby AI
: i = - i YAR BSHtSy doing a bit of on-line research. For domestic
travel, try the websites of the individual coun- ZO = ”-* ‘Q A A eta ~ = ties or states that youre visiting for a plethora ano 8S?
of information, including an up-to-date calen- qq a va Saosin
dar of events, fairs, and festivals; specialized Exit Baggage Claim ; ; HO GBR BP SOS WER local attractions that might never have made it
into your guidebook; local birding lists and Sia 0 e—
Arrival Lobby
viewing spots; biking trails, hiking maps, and Ba ee
Fonte Car aany ect
Information ATIF Pia] Ab Or Hotel Rovervation (Fm (eR) ay tere
as 408 Check-i CrRFT i Bie ote
® MHt-MARAM Kx22-
much more. [There ts nothing like attending a
local event, off the usual tourist path, to
enhance your understanding of the destination.
For international travel, check out the sites of the individual countries, which almost always have sections on ecotourism and nature traveling. Visit http://travel.state.gov, the website of the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Consular Affairs, for a wealth of information ranging from tips for traveling abroad, consular information sheets, and other vital information to plan your trip. Your airline’s website will list maximum sizes
and weights for your luggage and other useful information.
oe foo) af
Happy traveling!
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
ATLAS OF THE UNITED STATES
An indispensable item in any modern professional or personal
library, this beautiful atlas offers an affordable gateway to places and features of the American landscape.
x ANTHOLOGY if aARCRAEOLOGLUAL
fark Wmding
FROM STONEHENGE TO SAMARKAND: An Anthology of Archaeological Travel Writing
For anyone fascinated with the land- marks of ancient civilization, follow in the footsteps of great archaecolog- ical travelers — from Herodotus to Rose Macaulay — and retrieve their impressions of famous sites.
SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION
SOME NATURAL WONDERS IN NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR
WHALES MIGRATE NORTH AS BERGS DRIFT south, their paths crossing beneath the gaze of mil- lions of seabirds. Sometimes you can see all three at once, either from shore or from a tour boat. If you're lucky. Ever smelled the air from a 10,000-year-old berg? It's so old it’s fresh.
On land, keep an eye out for moose because there are 125,000 of them. Their cousins come in great numbers, too, in Labrador where there are 450,000
barren ground caribou. Bald eagles might be the most sought- after raptor, and you'll find them nesting in Terra Nova National Park, among other places. Because of its location on migration flyways, Newfoundland and Labrador is a good place to spot rarities, especially on headlands, those edges of the earth. This place is edgy in another way. Both land and sea straddle the boundaries of plant
colonies. In some places, it is the southernmost edge
Top: You'll find the largest barren ground caribou herd in the world in Labrador; Right: 10,000-year- old icebergs drift by the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador in spring and early summer.
of northern alpine plants; and in other, the north- ernmost reach of underwater species.
And because Newfoundland and Labrador is only a few hours by air from major centers, it’s easy to get here. When you do, Witless Bay Ecological Reserve, with its puffins and humpbacks, is half an hour from St. John’s and is patrolled by half a dozen tour boats. The most accessible seabird colony in eastern Canada is Cape St. Mary’s Ecological Reserve where thousands of golden-headed Northern Gannets nest atop a sea stack SO feet from a clifftop viewing point.
Gros Morne National Park, on the west coast of the Island of Newfoundland, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It's one of the great natural wonders of the world, with its fjords, rare rocks, ancient mountains,
and inspiring landscapes. It will change you.
SAMPLINGS oar ET
Cloudy Skies
Cars, planes, trucks, and trains are infamous air polluters, but ships are often overlooked. Yet increased shipping in recent decades has led to a dramatic rise in ships’ fuel con- sumption, which more than quadrupled be- tween 1950 and 2001. Now, the effects of the ships’ correspondingly increased emis- sions have been detected in clouds. Hint: they aren't wisps of black soot.
Cloud droplets form around airborne par- ticles, which engines and factories that lack adequate filters emit in abundance. More droplets make for denser, higher clouds. Because dense, polluted clouds reflect more light, and higher clouds have cooler tops than normal clouds do, the effects of pollution can be measured by visible-light and infrared sen- sors aboard satellites.
Abhay Devasthale, a remote-sensing spe- cialist at the University of Hamburg in Ger- many, and two colleagues published data that highlight ship pollution in the air above the English Channel and its three dingiest harbors. Between 1997 and 2002, Dev- asthale reports, clouds there became about
i e A Very Dry White The ancient Egyptians loved their wine. They buried their dead with wine-filled am- phorae, or clay vessels, to ensure a com- fortable afterlife, and they painted scenes of viticulture and winemaking on the walls of tombs. But what varieties did they enjoy? Written records and the dark color of
Egyptian winemaking, tomb painting, 1400 B.c.
t
1.5 percent more reflective, and the tem- perature of their tops dropped by about three degrees Fahrenheit. Meanwhile, over
nearby inland areas the trend was reversed.
Thus, despite successful European efforts to reduce land-based emissions, ship ex- haust remains a troubling source of air pol- lution. (Geophysical Research Letters 33:L02811, 2006)
—Stéphan Reebs
tomb-wall grapes suggest they drank reds. But now there's evidence that whites were popular, too.
Maria Rosa Guasch-Jané, an Egyptolo- gist, and Rosa M. Lamuela-Raventés, a food and nutrition scientist, both at the University of Barcelona, Spain, and their colleagues an- alyzed residues in six of the twenty-six am- phorae from King Tutankhamun’s tomb. The team detected tartaric acid, which occurs naturally only in grapes, in each of the residues. Dark residue in one amphora in- cluded syringic acid, which is derived from the main pigment that gives red grapes their color. Yellowish residues in the other five amphorae lacked syringic acid, suggest- ing they were probably the remnants of white wines.
The ancient Egyptians appear to have valued white wine as much as red. King Tut was buried with three amphorae near his sarcophagus; two of them held red wine and the third held white. (Journal of Archaeological
Science, forthcoming)
—Rebecca Kessler
Ship pollutes the air in Ushuaia, at the southern tip of Argentina.
Millipede Soccer
For the coati, a small mammal that ranges from the southwestern United States to South America, few snacks are more tempt- ing than a juicy millipede. But something un- pleasant stands in the way of an easy meal: evolution has equipped the millipede with chemical defenses that deter most preda- tors. What's a coati to do? On first encounter, it rolls the many-legged arthropod between its front paws. The millipede responds in a panic, pumping out poisons as fast as it can. Soon, though, the supply of poisons is ex- hausted. Then, the coati simply drags the mil- lipede through the soil, effectively wiping off the toxins. Voila! It’s snack time.
But there’s more. According to a study led by Paul J. Weldon, a biologist at the Smithsonian Institution in Front Royal, Vir- ginia, the noxious chemicals secreted by irri- tated millipedes actually trigger the coati’s prey-rolling behavior. The coati’s response is so “hard wired” that even a stick dipped in the millipede’s defensive chemicals elicits the behavior. The coati has won this evolu-
tionary arms race in more ways than one. (Naturwissenschaften 93:14—6, 2006) —Nick W. Atkinson
April 2006 NATURAL HISTORY | 29
SAMPLINGS
Made in India
A dizzying variety of cultures and languages
flourish among India’s billion-plus residents. Did the differences arise among the descen- dants of that nation’s first settlers, who like- ly arrived in South Asia from Africa more than 40,000 years ago, or do they
reflect subsequent waves of immigration? Northern people often share cultural prac- tices such as farming, social castes, and Indo-European languages, which has prompted speculation that their ancestors immigrated in a more recent wave, possibly from West or Central Asia.
But several studies have shown scant vari- ation in the mitochondrial DNA of Indians throughout the nation, and little similarity to populations outside South Asia. That sug- gests a single, early origin. Mitochondrial DNA is passed only from mother to child, however, and so, strictly speaking, what the studies have shown is that only one wave of female immigrants entered prehistoric India. The DNA of the Y chromosome, passed from father to son, can help show whether there was an influx of men.
A team of geneticists led by Sanghami- tra Sahoo and V.K. Kashyap from the Na-
At a crux in the family tree
NATURAL HISTORY April 2006
Indian men: the Ys that bind?
tional DNA Analysis Centre in Calcutta examined the Y chromosomes of men throughout India. They, too, found little genetic evidence for a second wave of im- migrants to India. Only one small group, Tibeto-Burman-language speakers in the northeast, seemed to have arrived rela- tively recently, probably from East Asia. The Indo-European-language speakers, by contrast, appear to be native born. By and large, then, India’s cultural differences probably evolved within a somewhat ge- netically isolated population. (PNAS 103:843-8, 2006)
Time Dilation
Like every other living thing, we humans and our nearest relatives, the chim- panzees, have “junk” DNA. It probably doesn’t code for anything functional, but it sure is useful to evolutionary biologists. Because mutations within noncoding DNA are not exposed to the rigors of natural selection, they accumulate. And because they tend to arise at regular intervals, they are useful as “molecular clocks.” Knowing the mutation rate and the num- ber of genetic differences between two species, evolutionary biologists can esti- mate when the species diverged: some 6 million years ago, in the case of humans and chimpanzees.
In the geologically recent past, how- ever, human generations have been longer than those of our cousins: about twenty years, on average, compared to the chim- panzee’s fifteen. Now a team of geneti-
—S.R.
Ocean Genome
Microscopic life thrives in the open ocean, where it plays a key role in the complex flux of matter and energy. Yet its ecology re- mains poorly understood.
At the ALOHA oceanographic station, sixty miles north of the island of Oahu, in Hawai i, microbial oceanographers Ed- ward F. DeLong of the Massachusetts In- stitute of Technology in Cambridge and David M. Karl of the University of Hawaii in Honolulu, and several colleagues sam- pled microorganisms at depths ranging from 32 to 13,000 feet. Their plan was to analyze how the gene sequences varied by depth, taking into account the physi- cal, chemical, and other biological prop- erties of the water column, as measured by ALOHA.
Sure enough, DeLong and his colleagues detected predictable trends in gene func- tion associated with the distinct microbial communities they found living at various depths. Genes involved in metabolism from sunny surface waters, for instance, often code for photosynthetic pathways, whereas in deep waters, genes for metabolizing methane and other sources of chemical en- ergy predominate. From shallow waters, the investigators also recovered a surprising number of virus genomes that had incorpo- rated genes involved in photosynthesis from their cyanobacteria hosts. In the genetic bazaar of the sea, such gene exchange among microorganisms may be quite wide- spread. (Science 311:496-503, 2006)
—Graciela Flores
cists has determined that the difference in generation span has led to different rates of mutation in noncoding DNA. Navin Elango and Soojin V. Yi, both geneticists at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, and their col- leagues conducted one of the largest and most precise comparisons ever made between the noncoding DNA of humans and our closest relatives. Ac- cording to their findings, the human mol- ecular clock does indeed tick slower than that of chimpanzees, which in turn runs slower than the clocks of gorillas and orangutans. Yet the differences are so small that longer generations among hu- mans likely evolved just a million years ago. (PNAS 103:1370-5, 2006) —S.R.
BRING THE LARVAE.
EXPLORE A WORLD OF INSECTS WITH YOUR KIDS AT THE NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM! ©
aU ANNUAL
fair’ ~ al % : \ x r , \ See amazing live bugs : \ oI and spiders, watch an insect &
bu chef cook up some creepy DUg ROBINSONS ‘ MAY . g VA ze
cuisine, and shop for books,
supplies, artwork, and toys from | Wy - more than 60 vendors. The Bug Fair () ) u ii ett UA } a, is FREE with paid admission to Whe Ys pi Be ea d f the Natural History Museum of rr ee wt Los Angeles County.
MAY 20 & 21, 2008 a : % The Robinsons-May Pavilion of Win : ?. 8 i, ‘ 1% ve : el to stroll through a beautiful, encl "ee Me ‘5 with live, free- -flying butterflies! History Museum’s south lawn, the of butterflies and moths from all
ngs invites guests of all ages Osed environment filled ocated on the Natural Pavilion contains hundreds Over the United States.
APRIL 16 — SEPTEMBER 5, 2006
Natural cm ie Natural Histo, Proug Y pt o Support the
Midistory , "ose ne useum
of Los Angeles County Angeles County
900 Exposition Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90007 213-763-DINO www.nhm.org
USEUM ADMISSION: Adults $9.00 | Students, Seniors & Youths 13-17 $6.50 | Children 5-12 $2.00 | Museum Members & Children under 5 FREE
*Admission to Robinsons-May Pavilion of Wings is not included with regular Museum admission. Prices are $3 for adults, $2 for students and seniors, and FREE for Museum members and children under 5. Tickets are sold for entry on the half-hour starting at 10:00 am. The last tickets are sold at 4:00 pm.
SAMPLINGS
Survival of the Rarest
Tropical forests may be more resilient than
their reputations would have you believe.
The forests appear to bolster the tree spe-
cies most vulnerable to extinction: the rare ones.
Christopher Wills, an evolutionary biolo- gist at the University of California, San Diego, led a study in which international teams took tree censuses on plots in seven
tropical forests around the globe. The team
repeated the censuses after five years for some plots, after ten years for others. Locally common species, it turned out, make up most of the young trees in a given age class, but locally rare species have lower death rates. The net re- sult is that rare trees become more com-
mon within their age class as time passes.
Why might rare species survive preferen-
Sing It to Me
tially? Some avoid competing for the same resources that more common species re- quire. Others escape pathogens and preda- tors that target their ubiquitous neighbors.
Vicario, both neuroscientists at Rutgers
University in New Brunswick, New Jersey, and a colleague have found evidence of a template elsewhere: in a part of the brain generally known as the NCM, which plays
a role in hearing.
Juvenile (left) and adult male zebra finches Femene ee TEVec evans e722 young zebra finches for several weeks, then switched it off for a month while the birds
matured. The neuroscientists then played a
Young male zebra finches learn to sing by listening to adult tutors—often their fa- thers—and by rehearsing endlessly. To get —_ selection of tunes that included the tutor’s a tune just right, a young bird must com- song, the birds’ own songs, and new songs, pare the sounds it makes with its memo- while recording the electrical responses of neurons in the birds’ NCMs. By applying a standard test of familiarity, the investigators determined that the neurons in the NCM recognized the tutor’s song. What's more, the birds that were most familiar with the tutor’s song reproduced it most accurately.
(PNAS 103:1088-93, 2006) —G.F.
Fish Story in Reverse oN
ries of the songs its tutor sang. The mem- ories—or “sound templates” for bird- song—must be stored somewhere in the bird’s brain, but where? Until now, investi- gators have primarily searched parts of the brain responsible for singing and song learning. Now, Mimi L. Phan and David S.
Smallest fish, a male anglerfish (Photocorynus spiniceps, shown above left at actual size), is fused to the back of a much larger female.
In January, ichthyologists announced they'd discovered the world’s smallest vertebrate. One female Paedocypris progenetica, a carp relative from Indonesian swamps, measured just 7.9 millimeters. That’s not so small, countered Theodore Pietsch, an ichthyologist at the University of Washington in Seattle. In September he’d described Photocorynus spini- ceps, a deep-sea-dwelling anglerfish from the Philippines, with males as small as 6.2 mil- limeters. Males bite into females and fuse for life. They supply sperm; females supply eggs, food, locomotion, and everything else. (Proceedings of the Royal Society B, forthcoming; Ichthyological Research 52:207-36, 2005) —R.K.
ATURAL HISTORY April 2006
Tropical forest, Barro Colorado Island, Panama
Evidence that nature favors diversity sug- gests that tropical forests may be able to re- cover fully and quickly from at least moder- ate destruction. That’s good news, but Wills isn't celebrating. “If the forests are slashed and burned,” he warns, “all bets are off.” (Science 311:527-31, 2006)
—Samantha Harvey
Impermafrost
People living in the Far North have often built their homes on solidly frozen earth. But their heirs may have to contend with wildly listing floors. Permafrost—soil frozen for two or more years, with a thin top layer that may seasonally thaw— makes up about a quarter of the land area in the Northern Hemisphere, roughly 4.1 million square miles. As the Earth warms, however, permafrost is proving to be anything but permanent.
That's what David M. Lawrence of the National Center for Atmospheric Research, and Andrew G. Slater of the University of Colorado, both climate scientists based in Boulder, have found. They ran a powerful computer model to predict the distribution of the top eleven feet of permafrost under various scenarios of greenhouse-gas emis- sions. The model predicted that if emis- sions remain high, as much as 90 percent of the North's surface permafrost will thaw by 2100. One consequence is that north- ern soils may slowly dry out, contributing somewhat—as may increased precipita- tion—to a 28 percent rise in freshwater runoff into the Atlantic Ocean.
Perhaps even worse, thawed soils could release methane and carbon diox- ide into the air, intensifying the green- house effect. Whether enough trees will grow on the newly defrosted terrain to mop up the excess carbon dioxide re- mains to be seen. (Geophysical Research Letters 32:L24401, 2005) —S.R.
The Swiss Breakthrough!! TI§ig seh: | Steinhausen
Swiss Watch Design
The Thinnest Calendar Bapronins Pees Since 1923
Wat Cc h Eve CT M a d e Steinhausen is a registered
trademark of Steinhausen Co. of Switzerland.
The Steinhausen engineers set out to make the thinnest, ightest, most beautiful watch ¥ in history. After five grueling years of constant research,
development and testing, ; F 3
they introduced the Bann Steinhausen’s Dunn Horitzon watch is significantly thinner compared
oritzon Rasierer. Dunn to others
Horitzon is German for “Thin Horizon.” “Rasierer’ refers to Swiss Movement being razor-thin. At less than two millimeters thick, you can't buy a slimmer model that includes a two-digit calendar. The Europeans lauded it for its sophistication nd aesthetic look and design — it was one of the top tractions at the Basel Convention for watches and
ocks in Switzerland (the most important annual clock nd watch show worldwide for the past 34 years). Italian rt schools are using the Dunn Horitzon as an example of e perfect design model. The Japanese praise the Dunn oritzon for its quality and sophisticated design. And the merican consumer paid the ultimate compliment by making it one of our top-selling timepieces.
o© 9 oO f DM
2 SE SF
The Dunn Horitzon Rasierer is made from stainless steel but has been designed with a special German- engineered alloy that removes almost all the weight, making it so thin that you won't even notice it's strapped to your wrist. And if you have sensitive skin, don’t worry. Our gold watch is plated with 24 karats and five microns é Steinhausen of gold that will never lose its shine or fade away : Since 1923
Your appreciation of the Dunn Horitzon Rasierer is certain to increase over time. We are so confident that you will receive such an abundance of compliments, that as part of our celebration of this glorious introduction, we will include a free Steinhausen patented money clip, a $40 value, with each order. If you are dissatisfied for any reason with the Dunn Horitzon Rasierer, return it and pay 24 ; only shipping and handling but keep the money clip as G,,
our gift. i WPF sures IA a 70 "unl 30
Steinhausens are considered must-have works of art
among Japanese and European collectors. Steinhausens are only found tn the finest retailers and through a Steinhausenonline.com. Be the first to wear this remark- illuminates 100 times
able new addition to the world-famous Steinhausen line brighter than other watches
Solid. Hefty. Handsome. Old world craftsmanship & new world technology 1W493G Steinhausen Dunn Horitzon
The Money Grip and credit Thinnest watch ever made-Caseis G0ld Watch —$t69-95 your price $119.95 russe: card holder does its job in hoes han 2mm'thick TW493S Steinhausen Dunn Horitzon
: regan . . % style. Organize up to Swiss quartz movement Silver Watch —$449-95 your price $99.95
Order online at: Day-of-Month digit display www.steinhausenonline.com/6JNHW
Ss ; | % Your choice Gold Embedded with a sapphire stone on (TM287) or Silver its crown
N EE (TM288) Steinhausen
Money Clip Includes two pairs of genuine Italian
a $40 value is yours for | - 4 leather bands (brown and black) iS t e i n h ausen
: Swiss quartz movement...always accurate when you mention offer 6JNHW and reliable...ultra stylish 12621 Encinitas Ave. * Sylmar, CA 91342
UNIVERSE
When the Mo@ia Hits Your Eye
More knowledge and better data only deepen the beguiling appeal of the best-known object in the night sky.
By Neil deGrasse Tyson
HISTORY: Ape
ountless cultures have spun
countless tales about Earth’s
nearest neighbor 1n space. To the ancient Greeks, the Moon was a pale-faced young woman riding across the sky in a horse-drawn chariot. To the Aztecs, no strangers to blood and gore, the Moon was the severed head of a malicious daughter of the Earth goddess, which her brother, the Sun god, had flung into the sky.
But colorful tales don’t satisfy sci- entists. We want data. So as soon as word of the newly invented telescope spread across Europe, astronomers be- gan to acquire or construct their own versions of this marvel and turn them toward the Moon. Early in August of 1609—a couple of months before Galileo built his first telescope—the English mathematician and astron- omer Thomas Harriot made the first known drawing of the lunar surface as seen through the lens of an optical in- strument. Half a year later, a month before Galileo’s first batch of tele- scopic observations appeared in print, Harriot’s friend Sir William Lower, an English country gentleman, wrote up his own observations of the Moon in a letter to Harriot:
In the full she appears like a tarte that my cooke made me last weeke; here a vaine of bright stuffe, and there of darke, and so confusedlie all over. I must confesse I can see none of this without my cylinder.
That’s what happens when you look at the sky while you're hungry.
No surprise that the Moon was one of the first celestial objects to be tele- scopically described and tracked: It’s big. It’s close. It’s bright. No surprise e1- ther that, nearly four centuries later, the Moon became the first destination of the U.S.—Soviet space race. As President
John E Kennedy had hoped, Ameri-
cans—specifically the Apollo 11 astro- nauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin—became the first people to set foot on the Moon, on July 20, 1969. A full decade earlier (not that Americans think about it much), the Soviet Union
David De Lossy, Full moon rising
had become the first nation to land a spacecraft on the Moon and the first to
photograph the Moon’s far side which is why many surface features on the far side have names like Mare Moscoviense and Gagarin crater. The Soviets were also the first to put a vehi- cle on the Moon: an eight-wheeled ro- botic rover. But flesh-and-blood Amer- icans, walking on the lunar surface and planting the flag, were what U.S. pres- idents wanted the world to see.
You might think space scientists would have answered all the big ques- tions about the Moon by now, having studied it more than any object in the universe besides Earth itself. You might even think no country would want to bother sending its citizens there any- more. Wrong on both counts. Some of the Moon’s deep polar craters might harbor ice, which can be turned into drinking water and rocket fuel. Some of the rocks ejected from Earth during early catastrophic meteorite impacts may have been scattered across the
Moon’s unweathered surface. Some of those rocks—whose Earth-based cous- ins would long ago have been destroyed might
by our planet’s active geology harbor intact fossil evidence of Earth’s earliest life-forms. Some of the Moon’s mineral resources could conceivably be extracted and used by short-term and long-term lunar missions. And as you read this page, not only America’s Na- tional Aeronautics and Space Admuinis- tration, but also the European Space Agency, the China National Space Ad- ministration, and the Indian Space Re- search Organisation are all actively plan- ning their next missions to the Moon.
2 ae can be even weirder than fiction. Today, astrophysicists and geologists generally agree that the Moon formed several billion years ago when a Mars-size protoplanet slammed into the adolescent Earth [see “Moonstruck,” by G. Jeffrey Taylor, Sep- tember 2003|. The impact must have been something to behold. It kicked
up about a hundred quintillion (107°) tons of rock vapor and molten rock blobs—bits and pieces of Earth mixed with bits and pieces of the impactor— some of which shot tens of thousands of miles into space.
Most of the material that hurtled outward eventually fell back to Earth. Some of it got no farther than about 12,000 miles from our planet’s center, and formed short-lived rings. Of the material that traveled farther, most of it formed more durable rings, akin to the gorgeous ring system that now en- circles Saturn. From that disk-shaped orbiting platform, the bits and pieces of rock began to coalesce, first through chemical adhesion and ultimately through mutual gravitational attrac- tion. Within just a few decades the bulk of the rubble had merged into a single giant sphere, orbiting twenty times closer to Earth than the Moon does to- day. It must have been a spectacular sight—though no one was around to see 1t—to have the Moon looming
here.
“No argument
Oh, it’s not that the Society has a lot of members here. But time lost and found. Find out how to get as far east as you > being thought of as the very end of the Earth goes a long way to can go in North America. Call 1-800-563-6353 and ask for Sean. NEWFOUNDLAND explaining the sensation of just being here - feeling at the same Or visit www.NewfoundlandandLabradorTourism.com & LABRADOR
Me Canada
Check out our neighbors at www.NewfoundlandandLabradorTourism.com/neighbors
36
twenty times larger in the sky than it does today. The image gives fresh meaning to a perennial question, “Why does the full Moon look so large on the horizon?”
In case you're wondering about that
12,000-mile boundary, it’s known as the Roche limit. Inside that limit, Earth’s tidal force exceeds an object’s ability to hold itself together solely through the strength of its own gravi-
ty. So if you were a pile of rubble rather than a living organism, held to- gether by molecular bonds—and you had the bad luck to wander into that zone, you would swiftly disassemble in- to your component rocks.
o most people, tides are just the daily back-and-forth sloshing that takes place where the ocean meets
the shore. But that’s just the most visi- ble sign of what happens when one side
of a rotating cosmic object finds itself
closer than the other side to a strong source of gravity. As the object rotates, gravity pulls more powerfully on the side facing that source than it pulls on the far side, raising tides even in solid matter. “Solid body” tides stretch and pull solid matter, rhythmically deform- ing the object and thus causing friction deep within.
The deformations show up in the object as bulges, which would nor- mally align with the offending source of gravity. But because the newborn Moon rotated quickly, its tidal bulge ended up a bit ahead of, rather than aimed right at, Earth. Meanwhile, the
NATURAL HISTORY Af 006
Moon was having a simultaneous and similar effect on Earth. When you do the math, you find that all that friction and bulge-making slowed Earth’s rota- tion, slowed the Moon’ rotation, and slung the Moon into ever-higher or-
bits. And as the orbits grew progres- sively larger, the strength of the tudal forces precipitously dropped.
Since its youth, then, the Moon has been rotating so slowly that it takes ex- actly the same amount of time to com- plete one full rotation as it does to ex- ecute one full orbit of Earth. In fact, Earth has locked the Moon into that arrangement—a natural culmination of their tidal pas de deux—yust as Jupiter has locked its inner satellites and Pluto has locked Charon, its largest moon. Whenever two bodies reach this stage, you get a “far side” dilemma: observers on one object (say, Earth) never get to see more than one side of the object that orbits them (the Moon).
The Moon’s tidal forces on our planet continue to slow Earth’s rota- tion. Every century, the length of our day increases by about one and a half milliseconds. (To keep up, earthlings invented leap seconds, but that’s an- other story for another afternoon.) Meanwhile, the Moon’s orbit is con- tinuing to grow, by about one and a half inches per year, and so the lunar month is getting longer. What’s going on is that the Moon is trying to get even and give Earth its own far side. That will happen when Earth’s rota- tion rate has slowed enough to be equal to the Moon’s orbital period.
The Earth-Moon system will then have achieved a “double tidal lock.” This never-invented wresting hold may sound rare, but it’s actually com- mon, particularly among double-star
systems in our galaxy. Right here in
our own backyard, Charon has man- aged to lock Pluto just as Pluto has locked Charon.
By the time the Moon tidally locks Earth, the system will have slowed down so much that the Earth day and the lunar month will both last almost fifty present Earth days, greatly simplifying the calendar. Long before that, though, the Sun will become a red giant and vaporize the Earth-Moon system. But let’s ignore that complication.
Consider instead the Sun’s tidal in- fluence on the Earth-Moon duo. The Sun, too, is busy doing the tidal lock— perpetually slowing Earth’s rotation so that, if there were no Moon, our plan- et would eventually show the Sun on- ly one face. Meanwhile, the Moon will reverse its earlier trend and begin to spi- ral back toward Earth. Eventually the Moon will drift within the Roche lim- it, break apart, and end up, once again, briefly resembling the rings of Saturn.
he ever-changing lunar orbit 1s,
by happy coincidence, just the right size to give sky watchers a thrill. The Sun is roughly 400 times larger than the Moon, but for the moment, it’s also about 400 times farther away. To an observer on Earth, then, they both appear about the same size on the sky. So dumb luck makes for striking
total solar eclipses, in which the Moon just manages to cover the Sun’s bright disk, turning day into night and yield- ing a rare view of the dim but majes- tic solar corona.
Before you start thinking that Earth’s sky was preordained to look beautiful only for people, consider that T’ rex and friends, too, saw beautiful eclipses. So will our successors in the tree of life hundreds of millions of years from now. Only after a billion or so years will the Moon have drifted far enough away to look smaller than the Sun at all times, thus ending a glorious era of eclipse watching.
We can all thank the space race, by the way, for evidence that the distance between Earth and the Moon is chang- ing. In 1969 astronauts Neil and Buzz placed the first array of “corner reflec- tors” on the lunar surface. The array, which looks a little like an open wafHe iron, is made up of a hundred small quartz cubes cut in half at a forty-five- degree angle and secured to an alu-
It’s as far from Disneyland as
minum panel. Any beam of light that hits that configuration, regardless of the incoming angle, gets triply reflected within the half-cube and returns whence it came, exactly parallel to the original beam. Nothing magical here, just the ordinary rules of geometry. Hurl a bouncy ball into the corner of a room, and the same thing happens; apart from the curving effect of gravi- ty, the return path of the ball is parallel to its original path.
Now aim a laser from Earth to the Moon’ corner reflector, and the beam bounces right back to you. Time the round trip, multiply that by the pre- cisely known speed of light, and, be- hold, you’ve got the precise distance from Earth to the Moon.
Within a few years after the first reflector was laid down, three more followed—two courtesy of the United States and one, the Soviet Union. More than three decades’ worth of measurements have now shown that the Moon is moving away from Earth
at the aforementioned rate of one and a half inches a year. Clearly, tidal forces are still busy working.
INE matter the details of its orbital plight, the Moon remains an al- luring object in both the daytime and the nighttime skies. At dusk or dawn when the crescent Moon gleams, you can often see the rest of the lunar orb as a kind of ghost, even though no sun- light is hitting it directly. That phe- nomenon 1s officially called earthshine (though I have always preferred “moon- shine”), and Leonardo da Vinci, early in the sixteenth century, was the first to figure out its cause. Unlike his con- temporaries, who thought the Moon was endowed with its own luminosity, Leonardo understood that earthshine is evidence that the Moon reflects the light of Earth.
Indeed, earthlight is far brighter than moonlight. Averaged over both light and dark areas, the barren lunar surface reflects only 12 percent of the
Maybe it’s because our fabric freshener is just fresh air. prefer to make our own magic. To find out more about hanging = Or because we feel free to hang out our laundry at our own out here, call 1-800-563-6353 and ask for Kelly. Or visit us at NEWFOUNDIAND discretion. Small victories, maybe. But in this kingdom, we www.NewfoundlandandLabradorTourism.com & LABRADOR
Check out our neighbors at www.NewfoundlandandLabradorTourism.com/neighbors
Get to Know The St. Joe Company
and Receive Two Free Admission Passes
Register at JOE.com| Keyword: museum and get TWO FREE ADMISSION PASSES to special exhibits at these participating museums and science centers:
MUSEUM OF ARTS & SCIENCES Daytona Beach, Florida featuring “Glories of Ancient Egypt”
through May 7
FLORIDA MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY Gainesville, Florida
featuring “Glow: Living Lights” through May 29
ORLANDO SCIENCE CENTER Orlando, Florida featuring “Moneyville” through April 30
MARY BROGAN MUSEUM OF ART AND SCIENCE [allahasee, Florida
featuring “DINOSAURS: Mes IZOLC [ Irban Legends”
through May 14
MUSEUM OF SCIENCE & INDUSTRY (MOSI) Tampa, Florida featuring “Animal Grossology”
through April 30
\ :
WY STIOE
as IF YOU DON’T KNOW JOE, YOU DON’T KNOW FLORIDA.
light that reaches it. By comparison, primarily because of all the white clouds in Earth’s atmosphere, but also because our vast oceans reflect a good deal of light, a patch of our planet’s sur- face material is, on average, three times more reflective than an average patch of the Moon. And because Earth is more than three and a half times wider than the Moon, it has thirteen times more surface area to do the reflecting. So, full Earth as seen from the Moon is forty times brighter than the full Moon as seen from Earth. You could easily read by earthlight. Full Earth re- flects a lot of light back out into space. And when that light reaches the Moon, enough 1s reflected from the otherwise unlit portion of the near side to make the dark surface faintly visible to the naked eye on Earth.
So yes, earthshine 1s real. So is moon- shine, as we all knew already. But earth- rise 1s not. From the near side of the Moon, tidally locked and forever fac- ing Earth, our planet simply hovers in the sky, where it neither rises nor sets. The famous “Earthrise” photograph, taken in 1968 by Apollo 8 astronauts, was snapped as they orbited the Moon. But when your'e in orbit, the whole sky continually rises and sets for you. Fora permanent resident of the Moon’s far side, though, Earth sits forever out of sight. Visitors who want to pitch a tent there yet still talk to their pals on Earth will need to set up relay stations just past the outer limits of the far side. From there, Earth is low on the hori- zon but fully visible—and ready for you to phone home.
he design of NASA’s newest ro-
botic mission to the Moon, called the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, just passed muster, and the craft is now scheduled for launch in 2008. Within a decade, Chinese and Indian robots may be traversing the Moon. Within a few more decades, ordinary citizens of planet Earth may be doing so as well. The early trips, which will launch from Earth with just enough speed to coast to the Moon, will take about three days; with continuous-thrust engines,
38 | NATURAL HISTORY April 2006
there’s no telling how quick the later ones could be.
Although earthlings certainly love the place, the Moon is not the sole satellite of our affections, and we in- tend to send spacecraft to orbit, study, and occasionally land on some of the solar system’s other moons as well. Some of those objects, a few of which might harbor life, have had vehicular visitors already. Between 1995 and 2002 Galileo flew close to five of the threescore moons of Jupiter—includ- ing icy Europa, which it circled at such
close range that features as small as a school bus (though no actual school buses) showed up on camera. Since 2004 Cassini has been scrutinizing many of the nearly fifty moons of Sat- urn. On Titan, Saturn’s largest moon, rivers of liquid methane have carved channels in the frozen surface; on Enceladus, a smaller Saturnian moon, jets are streaming out of the south po- lar region, unequivocally signaling ge- ologic activity. Pluto and its satellite Charon are yet another destination: in 2015 NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft, which left Cape Canaveral on January 19, 2006, should reach them.
To adults of “a certain age,” it was not long ago that the moons of the so- lar system were simply points of light: you tallied them and then ignored them, in favor of the planets they or- bited. But the twin multiplanet Voy- ager missions of the 1970s and 1980s showed that no two moons of the so- lar system are the same. Each has its own geology, impact history, temperature profile, and orbital dynamics. In the minds of scientists and citizens alike, the moons became worlds unto them- selves. And just like Earth’s moon, they became destinations worthy of our dreams and, of course, our missions.
Astrophysicist NEIL DEGRASSE TYSON is the director of the Hayden Planetarium at the Amer- ican Museum of Natural History. His Natural History essay “In the Beginning” (September 2003) won the 2005 Science Writing Award
from the American Institute of Physics. An an-
thology of his Natural History essays will be published this year by WW Norton.
The three
most important words
in real estate:
1 SS STOE
WaterSound
wv / (331) & Tallahassee
YPesihe,
WhiteFence
The imagination knows no limits. And across 800,000 exceptional acres, we can
Jacksonville St. Johns |
Sua Golf & Country
. . . : C Club
really stretch ours. As the largest private landholder in Florida, St. Joe offers the \
WaterColor SummerCamp
B F e f ? rity ; RiverCamps WindMark greatest choice of authentic, organic, and original places to live, work, and escape. on Crooked Creek Beach
% y Artisan 195 / Park \
Engage your imagination now. Call 1-866-785-6307 or visit JOE.com | Keyword: Retreats
Pesos DOOaNy take Nw OOW J OE YOU DON’T KNOW FLORIDA.
©2006 The St. Joe Company. “JOE,” “St. Joe.” “Artisan Park,” “RiverCamps,” “SouthWood,” “St. Johns Golf & Country Club,” “SummerCamp,” “WaterColor “WaterSound,’ “WhiteFence Farms,” “WindMark Beach,’ “Victoria Park” and the “Taking Flight” design are service marks of The St. Joe Company. This does
OPPORTAUTY not constitute an offer to sell real property in any jurisdiction where prior registration or other advance qualification of real property is required JOE
BIOMECHANICS
40 | NATURAL HgsTORY April 2006
7 re
ae
Secrets of the Sacred Lotus
For the lotus leaf, being dirt-free means shunning water with a rough, waxy surface.
By Adam Summers ~ Illustrations by Tom Moore
ccording to my wife, I can’t
see dirt. I’m oblivious to dis-
order, she says, blind to dust, ignorant about the positive effects of a good vacuum cleaner. Truth be told, more pressing things always do seem to suck up my time. But in my usual
excuse—the endless quest to keep up with the latest research—I may have found the perfect rejoinder to further spousal recrimination. Recently re- leased in the United States, it’s a won- derfully clever product that mimics the leaf surface of the lotus plant. And it has the potential to make another endless quest—the quest for a clean house—a thing of the past.
The sacred lotus (Nelumbo nucifera) has long been a symbol of purity in Asian cultures, and for good reason. Lotus roots are embedded in muck and get many of their nutrients from the soil, yet the plants seldom have much noticeable grime on their surfaces. In fact, if you think about it, wouldn’t you say most plants stay pretty clean? No doubt that’s a good thing, because a dark smear of dirt would surely in- terfere with photosynthesis. There’s no paucity of dirt, of course, so it makes sense to suppose that the clean- liness of plant leaves 1s related to the ease with which water washes away any offending particles of dirt.
In the early 1970s Wilhelm Barthlott, a botanist now at the Uni- versity of Bonn in Germany, noted the dirt-resistant properties of the sacred lotus leaf. He and his colleagues have spent the intervening three decades cataloging the fine structure of leaf surfaces. Along the way, they've tried
commercializing their research, in hopes of helping the rest of the world shed grime as readily as plants do.
What Barthlott and company dis- covered is a bit counterintuitive. The secret to the self-cleaning prop- erties of a leaf is its extreme ability to shed, not dirt, but water. Such surfaces are described as superhy- drophobic; they are so water repel- lent that H,O just about leaps off them, taking dirt with it.
hydrophobic surface, such as a
piece of waxed paper, refuses to be wetted by water. On such a sur- face, water molecules have a greater affinity for other water molecules than they do for the wax.
Wettability can be quantified by placing a drop of water on a surface and measuring the angle between the edge of the drop and the substrate. Try it: Squeeze a drop onto a clean glass surface, and it will spread out nearly flat, with a contact angle of less than twenty degrees. On waxed paper, though, the same-size drop will stand up high and proud, with a contact angle of ninety degrees or more. In theory, on a surface it just couldn’t bear to touch, a water droplet would make so little contact that its angle with the surface would be just shy of 180 degrees. Lotus leaves actually approach such sublime levels of water hatred with contact angles of about 140 degrees.
When a drop of water falls on your skin, clothes, or any other surface, it flattens out from the impact, jostling and lifting dirt as it splats. On a wet- table surface the drop stays flat, and the dirt simply settles back onto the surface. In contrast, when a drop hits an unwettable surface, the cohesive forces between the water molecules in the drop are much greater than the forces between the water molecules and the surface. So, almost immedi- ately after the drop flattens from the impact, it rebounds into a more near- ly spherical shape. Any dirt touching the drop as it flattens becomes sus- pended in the drop or attached to it
as it rebounds; either way, the dirt doesn’t settle back on the surface. Best of all, since the droplet is round, it readily rolls down any slight incline, carrying the dirt away.
The connection between hydro- phobicity and cleanliness is old news—it’s why people wax their cars. No matter what the ads would have you believe, wax is not scuff resistant; instead, wax makes it harder for dirt to stick and easier to wash dirt away.
But the secret of the superhydro- phobic lotus leaf is more than just a smooth coating of wax. With a scan-
ishingly small. Without these down- ward pulls, the cohesive forces be- tween the droplet’s water molecules are able to hold the droplet in a near- ly spherical shape as it rolls off the leaf [see illustrations below].
arthlott patented the pattern of
bumps on the hydrophobic sur- face and dubbed it “the Lotus effect.” A German paint company then li- censed the patent and developed a paint with emulsified waxes that dries into a microscopically rough surface. Introduced in Europe in 1999, the
Water droplet hits the surface of a lotus leaf and dislodges resident dirt particles (above left). The droplet then rebounds into a nearly spherical form, because it “hates” to make contact with the waxy, bumpy surface of the leaf (above right). The dirt has no strong affinity for the leaf, either, and sticks with the droplet, which can roll down the slightest incline, picking up more dirt as it goes.
ning electron microscope, Barthlott and his colleagues discovered that lo- tus leaves (and the leaves of many oth- er plants) are not smooth at all. Rather, their surfaces are covered with microscopic bumps and ridges, ar- ranged in a complex pattern. The bumps, each just ten microns or so across, keep a water droplet up and moving along the contoured surface. When a drop falls on such a sur- face, it deforms as it fills in the gul- lies. But the cohesive forces between the water molecules quickly haul the drop out of the microvalleys, along with any resident dirt. Once the drop
rebounds, it touches only the peaks of
the little wax mountains, leaving such a tiny area in contact with the surface that the adhesive forces between the drop and the leaf’s contours are van-
paint arrived in North America this past fall. A house painted with Lotus- effect paint can stay clean as long as the surface is regularly washed with water. No scrubbing allowed, though: that would disturb the microscopic pattern of the surface and thus weaken the self-cleaning properties of the paint.
At this writing, the product is suit- able for exterior use only, because of the need for regular dousings. So until my office interior can be hosed off, I may have to take refuge in the idea that the rougher you are around the edges, the cleaner you are likely to be.
ADAM SUMMERS (asummers@uci.edu) is an assistant professor of bioengineering and of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of California, Irvine.
April 2006 NATURAL HISTORY
41
APRIL 2006
The Biggest Fish LES
; Unraveling the mysteries of the whale shark
By Steven G. Wilson
ne hot, windless May morning, five of my
colleagues and I boarded our small research
boat and motored out into the waters of Western Australia’s Ningaloo Reef. We were search- ing for whale sharks—the world’s largest fish—hop- ing to attach electronic tags to several animals to study their migration patterns and diving behavior. Waiting for our spotter plane to locate a shark, we passed the morning in casual conversation.
Finally the radio crackled to life. “ve got two sharks, about a mile off Tantabiddi Passage!” The vessel suddenly transformed as everyone scrambled to gather and don masks and fins. As we skimmed over the water, I struggled to attach a dart and tag to my Hawaiian-sling polespear—a sport-fishing spear powered by a thick rubber band. Five minutes later, two large, dark shadows were looming beneath the ocean’s surface, about a hundred feet off the bow.
NATURAL HISTORY April 2006
I plunged in, but once in the water I had to ask the boat crew for directions to the unseen giants. I swam toward where they signaled. A cobia came in- to view, a game fish that often accompanies whale sharks, and I knew I was close. Then, slowly, the outline of a gaping oval mouth and, behind it, an upright tail fin resolved from the featureless blue background. As I swam closer, the shark’s tapered body and distinctive checkerboard markings also came into focus.
My attention, though, was drawn to the first of its two dorsal fins. The base of the fin was the target for the dart and tag. My colleagues in the water measured the animal (fifteen feet long) and determined its sex (female), while I positioned myself along its side. When they were finished, I cocked the polespear and released it. The dart penetrated the whale shark’s tough hide, but not as deeply as I had hoped. Unless adjust-
Twenty-five-foot whale shark swims just below the surface at Ningaloo Reef, off Australia’s west coast.
ed, it would pull out in a matter of days. With a quick shove of the polespear, I pushed the dart deeper. The shark reacted with a flick of its tail, then dove.
I watched with satisfaction as the tagged shark sank slowly into the depths. I felt a jolt to my lower back, and suddenly found myself being propelled through the water. All I could see was a whirl of spots. It took me a moment to comprehend that another, much larger whale shark had struck me with its dorsal fin and was pushing me forward. With all the excite- ment, I had completely forgotten about the second shark! Stunned but unhurt, I dislodged myself and swam back to the boat to reload my polespear. By the time I returned, the second whale shark was about twenty-five feet beneath the sea surface. I filled my lungs with air, then dove after the thirty-five-foot leviathan. This time the dart penetrated with ease, and the shark showed no reaction. My job complet-
ed, I swam back to the vessel and learned that the plane had located more sharks. In spite of my little fright, there would be no time to dwell on it that day. Whale sharks were popping up everywhere.
FE ortunately, accidental clobbering is the only dan- ger whale sharks (Rhincodon typus) present to people. Unlike their toothier, more aggressive rela- tives, whale sharks have such gentle dispositions that the chance to swim with them has spawned lucrative ecotourism industries in several places where they gather. Ningaloo Reef, the Philippines, Belize, and the Baja Peninsula of Mexico have all benefited from whale shark tourism. But the same lumbering slow- ness and tendency to swim near the surface that make whale sharks a favorite with snorkelers also make them easy targets for fishermen, and frequent victims of col- lisions with ships. Before the mid-1980s, only a few
April 2006 NATURAL HISTORY
44
hundred whale shark sightings had been reported worldwide; in the past two decades, human interac- tion with them has grown substantially.
Yet despite the increasingly frequent contact between people and whale sharks, and despite their presence throughout the world’s tropical and tem- perate seas, including the waters of some 125 nations, surprisingly little is known about them. Marine bi- ologists don’t know much, for instance, about how whale sharks reproduce: no one has ever observed their courtship, mating, or birth. How they interact
Whale shark feeds passively on small prey by swimming with its mouth open. A snorkeler watches from above.
NATURAL
socially is anyone’s guess. What they do on the pro- longed, deep dives they make is yet another mystery. No one knows how many there are, or whether their populations are rising, stable, or declining. Given their largely unregulated harvest and vulnerability to cap- ture, however, decline seems most likely.
To a small troop of biologists—myself included— those gaps in knowledge present a challenge. Our re- cent research into the whale shark’s feeding habits, diving behavior, and migrations is slowly giving us a better understanding of its role in the marine envi- ronment. Our hope 1s that we will be able to use this
HISTORY April 2006
knowledge to help ensure the species’ survival, before it becomes another casualty of the changing world.
t least some facts about whale sharks are clear.
First, the name “whale shark” is somewhat misleading: the animals are indeed sharks, but they are “whales” only by virtue of their size. They grow more than forty feet long (the length of a luxury motor home), and there are unsubstantiated reports of a sixty-five-footer that weighed thirty-seven tons. Unlike most sharks, though, whale sharks are filter feeders. They share that behavior, fittingly, with the world’s biggest animal, the blue whale. Whale sharks suck dense concentrations of minute prey, such as krill and other zooplankton, fish spawn, and small fishes, into their enormous mouths. To collect the prey, they filter out the accompanying water through sievelike gill plates, and then expel it through their gill slits.
Whale sharks often feed passively by swimming slowly with their mouths agape. They can also as- sume a head-up, tail-down feeding posture, some- times bobbing up and down near the surface to pump prey-filled water over their gills [see illustra- tion on opposite page|. Oddly, they are not closely re- lated to the other two filter-feeding sharks, the bask- ing shark and the megamouth shark. Instead, their closest relative is the nurse shark, a bottom-dwelling predator. In spite of their filter-feeding ways, whale sharks possess some 27,000 minute teeth, similar to teeth in the fossil record that date to about 55 mil- lion years ago. Little else is known of their evolu- tionary history.
Scientific knowledge of whale shark reproduc- tion is based on a single female, harpooned off Tai- wan in 1995, that carried 301 embryos in various stages of development. Biologists know from that catch that the pups are born alive when they are about two feet long. (The eggs hatch inside the mother.) Studies of growth rings in vertebrae sug- gest that whale sharks reach sexual maturity when they are between twenty and thirty years old, and may live for several decades more. Young whale sharks less than ten feet long are rarely seen, lead- ing some investigators to speculate that they occu- py deep, offshore habitats during that most vulner- able stage in their lives. Newborns have been re- covered from the stomachs ofa blue shark and a blue marlin. The adults likely have few natural predators, except perhaps great white sharks and killer whales.
The whale shark’s most prominent feature— other than its sheer magnitude—is its distinctive markings. Pale spots speckle a grid of bars and stripes atop the shark’s blue, gray, or brownish back and flanks (its belly is white). The markings prob-
ably act as camouflage, mimicking wave-dappled sunlight in the water or perhaps a school of small fish. If so, an important function of the markings may be to conceal juvenile sharks from predators.
Individual sharks have unique markings. Recent- ly a team led by Bradley M. Norman, a marine bi- ologist with the marine conservation group Ecocean in Perth, Western Australia, adapted a computer al- gorithm, originally devised for mapping stars, to identify individual whale sharks from photographs of their spots. The group is building a database of identifiable whale shark photographs (available at www.whaleshark.org), which should help biologists track the animals and learn more about their travels and behavior.
INES Reef lies along a lonely 160-mile stretch of outback coast and is Western Aus- tralia’s answer to the Great Barrier Reef. Although smaller and less well known than its east-coast coun- terpart, Ningaloo 1s famed for the large marine an- imals—humpback whales, manta rays, whale sharks, and others—that gather seasonally in its waters. I first visited the reef in 1997 and spent nearly every day of my two-week stay snorkeling with whale sharks and photographing them. By the time I left, I'd be-
@ come curious to know much more
Peas about these gentle giants, and sur-
Channels
Gill slits
Gill filaments
prised by how little science could tell me. Nine months later, I enrolled in a Ph.D. program at the University of Western Australia in Perth to study the species at Ningaloo. I wanted to know why the whale sharks gather on the reef each year, and why more sharks come 1n some years than they do in others. Whale sharks, like many other shark species, seg- regate themselves by sex. At Ningaloo Reef most whale sharks are immature males, suggesting that they come to feed, not to mate. The region’s oceanography may explain why they—and perhaps some of the other large creatures—visit the reef. Flowing southward along the continental shelf, the Leeuwin Current dominates the area. But a smaller countercurrent called the Ningaloo Current flows northward between the Leeuwin Current and the reef. Each fall, the two currents join to form a gyre, which may keep nutrients and prey in the area rather than flush them out. It hardly seems coincidental that that’s when the whale sharks arrive on the reef. Still, whale shark abundance varies widely from year to year. Some years, as many as a few hundred sharks come to Ningaloo Reef; in other years, the numbers are much lower, To determine why, I be- gan by looking at patterns in whale shark abundance derived from records of shark interactions that com- mercial tour-boat operators must keep as part of their permit requirements. Many years of such
Gill plates
Vestigial teeth
Whale shark is a "suction filter-feeder" on dense congregations of minute prey such as krill. It strains mouthfuls of food-filled seawater (brownish-blue arrows) through porous gill plates and consumes the prey that remains in its mouth. Channels behind its gill plates direct the filtered water over its gill fila- ments, which extract oxygen for respiration. The filtered water (blue arrows) is then released through the whale shark’s gill slits. The animal can generate suction to draw in its meals, perhaps by expanding its oral cavity and depressing its basihyal, a tonguelike structure on the floor of its mouth.
April 2006 NATURAL HISTORY
45
46
data show that fewer sharks are present in El Nino years than during La Nina years.
In La Nina years, ocean temperatures and sea lev- els in the western tropical Pacific are relatively high; during El Nino episodes, water temperatures and sea levels are lower. Both patterns have long-range
Signs of overfishing have begun to appear:
catches have declined, and fish have gotten smaller.
NATURAL
HIS
effects on climate and currents from Australia to South America, as well as in many other parts of the world. I began to suspect that the El Nino phe- nomenon somehow negatively affects the whale sharks’ food supply at Ningaloo Reef.
To confirm my suspicions, I first had to deter- mine what the whale sharks eat along the reef. They were already known to feed on schools of a tropi- cal species of krill, Pseudeuphausia latifrons, but no one could say whether it 1s their primary food. To answer that question, I examined fecal samples from whale sharks, which divers had collected at the reef over several years. All the samples included crus- tacean remains that resembled krill, and a genetic analysis later confirmed that the species was indeed P latifrons. Surveys using sonar to look for krill while whale sharks were congregating on the reef also turned up plenty of krill, forming schools about the size of a football field and some ninety feet deep. Most tellingly, when my colleagues and I came across schools of krill, we almost always found whale sharks feeding on them.
° krill populations fluctuate with El Nino, too? As part of a study on fish larvae, biolo- gists from the Australian Institute of Marine Science in Townsville set traps each month for two con- secutive summers. I was able to study the krill and other zooplankton they caught. As luck would have it, the first year had strong El Nino conditions and the following year strong La Nina conditions. In line with my hypothesis, krill abundance proved to be much higher during the La Nina year. Two years of data 1s not proof, but it does offer a good lead. How does El] Nino influence the production of krill? The Leeuwin Current that dominates the reef is stronger in La Nina years than it is in El Nino years. Paradoxically, however, the stronger current suppresses nutrient upwelling, and that leads to low- er chlorophyll concentrations and a diminished sup- ply of most kinds of zooplankton in La Nina years. So what accounts for the high krill abundance we
April 2006
discovered in a La Nina year? For now, at least, that remains a mystery.
Although I finished my doctoral studies in 2001, I still return to Ningaloo Reef each whale shark sea- son. In 2002 I collected tissue samples for a genetics study by a graduate student at the University of South Florida in Tampa, comparing DNA from
whale sharks in the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific oceans. Once finished, the study will show how much genetic mixing takes place between whale sharks in the three ocean basins. That should shed some light on how much impact regional fisheries may have on the global abundance of whale sharks, and thus guide efforts to manage and conserve them.
My surprise encounter with the dorsal fin of a whale shark resulted from an effort to answer an- other basic question: Where do the Ningaloo Reef whale sharks go in the winter, spring, and summer? In 2003 and 2004, I joined three fellow marine biol- ogists—Brent S. Stewart of Hubbs—SeaWorld Re- search Institute in San Diego, Jeff J. Polovina of the US. National Marine Fisheries Service in Honolulu, and Mark G. Meekan of the Australian Institute of Marine Science in Darwin—in attaching pop-up archival tags to nineteen sharks. The tags record data about the light level, depth, and temperature of the tagged fish’s environment until a preprogrammed date. Then the tags detach, float to the surface, and transmit their archived information to satellites. From those data, the sharks’ movements can be re- constructed to within about a hundred miles.
We recovered several months’ worth of data from each of six tags. All six sharks had moved northeast after leaving Ningaloo Reef, and several individuals had approached the Indonesian coast, where, we feared, they risked becoming fishermen’s quarry. Our depth and temperature data also showed that whale sharks inhabit a more extensive niche than anyone had suspected. The animals spent most of their time in surface waters, but they also dove oc- casionally to depths of more than 3,200 feet, where temperatures drop as low as forty degrees Fahren- heit—a big change from the balmy eighty-four- degree waters at the surface. Why do they dive? Per- haps the sharks need to cool off, or perhaps they are feeding on some unknown, deepwater prey.
me they spend so much time near the surface, though, we realized we might track them much more precisely with a different kind of tag: a satel- lite-linked radio transmitter. With such a transmit- ter, an animal’s position can be determined to with- in a mile anytime the transmitter’s antenna is above the sea surface. In 2005, with the help of John D.
Stevens, a shark biologist, and Matthew G. Horsham, a mechanical engineer, both at Australia’s Com- monwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Or- ganisation in Hobart, we attached these instruments to several whale sharks at Ningaloo Reef. Some tagged sharks moved northeast toward Indonesia, and some moved northwest.
Tags of various kinds have been attached to whale sharks in the waters of several other countries as well, including Belize, Honduras, Japan, Mexico, the Sey- chelles, and Taiwan. Most of those tagging studies are not yet published, but preliminary data suggest that whale sharks migrate long distances. One shark traveled from Mexico’s Sea of Cortez across the Pa- cific, a distance of more than 8,000 miles.
hale sharks have long been hunted at many of their seasonal gathering sites, typically by ar- tisanal fishermen using harpoons. In some places the catches have been quite high: fishermen in Gujarat, India, for instance, took 591 whale sharks in 1999 and 2000, before whale shark hunting was banned na- tionally in 2001. Whale sharks often wind up in Asian markets, particularly in Tarwan, where they are known as “tofu sharks,” for their soft, white flesh. There, the meat and fins fetch the highest price of any fish. Signs of overfishing have already begun to appear. Whale shark catches have declined in several places that have been fished intensively. Meekan recently suggested that the Ningaloo Reef whale sharks are smaller by about six feet, on average, than they were a decade ago. Because they grow so slowly, reproduce
so late, and congregate in small, migratory popula- tions, whale sharks are particularly vulnerable to over- fishing. Indeed, the World Conservation Union, a Switzerland-based environmental group, has listed them since 2000 as vulnerable to extinction.
Yet there are some hopeful signs, too. In the past decade several nations have banned whale shark hunt- ing—though opportunistic capture appears to con- tinue in some of those nations and elsewhere. Tai- wan’ fishery, perhaps the largest, persists with an of- ficial quota of sixty-five whale sharks per year. Still, it seems likely that the whale shark catch is lower than it was in the unregulated past, and several countries, such as the Philippines, have converted whale shark fishing centers into tourism destinations. Beginning in 2003, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (also known as CITES) imposed permit requirements on trade in whale shark products.
Just as encouraging has been the recent surge in scientific attention. Western Australia hosted the first International Whale Shark Conference in May 2005, bringing together scientists, resource man- agers, and conservationists from more than twenty nations. Perhaps the most valuable outcome of the meeting 1s still being played out, in the relationships and collaborations it nurtured among interested par- ties from around the world. If science can improve human understanding of the whale shark, future generations will be able to indulge the simple pleas- ure I have enjoyed—the chance to swim with the biggest fish in the sea. O
Life-size whale shark figures, made of bamboo and rice-sack cloth, are transported to a festival held each year in the Philippine fishing village of Donsol. The festival celebrates the arrival of whale sharks, or butanding, as they are known locally. Swimming with the protected whale sharks has become a popular tourist activity since 1998, when the animals were first discovered in the area.
April 2006 NATUR
Al
HISTORY
47
By Stephen Christopher Quinn
tao vie eae PHA at t
rom their very first appearance 1n science mu- seums in the late 1800s. dioramas have been designed to nurture a reverence for nature. The best ones duplicate the wonder of an intimate, personal encounter with a real creature in its habi- tat. Many visitors come away transformed by the simulated wilderness world: A silverback mountain
; gorilla pounds its chest in a threatening display of : dominance. An immense bull walrus rears up to sur- : vey its refuge on an Arctic ice floe. A giant brown ( bear stands in alarm before a panorama of spectacu-
lar Alaskan mountain peaks. Birds soar in suspend- ed animation. Clouds hover motionless in azure blue skies. Behind the glass, time stops, and all of nature is locked in an instant for the viewer to examine.
Dioramas were born in an era when film and wild- life photography were in their infancy. In a sense, though, they leap ahead of those technologies to combine two- and three-dimensional elements in- to a form of “virtual reality.’ The classic habitat dio- rama 1s encased 1n an alcove with a windowlike frame or theaterlike proscenium that limits sight lines and conceals peripheral vanishing points. The scene it- self is made up of three artistic components: taxi- dermy specimens; a foreground that encompasses all of the three-dimensional elements of the diorama other than the taxidermy; and the curved back- ground painting, which 1s critical to the overall illu- sion of space, distance, and environment.
he American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) in New York City played a leading role in the development of the habitat diorama as a tool for science education. In its earliest years the museum’ exhibition halls on zoology were made up of vast displays of its collections, with a focus on taxidermy specimens. But in time, the museum's visitors, curators, and scientists became dissatisfied with displays of specimens only. The view that noth- ing 1n nature originates in isolation, but comes 1n- stead out of complex interrelationships, also spurred the development of the habitat diorama. The earliest dioramas at AMNH did not feature large, charismatic mammals, but rather depicted a
Libyan Desert diorama (left), at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH), features three addaxes (far left), a scimitar-horned oryx (middle left), and a dama gazelle (near left). The “tie-in” between the foreground scene and the background painting has been cleverly disguised by the detailing of the shadows.
This article is adapted from Stephen Christopher Quinn’s forthcor book, Windows on Nature: The Great Habitat Dioramas of the American Museum of Natural History, wich is being pu
this month by Abrams, New York, in association with the Am Viuseum of Natural Histor)
50
more humble group of vertebrates: birds. In 1885, Morris K. Jesup, then president of the museum, was entranced by a British Museum exhibit of local birds, perched on botanical models of local plants. Jesup invited the artists responsible to come to New York to create a similar exhibit at AMNH. The result was a lifelike display of a pair of Ameri- can robins nesting in the bough of a flowering apple tree.
The robin exhibit proved so popular that it easi- ly generated funding for more. The early exhibits, known at the time as “habitat groups,” were simple glass cases containing taxidermy specimens and botanical models. Frank M. Chapman, a young or- nithologist, improved their design by including a painted background of the birds’ habitat. In still later exhibits, the painted background was rendered on a curved surface.
ward to deflect reflections downward and away from visitors’ eyes—an ingenious innovation for the time. Inside the cases the “ground” is below the level of the visitor, enhancing the illusion that the scene drops off dramatically into an infinite space beyond.
Each scene 1s startlingly realistic, featuring one or more large African mammals. All around are the soil, plants, trees, and birds that share the animal’s native habitat. A landscape mural curves behind the mount- ed specimens and the three-dimensional foreground, creating the impression of a limitless vista.
INS all of the dioramas in the hall presented their creators with artistic challenges related to the “tie-in”—the edge along which the fore- ground scene had to merge into the background painting to create the illusion of a seamless image. That hurdle was particularly demanding for the
On the mezzanine level, the viewer sees the reef as it appears above the water surface; on the lower level, the viewer sees the underwater habitat. When scientists and artists collected refer- ence materials for the diorama, in 1924, scuba equipment had not been developed, so workers relied on an underwater diving apparatus (above left). Chris E. Olsen, a background artist for the diorama, made field sketches for the exhibit on location underwater (above right).
It wasn’t until the naturalist and taxidermist Carl Akeley embraced Chapman’s approach of traveling to document each specific diorama that the diorama realized its most magnificent expression at the mu- seum: a gallery dedicated to African wildlife. When the Akeley Hall of African Mammals finally opened in 1936, ten years after Akeley’s death, the exhibition showcased the groundbreaking sculptural techniques he created for taxidermy, which are still in use today.
Crossing the threshold of the Akeley Hall, one enters a hushed, darkened theater that portrays the vanishing natural Eden of Africa. Twenty-eight lu- minous “windows” depict the natural world of the continent. The dioramas have eighteen-foot ceil- ings, and some are as deep as twenty-three feet. The windowpanes, thirteen feet high, are angled down-
scene of the Libyan Desert [see photograph on preced- ing two pages]. Unlike other dioramas, in which dense vegetation conceals the point where foreground meets background, the desert scene depicts an open, flat vista with little to conceal the tie-in. So when the artist James Perry Wilson painted the back- ground mural for the desert diorama, he depicted the scene at sunrise. With the sun low on the hori- zon, long horizontal shadows are cast across the landscape in the painted scene. Wilson also added a rock outcrop to his landscape on the far left [not seen in the photograph|, which casts a long, prominent shadow across the scene, just above the tie-in. The shadow draws the viewer's eye away from the point where the foreground sand meets the painted back- ground, thereby effectively disguising it.
Most dioramas in the museum depict a real place, somewhere in the natural world. Hence the pro- duction required a costly—and often intrepid—ex- pedition to the site, where extensive collections and field references were gathered. In 1923 the museum sent curator Roy Waldo Miner to scout a site for a diorama that would depict the diversity of life around a tropical coral reef. He chose the Andros reef in the Bahamas for its spectacular stands of elkhorn and staghorn coral and its rich abundance of tropical fish. The collecting team brought back forty tons of coral—including a single specimen weighing two tons—and reassembled it in its orig- inal configuration.
The era predated scuba diving, and so the artists and curators on the collecting expedition could not swim about freely. Instead, they descended to the seafloor in heavy diving helmets, weighted suits, and boots designed to keep them from floating to the surface. Air was pumped to their helmets through long hoses from a boat above. Chris E. Olsen, for
Alaska brown bear diorama (left), on display in the AMNH Hall of North American Mammals, beckons museum visitors with its heroic proportions. Robert Rockwell (above) first sculpted a life-size clay replica of the standing bear, then encased it in plaster. The plaster shell, once dried, was the mold for a papier-maché mannequin on which the tanned skin of the bear was pasted and sewn into place.
instance, the artist who painted the background of the diorama, carried oil paints and a waterproof can- vas stretched over a glass panel on a weighted easel, to capture the dappling and shimmering effects of light as it passed through the deep water [see photo-
graph at right on page 50}.
The Andros coral reef itself was a vibrant ecosys- tem when the diorama that depicts it was complet- ed in 1935. Today, of course, with the many threats to coral reefs around the world, museum curators would never consider removing any of its coral for an educational display. Outbreaks of coral disease, sedimentation, overfishing, coral bleaching, and al- gal blooms have all contributed to the reefs’ decline.
B y the late 1950s, the popularity of the diorama as an exhibit medium was on the wane. Tele- vision and film competed with the diorama as ways to “experience” nature. In the ensuing decades, in- teractive exhibits made possible by advances in com- puter technology pushed the diorama off the draw- ing board at many museums.
But the species was only dormant, not ex- tinct. In recent years, the diorama has made something of a comeback, as exhibit design- ers have realized its power to give visitors an experience unattainable through any other medium: a compelling illusion of a place in nature, at life size and in real time.
In 1996 AMNH sent a team of artists and scientists to the Central African Republic to collect the reference material for its largest diorama, a replica of a tropical African rain forest. For the 2003 renovation of the Mil- stein Hall of Ocean Life, some of the mu- seum’s earliest dioramas were meticulously re- stored, such as the one showing the Andros coral reef. Other dioramas, such as the har- bor seal, the elephant seal, and the stellar sea lion, were newly fabricated, from archival specimens collected long ago.
Although many people sometimes feel dis- tanced from the natural world by civilization, museum dioramas remind us all that we still belong to it. They are an illusion created not to deceive, but—like all great art—to tug at our hearts and open our minds as they draw us in. They are the best way yet invented to accurately reflect, with art, the awe and won- der we feel before nature and the creatures with which we share the earth. Will we trea- sure the planet as we do the dioramas, or will they one day become museum pieces in the more pejorative sense, a record of a lost world, as it was before we defiled it? L)
54
Alaska’s Underground
Frontier
An observatory that looks down—not up—at the planet’s microbial diversity
By Christine Mlot
he workboat I’m riding whips down the
Tanana Raver in the interior of Alaska,
just west of Fairbanks. Rains in the past two weeks have made the Tanana high and swift in its rush to meet the Yukon River, on its way to the Bering Sea. Today is bright, with a ceaseless boreal sun and a breeze that keeps the mosquitoes at bay—a good day for summer fieldwork.
The boat stops along one of many side channels that make up this labyrinth of a river, and we un- load on a small, thickly wooded island. Our gear is not high-tech: a couple of T-shaped soil corers, boxes of zippered plastic bags and latex gloves, a jar of ethanol. We hike into the brush and begin.
Most people come to Alaska for the big things:
big mountains, big game, big fish. We have come for the little things. We are here to collect and study the bacteria that live 1n the cold, thin soil beds. Ecologists have been studying the succes- sion of boreal forest at this site, the Bonanza Creek Experimental Forest [see map on opposite page), since the 1960s. (More recently the National Sci- ence Foundation, or NSE has been funding the study as part of its Long-Term Ecological Re- search Network, which was established in 1980.) In the past few years the study has gone under- ground, literally, to explore the microbial com- munities on which the forest depends.
The small island—our first sampling site—is thick with balsam poplar. The trees represent an early stage in the centuries-long successional cycle of the forest. Heather K. Allen, a doctoral student who is writing her dissertation on the bacteria living here, clears the leafy duff and stabs a soil corer through a knot of roots and into the forest floor. Out comes the first of some eighty samples we'll collect today.
Collecting bacteria in the wild hasn’t changed much since the days of the early microbe hunters, such as Louis Pasteur, 150 years ago. Preventing
Aerial view of the Tanana River, looking roughly south, shows some of its mean- dering course near Fairbanks, Alaska; the peak of Denali is visible on the horizon at the upper right. The braided river regularly creates new islands out of silt that can support forest life, with a little help from microorganisms.
4)
fee Pua yp Bee ka sil wee, 4 v
ior
Fairbanks
af Bonanza'Creek .
a Z t Experimental ae®™ -.<° Forest pF
7) ii a i ‘ A
. miles
contamination remains the main challenge: keeping the bacteria you want from mixing with all the oth- er microorganisms in the environment and on your- self. What has changed dramatically in recent times is how the collected microorganisms are studied. Typ- ically only a small fraction of the full microbial com- munity grows in standard laboratory conditions. Look at a diluted speck of our Alaskan soil sample under a microscope, and you see a teeming world of rod- and sphere-shaped cells. Yet less than 1 percent of those cells take to life in a Petri dish. It could be compared to throwing a party, inviting a thousand people, and having only one person show his face. Microbiologists refer to the bacteria that don’t show up in laboratories as “the uncultured majority.”
The breakthrough in the study of this major slice of life came in the early 1980s, when microbiologists realized that microbial DNA could be extracted and read without culturing the organisms first. New mol- ecular techniques for manipulating DNA have launched another age of exploration and discovery of the microbial world, with staggering results. It has be- come routine to find novel genes and exotic strains of microorganisms even 1n samples from rather ordinary habitats. Entirely new phyla are still being unearthed. In 1987 microbiologists recognized about a dozen bacterial phyla, all of which could be grown in a lab- oratory dish. Today at
Frankia bacteria form nodules on the roots of an alder plant (upper right) and supply the alder with usable nitro- gen in exchange for sugar. At the microscopic level (above) Frankia often grow in filaments that extend and branch out at the tips; they also develop vesicles, or round structures, where they process nitrogen from the air. The micrograph
is magnified 1,100.
56 | NATURAL HISTORY April 2006
least fifty-three phyla are known, twenty-seven only through their DNA.
In other words, like pandas that won't breed in a zoo, the wild bacteria from those twenty-seven phy- la have yet to be cultured in the laboratory. Perhaps they need biochemical compounds produced by other members of their microbial community, mak- ing it impossible for them to reproduce and multi- ply in pure cultures. Or perhaps the conditions in a Petri dish are too rich, compared with conditions in their natural habitats: A group of investigators at Ore- gon State University in Corvallis recently cultured a newly discovered, yet widespread, marine bacteri- um by growing it in little more than seawater.
The excavation of the enormous diversity in the microbial world is redesigning the tree of life. At the genetic level, plants and animals turn out to be mere twigs among a dense thicket of bacteria, archaea (the recently recognized third domain of life), and other kinds of microscopic organisms. The genetic studies are also changing the scientific understanding of the basic flow of elements through the environment. Microorganisms, after all, are the main gateway be- tween the animate and inanimate—they can subsist on sludge, rock, or even toxic waste, and thereby open up a food chain.
To explore the hidden world, microbiologists have set up a network of some fifty “microbial observatories,’ such as the Bonanza Creek observatory in Alaska, to take a cen- sus of microorganisms living there.
Scattered around the globe in a range of environments, the observa- tories have discovered thousands of novel microbial types, and even new biochemical pathways.
The Bonanza Creek observatory 1s dis- tinguished by the unusual way in which local bacteria obtain the element phosphorus, which in turn enables the rest of the forest to grow. Work at the observatory is also turning up unusual antibiotics and other biochemicals produced in the cold. And this be- ing Alaska, in the early years of the twenty-first cen- tury, the boreal site and its samples are becoming grist for the study of global-warming effects as well.
i the language of the native people of this land, the Athabascans, tanana suggests “mountain riv- er.’ Run-off from glaciers in the Alaska Range—the mountains that include North America’s highest peak, Denali—converges into streams that eventual- ly form the Tanana. The river also carries debris from the glacier-scraped mountain range: a fine silt, which colors the water a concrete-dun. Word around Fair- banks is that if you fall into the Tanana, you must get
out of your clothes fast, before they fill with the silt and drag you under.
But mountain silt brings life as well. Deposited onto sandbars along the river, the silt creates fresh real estate for water-loving willows and thin-leaf alder. Old and new islands in the river channel hold patches of the boreal forest at all stages of succession. Hop- ping from one island to the next, you can trace the evolu- tion of forest life from the first colonizing plants to the oldest trees in the forest [see illustra- tion on next two pages}.
Growing a forest on islands of bare silt takes unusual chemistry and unique bacte- ria. Plants get carbon in the form of carbon dioxide from the air, but the rest of the nutrients they need come through their roots. The river washes some of these nutrients onto the sandbars and fertil- izes the seedlings that blow in, wash in, or hitchhike ashore. But not all nutrients are avail- able or present in a chemical form the plants can use directly. That’s where bac- teria, along with root-associated fungi, come in. In the soil, on or near the plants’ roots, microorganisms retrieve and transform certain elements, thus en- abling growth in nutrient-poor places.
Like many a backyard garden, the sandbars along the Tanana are poor in nitrogen—an element all plants need to build protein. Nitrogen is abundant in air, of course, but its atmospheric form (the mol- ecule N,) is useless to plants. Certain bacteria in the genus Frankia, however, make enzymes that enable the bacteria to retrieve molecular nitrogen in the air. Those bacteria are symbiotic with alder, living in nodules on the plants’ roots [see images on opposite page|. The bacteria provide the alder—and ultimately the forest—with usable nitrogen in exchange for sug- ar synthesized by the plant. As our guide and col- laborator, Roger Ruess, an ecologist at the Univer- sity of Alaska in Fairbanks, puts it: “The plant has to support the drug habits of Frankia.”
B oth the alder plant and Frankia seek another el- ement that 1s in short supply: phosphorus. The element is needed to make DNA, among other mol- ecules, and limits how much nitrogen the Frankia can fix, or change into a form usable by the plant. When phosphate—a molecule in which one phos-
Cankers pepper the trunk of an alder. The cankers are the result of a fungal infection that eventually kills plants by inhibiting nitrogen fixation.
phorus atom is bound to four oxygen atoms—1s ex- perimentally added to a site, the rate of nitrogen fix- ation shoots up, along with the plant’s growth. Phos- phorus is naturally present in the soil, but, like at- mospheric nitrogen, it is locked up in chemical forms plants cannot use.
Yet the bacteria living along the Tanana manage to obtain some of the otherwise un- available phosphorus. William W. Metcalf, a microbiologist at the University of Illinois in Urbana, and his students have assessed Tanana soil bacteria for certain DNA sequences and discovered that a high pro- portion of them possess en- zymes—only recently discov- ered—that can metabolize the locked-up forms of phospho- rus. Most organisms must get their phosphorus from phos- phate, its most common state, but some bacteria we collect- ed on the Tanana can convert “reduced” forms of phospho- rus, suchas the phosphite mol- ecule (one phosphorous atom bound to three oxygen atoms), into phosphate. Fed only those reduced forms of phosphorus in the lab- oratory, bacteria from the river site grow Just fine.
By growing with the captured phosphorus, the collaborating alder plants, bacteria, and fungi help open the way for other forest denizens. Investiga- tors find that alder improves the nutrition of neigh- boring plants and soon attracts wildlife. Hare and moose have obviously browsed the willow bushes on the riverbank where we pause for our lunch.
Animals rarely like to eat alder, but lately it’s be- come lunch for something else. Last year investiga- tors noticed that cankers, caused by a fungal patho- gen, were appearing on the alders [see photograph above|. Now they are watching intently to see how the lesions may affect the forest at this pivotal, early stage of its development. The fungal infection de- creases the rate of nitrogen fixation and eventually kills the alder. Will enough of the population suc- cumb to alter the normal succession of the forest? No one knows, but at some sites along the Tanana, cankers have appeared on as many as 80 percent of the alders.
We see pimply bark, signs of the canker disease,
at our first sampling site and elsewhere as we motor up and down the river to the various islands. The responsible pathogen may be the same fungus that
April 2006 NATURAL
HISTORY
a7
biologists have discovered attacking alder in Col- orado, Valsa melanodiscus.
| n spite of the alder canker, it’s still possible to trace the normal forest succession along the Tanana. We pass by young sandbars thick with knee-high willow, and only an occasional shoot of alder. If the alder remains canker-free, it will grow like lilac bushes and crowd out the willow, dominating the small, sandy islands. Eventually, if the forest grows unimpeded, balsam poplar—also known as cotton- wood in the Lower 48—shades over the alder and replaces it. Balsam poplar sheds its seeds in fluffy blossoms that litter the forest floor; our sampling sites are full of them, along with thickets of prick- ly rose and sprigs of pyrola, or wintergreen.
At another island upstream, we enter a fragrant cathedral of 200-year-old white spruce: the next stage of the forest succession. The brushy ground- cover of the balsam sites has given way to green lichens, cushiony mosses, and more legroom. The recent rain has prompted a show of mushrooms, too. We find the wild relative of the common white but- ton mushroom (Lycoperdon) and a burnt-marshmal- low look-alike (Sarcodon imbricatum).
Up and across the river we sample the bacteria that
Forest succession (left to right) along the Tanana River begins as the first colonizers, willow and then alder bushes, get nitrogen with the help of Frankia bacteria that live among the alders’ roots. Balsam poplar moves in over time, and after about 200 years white spruce follows. A few cen- turies later, black spruce dominates. Individual islands have their own soil chemistry and microbial communities, which are just beginning to be studied in detail.
ae
live in the final stage of forest succession. It is the coolest stage, both literally and figuratively. Black spruce trees jut like pipe cleaners amid an aromatic groundcover of Labrador tea, low-bush cranberry, and more mosses. The accumulation of feathery moss has by now insulated the ground, preventing it from warming during summer, and so a permafrost layer begins as little as a foot beneath the surface. We pull samples of fibrous soil the color of chocolate cake out of the ground, as cold to the touch as if it came out of a cooler, rich with the complex smells of soil. The smells themselves are signals of bacteria: the vapors of volatile compounds released by Streptomyces bac- teria, the source of streptomycin and other antibi- otics. A billion bacterial cells, representing thousands of different strains, can live in a teaspoon of the soil, along with perhaps dozens of fungal strains.
tored in coolers, the soil samples get shipped to
Jo Handelsman’s microbiology laboratory at the University of Wisconsin—Madison. There, a small crew of investigators starts in on the work. Most of the soil ends up being processed into “libraries” of DNA, the better to explore and analyze the vast world of yet-uncultured microbial diversity.
To create the libraries, pinches of soil are tucked into inch-deep tubes. Minute synthetic beads are added to break open the bacterial cells as the tubes spin in a centrifuge. Solutions are used to wash the burst DNA and separate it from the rest of the compounds in the soil. What's left is a clear solu-
tion containing the bacterial DNA—a proxy for the original community.
One particular gene, or stretch of the DNA, serves as a universal bar code that identifies each of the bacterial strains present in the soil. Fishing out and sequencing the many versions of this bar-code gene and comparing them with similar, yet known, se- quences in gene databases reveals the identities and relative abundances of the various microorganisms. It also shows where the microorganisms from the Tanana River site belong in the bacterial family tree.
The identity of a microorganism is largely a mat- ter of what it can do, and those functions are, in turn, a matter of the kinds of proteins the microor- ganism produces. To find out what proteins the Tanana soil bacteria produce, the DNA extracted in the laboratory 1s converted, in a controlled way, in- to the proteins it codes for, and the proteins are as- sessed for various functions. Typically, the extract- ed DNA is mixed with enzymes that cut it into pieces. The pieces are then inserted into other bac- teria, such as the laboratory workhorse Escherichia coli. Once inside E. coli, they are processed into pro- tein just as if they were part of E. coli’s own DNA. Functionally analyzing the new protein is then just a matter of testing the genetically altered E. coli. For example, if the genetically altered E. coli can grow on an antibiotic that would kill ordinary E. coli, the inserted DNA must have
carried a gene for a protein that somehow disables the antibiotic.
\ X J ¢ also study the Tanana soil microorganisms
ina more traditional way: cultured on a Petri plate. When we compare what can be grown using different nutrient sources and growing conditions with what we know is present from the soil DNA, the cultural divide is stark. Bacteria from nineteen different phyla live in the Tanana samples, yet we can grow representatives from only four.
Microbiologists are sometimes fond of saying, “Everything is everywhere.” In other words, bacteria are distributed globally. But as the bacterial census- taking continues, the exceptions, such as our “moun- tain river’ microorganisms, keep surfacing.
The Tanana soils seem to be something of a mi- crobial backwater. We have to look hard to find any Bacillus, one of the most common soil bacteria any- where. Even soil samples from distinct sites on the same Tanana island, or from the same site but just a few inches apart in depth, have different characters— like Scottish villages dominat- ed by one clan or another.
Although all the sam- pling sites in balsam- poplar forest look sim-
but
Newfound strains of Janthinobacterium from soil in Alaska’s boreal forest form nondescript colonies at warm tempera- tures (above), but start to produce red and purple pigments, along with antibi- otics, at cold temperatures (below right).
purple pigments they produce
ilar to our eyes, one of them turns out to be a hotbed of a particular kind of antibiotic- producing bacteria (Janthi- nobacterium). They've become a laboratory favorite because of the bloody crimson and inky
only at cool temperatures [see
photographs on this page|. Whatever the function of
the pigments turns out to be, it seems likely that the Alaskan bacteria have devel- oped storage compounds, communication signals, and other specialized biochemi- cals adapted to their high-
latitude life.
The emphasis of the microbial observatories 1s on understanding microbial diversity, but they are also on the lookout for new drugs or other useful chem- icals that the microorganisms might produce. The Tanana soil bacteria, for instance, thrive in cold and phosphorus-limited conditions. Perhaps they make proteins that could be useful in agriculture, medi- cine, or even laundry—a bacterial enzyme that can operate in cold, boreal soil might be able to improve the stain-removing power of cold-water detergents.
B ut are conditions still cold? It’s hard to escape what many read as signs of unusual warming at these latitudes. We sniff smoke in the air, blown in from a forest fire in the Yukon. By the end of sum- mer 2005, the fire season has become Alaska’s third worst. And the all-time worst was just the year be- fore that: in 2004, fires consumed 6.5 million acres of Alaska, an area bigger than Vermont. On aver- age, the state 1s two degrees Celsius warmer than it was at the beginning of the twentieth century. The average surface temperature of the Earth has warmed by one-fourth that amount (a half degree Celsius) in roughly the same period.
Making a direct, causal link between the warm- ing trend and changes on the ground 1s hard to do, but investigators in Alaska have tallied a compelling list of consistent phenomena. In addition to the record fires, the growing season has lengthened, while, paradoxically, the oil-drilling season has shortened by about half (the tundra in the far north must be frozen deep enough to support the heavy rigs and traffic). Sea ice is also dramatically dimin- ished; it reached a record low of 2 million square about
miles in 2005. The melting of sea ice 400,000 square miles in the past decade or so—am- plifies climate warming and its myriad effects, as
HISTORY April 2006
open water absorbs heat that the ice would other- wise reflect back into space.
Insects such as spruce bark beetles, which histor- ically have taken two summers to mature, now come of age in one, creating explosive populations that have chewed up temperature-stressed trees. Could the alder canker be another effect of the stress on plants? It’s possible. This is clearly uncharted terri- tory in the life of the boreal forest.
Atthe Bonanza Creek Experimental Forest and mi- crobial observatory, soil temperatures have ratcheted up to such an extent in the past twenty years that the mean annual temperature half a foot below the sur- face 1s now above freezing. The warmer soil affects the forest community and its microbial underpinnings in yet-uncharted ways, and it affects the global car- bon cycle as well. As permafrost thaws, the prediction goes, microbial decomposers gain a huge new source of organic material to consume. But how well the little-known microbial communities will hew to the prediction, and how much carbon could be released from this historical carbon sink, remain to be seen.
What microbiologists do know 1s that the changes both above and below the ground will alter the mi- crobial community in subtle ways. Inevitably, one strain or another will outgrow the rest. If the “win- ner” happens to be a microorganism with a knack for virulent infection, more pathogens such as the alder canker could emerge. By taking yearly soil sam- ples, microbiologists are accumulating a DNA record of the microbial commu- nities that might come to reflect the changing tempera- ture and vegetation of the sites.
orth of the Tanana
Raver, gentle bluffs border the floodplain. To the south, the wall of the Alas- ka Range lies obscured in haze. In between, the braided river takes the path of least resistance through the valley, creating the many rivulets and side channels in its seaward push. In spite of the seemingly timeless majesty of the place, everything in this panorama is moving: the river, the moun- tains, and the forest in all its stages. The lives of the cells in the soil are shifting, too. Too little is known of this complex and unseen world to begin to pre- dict what will become of it—too little, that is, ex- cept that it will bring surprises. XO
Rare Hoard of 100-Year-Old U.S. Gold Coins Released to Public
Jen iis sta
HISTORIC U.S. GOLD ON SALE
iscovered hoard of U.S. $10 Gold Liberty Coins Now Available
Our buyers just discovered one of the most significant European Bank hoards of U.S. gold in years. They secured 1,170 magnificent U.S. gold coins guaranteed to ‘ As low as be over 100 years old. These vintage coins TTT represent dates ranging from 1866 through 1904 that uniquely represent the history of our nation in fine gold.
Collectors will not over-
look the value of these vintage uncirculated coins as they consider their scarcity and true profit potential, creat- P ing a collectors market explosion that has yet to Vicirculated Gold. Coins be reflected in today’s from the Past Hold Key for Future Profits
coin prices.
f L NE KON | Don’t Miss
Each of these $10 Gold jj ; = Sale Meg?) : 7 4 This Opportunity: BFE ABD ~~ S es, am Order Now!
Consider that since
f 1999, the number of
coin collectors has
sharply risen from
3 million to 130 million,
Liberty coins is guaranteed in Uncirculated Condition. As gold values soar with a staggering rise in oil prices and the falling dollar, you may never again have the opportunity to own these gold coins at this price. With contin- ued uncertainty in the stock mar- ket, demand for these coins continues
you may never get a second chance to capitalize on this opportunity. Order now
while our limited supplies last. to escalate as collectors and investors
scramble to scoop up U.S. gold coins for their gold content and their role as
Due to the scarcity of these coins, we must issue a strict limit of 50 coins per customer. Prices and _ orders
a “safe haven” against a falling dollar. Shown larger than actual size subject to availability, so call today. rt Uncirculated coins create additional PZT ATA TO TES Your satisfaction is assured by our ; value over bullion, making 30-day money-back guarantee. 4 these coins even more attractive as you J diversify your portfolio. These coins Order More & Save a ra ‘ have sold for hundreds of dollars more. a pt Af Circulated $10 Liberty coins have ieee te sae ees ae {yp - : chins snes 3 Liberty Coins $475 FREE! $1,425 “iim ¢ been recently advertised for $539—a By Liberty Gains $465 FREE! $2,325 / | é U7 ,; whopping $100+ more than 10. Liberty Coins $435 FREE! $4,350 ) y / i these fresh uncirculated coins. 50 Liberty Coins $305 Caen FREE! $19,750 |
Call Toll-Free:
-800-642-91 60...
New York Mint, 5577 W 78th St., Edina, MN 55439
Not affiliated with the U.S. Government
© 2006 New York Mint
62 | JATURAL HISTORY
THIS LAND
—~y
Green Fingers
¢ Cc
A woodland revives among the glacier- carved lakes of central New York.
By Robert H. Mohlenbrock
n 1891 President Benjamin Har-
rison signed legislation authoriz-
ing the establishment of national forests in the United States. Since that time, 155 national forests have been designated, scattered within the boundaries of forty-four states, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. Some of the forests preserve areas in conditions so pristine they compare well with the state of the lands in the national parks. Others encompass land degraded by earlier human oc- cupation, which was then restored through reforestation and good forest management. The most recent mem- ber of the group, added in 1985, 1s Finger Lakes National Forest, situat- ed on a ridge known as Hector Backbone. The ridge lies between the southern ends of Seneca and
Cayuga lakes, the two largest of the
April 2006
Finger Lakes in west- central New York.
The scenic Finger Lakes are named for eleven long, narrow lakes that run roughly north-south along nearly parallel lines. The lakebeds were formed during the past two million years by southward-moving glaciers, some more than two miles thick, which carved deep crevasses into the old valleys of northward- flowing rivers. After the last glaciers began their retreat, about 19,000 years ago, they left behind the lakes and the elongated ridges, known as drumlins, that separate them (Hec- tor Backbone 1s one of those drum- lins). The glaciers also left gravel de- posits called moraines at the southern ends of the lakes.
The region was home to Indians of the Iroquois Confederacy until 1779, when they were evicted under orders of General George Washing- ton because four of the six nations in the league had allied themselves with the British. The land that was seized was then allotted to soldiers and vet- erans of the Revolutionary War, as payment for their service. The set-
Mayapples rouse themselves in early spring beneath young sugar maple trees.
tlers on Hector Backbone produced hay and small grains, such as buck- wheat, for sale in New York City. But the combination of a poor post—Civil War economy, westward expansion, changing access to mar- kets, and hard-to-work soils led to the abandonment of most farming there in the 1890s and the early decades of the twentieth century.
n 1934 the federal government
began to acquire land on Hector Backbone and started a program of reforestation and the creation of arti- ficial ponds. Because the owners were under no obligation to sell, the
area became the patchwork of federal and private lands that characterizes it to this day.
Covering twenty-five square miles, Finger Lakes National Forest includes pastoral woodlands brightened in the spring by numerous wildflowers and azaleas and, in the fall, by the au- tumn foliage of American beeches, birches, red maples, and sugar maples. County roads form the west- ern and northern boundaries of the
Spotted salamander
Habitats
Woods The tallest trees include Ameri- can beech, basswood, black gum, black walnut, northern red oak, red maple, shagbark hickory, slippery elm, sugar maple, white ash, white oak, white pine, and yellow birch. Shorter trees scattered throughout the woods are arrowwood, common elder, hop hornbeam, maple-leaved viburnum, musclewood, and witch hazel. River- bank grape, a vine, climbs high up many of the tree trunks and branches. Among the more common ferns in the understory are Christmas fern, lady fern, New York fern, and spinulose wood fern; sensitive fern occupies the wetter areas. Spring wildflowers in- clude false Solomon’s-seal, hooked crowfoot, jack-in-the-pulpit, lady’s slip- per, mayapple, red columbine, starflower, tall white beardtongue, white avens, white trillium, and wild geranium. During late summer and au- tumn, flowering species include com-
forest, and New York State routes 79 and 227 lie along its southeastern side. Trails for hiking and horseback riding, as well as several black-top and gravel town roads, crisscross it as well, offering easy access. The Blue- berry Patch Campground provides facilities for camping and picnicking. Groups can use the Potomac Group Campground; the Backbone Camp- ground 1s open to equestrians. One parcel of the forest even offers Seneca Lake frontage on what 1s called Caywood Point.
My favorite trail, which gives a good cross section of the natural fea- tures, is one of the shorter ones: Gorge Trail. Not far from the park- ing area where it begins, the trail passes Gorge Pond on the left. A marshy habitat with a diverse array of wetland plant species extends from the pond to the edge of the trail. To the right 1s a dry woodland. Farther along, the trail gradually descends in-
mon enchanter’s nightshade, downy pagoda plant, hog peanut, roadside agrimony, wrinkle-leaved goldenrod, and two kinds of little white asters. In wet areas are scattered attractive white turtlehead plants.
Pond Submerged aquatic plants such as brittle water nymph, coontail, sago pondweed, and waterweed grow in most ponds. The muddy shorelines support strawstem beggar-ticks, bristly sedge, bur reed, common spike rush, gray dogwood, narrow- leaved cattail, needle spike rush, pussy willow, soft rush, wool grass, and many other species.
Marsh Among the marsh plants are bluntleaf bedstraw, common flat- topped goldenrod, fowl manna grass, purple-stem aster, sensitive fern, smooth goldenrod, spotted joe-pye weed, rice cut-grass, rough-leaved
ee Area of Detail
VISITOR INFORMATION
Finger Lakes National Forest 5218 State Route 414
Hector, NY 14841
607-546-4470 www.fs.fed.us/r9/gmfl/fingerlakes
to a narrow valley—the gorge—and
the woods become more moist.
ROBERT H. MOHLENBROCK is a distin- guished professor emeritus of plant biology at Southern Illinois University Carbondale.
goldenrod, and tall flat-topped white aster. Scrambling over the vegetation is bittersweet nightshade, a nonnative species that pioneers planted for its pretty purple flowers, bright red berries, and intriguing leaves (they have one large lobe in the middle and two small lobes near the base).
Open areas Fields that are no longer cultivated, roadsides, and trails provide open habitats. Many of the plants that grow here are invasive species from Europe and Asia, such as bouncing Bet, common yarrow, garlic mustard, hairy woodland brome, Japanese hon- eysuckle, multiflora rose, musk mallow, ox-eye daisy, and self-heal. Among the native species are bitter dock, com- mon blackberry, common cinquefoil, common goldenrod, common yellow wood sorrel, hairy white oldfield aster, hemp dogbane, path rush, and staghorn sumac.
April 2006 NATURAL HIS
BOOKSHELF eer eee eet)
Chasing Spring: An American Journey Through a Changing Season
by Bruce Stutz Scribner, 2006; $24.00
A tthe beginning of this spring-chas- ing journey, set in 2004, neither Bruce Stutz nor his automobile is a good bet to finish a three-month odyssey across the continent and up to Alaska. Stutz, a former editor-in-chief of this magazine, has recovered recently from surgery for a faulty heart valve. Dick (named after Moby), a 1984 white Chevy Impala, still has its original valves, but twenty years of gathering dust in the garage of a friend’s mother have not been kind. Both man and car need to get on the road again and get their fluids running. And what bet- ter way to revive than to follow spring, the season of rebirth, as it sweeps across North America? Stutz’s journey is a long one, though hardly epochal. It begins on the vernal equinox, north of New York City, and ends when the Sun touches the horizon at midnight, at summer solstice, on the Arctic Circle. Along the way he stops to witness how the environment is changing, and to chat with scientists who study it. There are plenty of changes to pon- der. While still close to his home in Brooklyn, he accompanies a biologist to a seasonal vernal pool, helping to sur- vey frogs and salamanders. The experi- ence gives him ground truth about the threat suburban development poses to the creatures’ woodland habitats. Pass- ing through North Carolina, he visits an experimental forest where PVC pipes, sixty feet high, circle seven large stands of trees. To measure the effects of greenhouse gases on forest growth, holes drilled in the pipes blow varying amounts of carbon dioxide or plain air over each stand, while fieldworkers as-
NATURAL HISTORY April 2006
siduously plot the effects on the trees. Two weeks later, in Oracle, Arizona, Stutz visits Biosphere 2, a giant glass ter- rarium. Completed in 1991, it houses a 700,000-gallon artificial ocean, a coral reef, a rainforest, amangrove swamp, and a desert. Nowadays the place has fallen on hard times. All the delicate elements designed to balance its enclosed ecosys- tem are limping along and beginning to fail. Stutz suspects that Biosphere 2 may unintentionally, in its decline, have be- come the accurate microcosm for the larger ecosystem it was intended to model—Biosphere 1, planet Earth.
Country lane leads the traveler through a field of poppies in California.
nd so it goes. Passing through Tornado Alley in Oklahoma, Stutz continues on to the Colorado Rockies, to join a group of environ- mental scientists who gauge climate warming by monitoring the depths of spring snow. Then, in Oregon, he meets a group of peripatetic hunter- gatherers who make their living col- lecting mushrooms for sale. They seem to keep at it, im an uncertain market, just because they like the outdoor life. By early June, Stutz and Dick have reached Glacier National Park, where the largest of the huge ice rivers that gave the place its name covers only 10 percent of what it covered in 1850. With Dick resting safely in a parking lot at the Seattle airport, Stutz ends his journey in the Arctic. National Wild- life Refuge. That’s about as far north as one can get in the United States. Glad
By Laurence A. Marschall
to be there as the last rays of vernal sun kiss the thawing permafrost, Stutz re- alizes that he’s come through a season of change, in life as well as on Earth, and that many of the places he’s visited he will probably not see again.
Armchair travelers who join Stutz through this pleasant journal will be glad they came along, but they, like the au- thor, may also share his unease with the changes that are not merely seasonal, but long-term. Too many changes seem wrought, in part, by inattentive stew- ardship. “What will your and my chil- dren’s and grandchildren’s springs be like?” he asks at the end. “Will [our chil- dren] be able to head out in spring to recover their hearts?”
Parenting for Primates by Harriet J. Smith
Harvard University Press, 2006; $29.95
Dear Harriet: My son Carl, who is eight, just can’t seem to sleep alone. It’s gotten worse since Cindy, my youngest, was born. Needless to say, I have to keep Cindy close, since she’s suck- ling, but Carl keeps interfering, snuggling up to us every night when we need time to ourselves. What should I do to get him to grow up and let us rest in peace?
[Signed] Cara {her mark] Dear Cara: Carl is just feeling a natural anxiety at be- ing weaned from co-sleeping. Build your- self another nest. When it’s done, bed down in that old nest, and once Carl’: asleep, move with Cindy to the new nest. Carl may be upset, but after you've repeatedly left him alone in the old nest, he’ll get the idea. He may even decide to build his own nest. It’s worked for other orangutans, in my experience, and it will be good prepa- ration for his adolescence, when you in- evitably kick him out!
Yours groomingly, Harriet
f all the primates, people have by far the most complex and most enduring relations with their offspring. Yet we humans share more than just a
Primate parent and offspring
common ancestry with apes, monkeys, and lemurs. All primates have a rich so- cial life and face similar problems in raising their offspring. All primate par- ents must provide food, protection, and education to their young. All face ques- tions of how and when to wean babies from the breast, how to get youngsters to take care of themselves and relate to others, how to let them know it’s time to go off on their own. Just as people must ensure that Johnny can read, chimpanzees must teach their young- sters to find the best-tasting termites.
Harriet J. Smith brings impressive credentials to the writing of this fasci- nating book on comparative parenting. A clinical psychologist in family prac- tice and the mother of two human fe- males, she also holds a Ph.D. in com- parative psychology and has raised sev- eral generations of cottontop tamarin monkeys in her backyard. Although the book includes a few examples from Smith’s therapeutic files (with the names changed, of course), she draws mostly from an impressive variety of an- thropological and zoological studies of groups ranging from hunter-gatherers in the Philippines to gorillas in Africa and red howler monkeys in the jungles of Venezuela.
A: one might imagine, parenting styles among primates vary as widely as they do among human cul- tures. Marmoset dads in Central and South America, for instance, are loving fathers and share in infant care. Silver- back gorillas, though affectionate and concerned, keep pretty much to them- selves, offering protection to their fam- ilies but little parental help or guidance.
And female orang- utans in the forests of Borneo are paradig- matically doting single mothers: they raise an average of three off- spring during their lifetime, devoting years to each one without the slightest help.
Smith’s thought- provoking book, despite its partial gen- esis in her family practice, is not in- tended as a guide to effective child rear- ing. But I'd recommend it to any parent or prospective parent, with this caveat: What’s good for a tarsier or a lemur may be dysfunctional for a gibbon, a macaque—or a human.
The Electric Life of Michael Faraday by Alan Hirshfeld Walker and Company 2006; $24.00
5 ieee twenty-first century would not exist as we know it were it not for a nineteenth-century English experimenter named Michael Faraday. Lest that assessment seem hyperbolic, consider that until the 1820s, when Faraday devised a way to make elec- tricity rotate a metal rod, all the world’s work had been done by steam, water, animal, or human power. Faraday’s ro- tating rod led to the modern electric motor, the cornerstone of our modern electrified world.
His demonstration, a decade later, that a varying magnetic field could in- duce an electric current ina coil of wire is the principle behind the electric gen- erator, which provided the power to run those electric motors. In time, Faraday’s inventions and their direct descendants found their way into every electric power plant, every automobile alterna- tor, every air conditioner, garbage dis- posal unit, and DVD player into virtually every aspect of modern
in short,
technological society. That is quite a legacy from a man whose meager formal education was
supplemented by only a few years ap- prenticed to a bookbinder. Even when Faraday was an honored figure at Eng- land’s Royal Institution of Great Britain in London, his salary never exceeded a few hundred pounds a year. As Alan Hirshfeld’s sparkling new biography makes clear, Faraday’s influence stemmed not from learning or wealth, but froma rich imagination, a brilliance at experimentation, and an openness of character that won friends instantly and made him one of the outstanding sci- entific teachers of his century.
hen the English chemist Sir Humphry Davy summoned Faraday (who had attended some of Davy’s lectures) to join Davy at the Royal Institution in 1813, Davy must have sensed some of those qualities. The young Faraday quickly rose from glorified bottle-washer to full collabo- rator in the most difficult of distillations and preparations. Within a few years he was publishing his own papers and giv- ing his own lectures to learned soci- eties. By 1824 he had been voted into the prestigious Royal Society. Beginning in 1826, partly to raise
i
{jj/|!
Magneto-spark apparatus, now in the Royal Institution in London, was designed by Michael Faraday to generate an electric spark.
April 2006 NATURAL HISTORY
65
Urgent: Special Summer Driving Notice
To some, sunglasses are a fashion accessory...
But When Driving,
These Sunglasses May Save Your Life!
Drivers Alert: Driving can expose you to more dangerous glare than any sunny summer day at the beach can...do
you know how to protect yourself?
n amazing breakthrough in optic Area sie by NASA resulting in Eagle Eyes’ can be your answer. The sun rises and sets at peak travel periods, dur- ing the early morning and late afternoon rush hours. Many drivers find themselves
temporarily blinded as they are driving directly
into the glare of the sun. Deadly accidents are regularly caused by such blinding glare. Danger can come from reflected light off of another vehicle, from the pavement, or any other reflective surface. Early morning frost or dew can exacerbate this situation. Salted or snowy road conditions can make matters even worse. Yet, motorists struggle on despite being blinded by the sun’s glare and cause countless accidents every year.
Beware of windshield glare!
This glare-induced “blindness” is especially prevalent in the early morning or late in the afternoon, and due to the extremely reflective qualities of other cars. Even your windshield can make matters worse since wax and oil buildup can increase reflected glare. This powerful glare of the sun is damaging to the various layers of the eye. Certain road condi- tions may raise the amount of harmful UV that you are exposed to by 85%.
NASA’s researchers looked to nature for a solution.
At NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, scientists looked to nature for a solution by studying the eyes of eagles, known for their extreme visual acuity. The result of this break- through optical technology is Eagle Eyes’.
Eagle Eyes® Lens
Slip on a pair of Eagle Eyes® and everything instantly appears more vivid and sharp. You'll immediately notice that your eyes are more comfortable and relaxed and you'll feel no need to squint.
Patented EAGLE EYES” uses NASA technology and are on display at NASA’s Johnson Space Center.
Extremes™
gu anizeD * PATE) a “
Autheritic
SOLAR
Lens Technology
Explorers™ FREE!
When you try the Eagle Eyes” Extremes”
Patented triple filtering lens system.
With a patented triple filtering system, Eagle Eyes’ will reduce the blinding glare you may encounter while driving. The lenses will block the UV light while enhancing the colors of your surrounding environment. Eagle Eyes’ provides 100% eye protection from harmful blue, violet and ultraviolet light rays. You can experience enhanced visual acuity, even at great distances in most weather conditions. Even on cloudy days, the advanced lens technology improves your visual acuity.
Not just one pair—A second pair FREE! That’s two ways to protect your eyes and prevent blinding glare for less than the price of
one pair of traditional sunglasses. Plus, if you are not thrilled with the Eagle Eyes’ technology, just send them back for a full refund of the purchase price.
Eagle Eyes” Sunglasses Extremes” only $49.% +S&H
Receive the Explorers™ absolutely FREE!—2 pair for the price of one!
Clip-ons available for $29.%+S&H Perfect for prescription glass wearers! We have four
different clip-on sizes available. Please see our website www.nextten.com for your correct size or ask your NextTen sales representative.
Promotional Code EGL345-10 Please mention this when you call. Call to order toll-free,
24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
14101 Southcross Drive W., NEX i l EN Dept. EGL345-10 Burnsville, Minnesota 55337
For information on all our products: www.NextTen.com
money for the laboratory of the Royal Institution, Faraday began giving a se- ries of public lectures. The so-called Friday Discourses (which continue to this day) featured many of the notable scientists of the era: John Dalton, Lord Kelvin, Charles Lyell. But Faraday set the standard for clarity and showman- ship. “It waked the young from their visions and the old from their dreams,’ gushed an admirer. Part of his success with the public stemmed from his memorable demonstrations of the lat- est discoveries. He detonated a hydro- gen-filled balloon with an electric spark. He made his hair stand on end with a static-electricity generator. His favorite appearances, though, were the annual Christmas lectures he gave to children. No less a figure than Charles Dickens found them so impressive that he implored Faraday to turn them into an instructional book for children.
Yet for all of Faraday’s brilliance in the laboratory and the lecture hall, many of his colleagues didn’t know what to make of him. Untutored in mathematics, he could not express his results in the abstract notation expected by scholars. In his later years he devel- oped an elaborate theory of electricity and magnetism based on invisible “lines of force” emanating from charged atoms. The theory was so visual, so based on imagery, that he was widely viewed as loony, or at least past his prime. Ultimately James Clerk Max- well cast Faraday’s geometrical ideas about lines of force into the mathe- matical framework now known as field theory—one of the underpinnings of electromagnetism, gravitation, and quantum mechanics. Faraday’s theory turned out to be as self-descriptive as it was precocious: his own field of influ- ence, like that of an electrically charged body, extended outward, effectively without limit.
LAURENCE A. MARSCHALL, author of The Supernova Story, is WK.T: Sahm Professor of Physics at Gettysburg College in Pennsylva- nia, and director of Project CLEA, which pro- duces widely used simulation software for edu- cation in astronomy.
66 | NATURAL HISTORY April 2006
nature.net « aes)
New Moon
By Robert Anderson
he Moon reveals just one side to
its admirers on Earth, yet our satellite seems an object with a thou- sand faces. It smiles with romantic light and winks at armchair space travelers. For me, most ofall, itis the place where the Apollo 11 astronauts set foot in 1969, when I was eight. Butas an adult, [also see it as our planet’s dynamic part- ner, without which life on Earth would never have flourished. Isaac Asimov's “Triumph of the Moon” (at mountain man.com.au/i_asimov.html), written shortly after he watched the launch of Apollo 17, sets forth his reasons for thinking we would not have evolved without the Moon, and how the Moon was crucial to the development of mathematics, science, and space travel.
The Moon, as the leading theory goes, was born in the aftermath of a titanic collision between a Mars-size planet named Theia and the early Earth. A Web page at the Planetary Science Institute introduces the “‘gi- ant impact” hypothesis with paintings by William K. Hartmann, one of the astronomers who originated the idea in 1975 (psi.edu/projects/moon/moon. html). Alistair G.W. Cameron, another pioneer in the study of giant impacts, has a site at xtec.es/recursos/astronom/ moon/camerone.htm with a number of his early computer simulations of the collision.
Collision theories also enliven Web pages by G. Jeffrey Taylor of the Hawai'i Institute of Geophysics and Planetol- ogy (www.psrd.hawaii.edu/Dec98/Origin EarthMoon.html) and H. Jay Melosh of the University of Arizona in Tucson (www. |pl.arizona.edu/outreach/origin). Their simulations show lighter mantle rock from both bodies blasted into orbit, while Theia’s dense iron core merges with that of the proto-Earth to form our planet’s present massive core. That core was key to life’s over-
whelming success: a smaller core could not have generated a magnetic field strong enough to shield us from lethal cosmic rays. Furthermore, the internal heat of our planet’s enlarged core has been the driving force of plate tecton- ics, another likely prerequisite for com- plex life to evolve.
At the Internet encyclopedia Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_ impact theory), an animation at the bot- tom of the Web page shows how Theia may have formed in the same orbit as Earth, at what is called a Lagrange point, before it drifted into us at a suit- ably low speed. Edward Belbruno and J. Rachard Gott III calculated that this mechanism increases the likelihood of such planet-size impacts. While look- ing for more about Lagrange points, I came across a Web page on the topic by John C. Baez, a mathematical physicist at the University of Califor- nia, Riverside (math.ucr.edu/home/ baez/lagrange.html). In his section ti- tled “Mars Trojans, Neptune Trojans, and Earth’s strange companions,’ I was surprised to learn that Earth has sev- eral other “moons” tagging along. Relative to our planet, asteroid 3753 Cruithne, for instance, moves in a complicated spiraling orbit whose ex- tremities resemble horseshoes.
On the Internet you can find many new faces of the Moon, but I still en- joy the images the astronauts brought back almost four decades ago. At the Lunar and Planetary Institute Web site (www.|pi.usra.edu/resources/apollo), click on “70 mm Hasselblad” to view a complete collection of the ultimate tourist snapshots. Who 1s not still amazed by the images of Earth, rising moonlike over that barren surface? In the next few years, new lunar mis- sions may be added to the old. Go to the lunar exploration page of the Goddard Space Flight Center (nssdc. gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/lunar/apollo_25 th.html) for a chronology of lunar ex- ploration past, present, and future.
ROBERT ANDERSON is a freelance science writer living in Los Angeles.
April 2006 NATURAL HISTORY | 67
New from Thames & Hudson
FINAL REPORT
AN RCHAEOLOGIST | EXCAVATES HIS PAST
| MICHAEL D. | COE
by Michael D. Coe
“A moving autobiography, an exciting account of the rediscovery
of vanished civilizations, and
unforgettable portraits of the argumentative archaeologists who made those rediscoveries. Enjoy!”
—Jared Diamond 224 pages / 41 illus. / $29.95
ESE
GUY DE LA BEDOYERE
Thames « Hudson
by Guy de la Bédoyere
A definitive, up-to-date account of the Roman conquest and occupation of Britain — a crucial period in its history.
A selection of History and Discovery Channel book clubs
288 pages / 294 illus. / $39.95
Wherever books are sold
, Thames & Hudson
thamesandhudsonusa.com
-
a NCE LYNI
America’ S Pompeii
Intact Rhino Skeletons
ei a ‘ =" ne
ere
i er Buried A Belcanic Ash
Ashfall Fossil Beds St Hist Park Royal, Nebraska 402.893.2000 http://ashfall.unl.edu
"Papua New Guinea-Yacht Expeditions
ve “MTS Discoverer”
DEREBEEE - Sepik River/Islands. Festivals, Diving,
—— * ae sae Land Packages,
q 5 * Charters. { ie autun 4 oe cs OP
(el ) 785-0370 mtsusa@cox.net Sasa piutcoe
Extraordinary Tours for the
Serious Traveler
(You'll seriously never have so much fun!) ate
Sacred Sites of Ireland Newgrange and Knowth
A Greek Odyssey
Butrint and Zagoria Splendours of South India Persepolis to the Caspian Iran
Grand Tour of Libya Roman Coast and the Desert
Nefertiti Bride of the Nile Middle Egypt and the Sinai
World Heritage Sites
Southeast Asia
Precious Stones of Apulia Puglia, Italy s
1-800-762-4216 © www.tci-travel.com TRAVEL CONCEPTS INTERNATIONAL
i&
Lincoln Cathedral freize
Di De
REK?
Athena Review
Journal of Archaeology, History, and Exploration SAINTS AND SINNERS IN THE GOTHIC WORLD
Cathedrals, Master Masons, and Wandering Scholars (1150-1350)
Subscriptions: 4 issues: $20 (US) $30 (Can) $40 (overseas)
For a free tnal issue on ancient Crete or the Neanderthals, wnite us today
( Athena Publications 49 Richmondville Avenue, Suite 308, Westport, CT 06880 Fax: (203) 221-0321. athenarev(@aol.com; wwwathenapub.com
Galapagos islands “natural history cruises *4 for groups and individuals
The
HEART & SOUL of the Desert.
No matter how hard the others try, no place can match the
spectacular beauty of Tucson.
Tucson
Real. Natural. Arizona
Metropolitan Tucson Convention & Visitors Bureau
1-888-2-Tucson | www.visitTucson.org
—~
* 1-877-GO EXPLORE
www.ecotours.com
Three Sailings: Aug 17 — Sept 14, 2006
from $1,895 USD plus air
Outstanding Arctic Adventures ) a
Join James Delgado of TV’s Sea Hunters aboard the 104- passenger, zodiac-equipped = expeditionary vessel, the M/S Explorer, as we push North next summer.
Scotland to Norway * Greenland * Galapagos * Newfoundland Voyages www.adventurecanada.com 800-363-7566
Natural History attracts a curious breed—active, curious travelers who trust the magazine to guide them to some of the most interesting parts of the world. You can capture their attention through
EXPLORERGUIDE
for rates and information, call: 646-356-6586.
To order a subscription, tg
call: 1-800-234-5252. Visit our website:
www.naturalhistorymag.com
GALAPAGOS ... The Trip of a Lifetime Specializing in comprehensive, professionally-led, natural history and photo tours of the Galapagos Islands. Monthly departures on 14-16 passenger yachts.
(800) 969-9014 * www.galapagostravel.com 783 Rio Del Mar Boulevard, Suite #49, Aptos, CA 95003
South Aamerica Unique Nature and Cultural Programs
Amazon & Galapagos Cruises, Brazil & Argentina Marshes, Patagonia, Machu Picchu, and more
Zervee (Sol)! nternational Tours 800-765-5657
info@solintl.com solintl.com
Explore the diverse islands of the western South Pacific aboard the |10- passenger Clipper Odyssey. A superb itinerary showcases remote cultures and profuse bird, wild, and marine life. FACES OF MELANESIA 26 OCT — 12 NOV 2006
ZEGRAHM EXPEDITIONS (800) 628-8747 www.zeco.com
Award winning lodge in Peru's Tamshiyacu- Tahuayo Reserve, shown to have the greatest mammal diversity in the Amazon. Customized itinerary, from soft family to wilderness camping. Featuring the Amazon's longest zipline canopy access. In business since 1981. References avail- able. Customized economical tours to Cusco and other sites in Peru as well. AMAZONIA EXPEDITIONS 800-262-9669 www.perujungle.com Www.peruandes.com
ADVENTURE T
SES & AD
SMALL SH 1iP CRU
“om! AdventureSmith
EXPLORATION S
Explore up close and in style. Alaska, Costa Rica, Galapagos, Antarctica; South Pacific and more.
AdventureSmithExplorations.com 800-728-2875
For brochures & custom made tours Tara Tours 1-800-327-0080 Since 1980......www.taratours.com
12¢ eel Bi a, 1g Os
Shi
| 3, 5 or 6 night ster on call inland waters | _ ST. LAWRENCE RIVER © OTTAWA RIVER THE 1000 ISLANDS
Experience the 1000 Islands... the remarkable International Seaway locks... mansions, museums, historic villages & world-class capital cities.
For information or FREE brochures St. Lawrence Cruise Lines Inc.
1-800-267-7868
www.StLawrenceCruiseLines.com
HIMALAYAS
Tour Ladakh, the little Tibet in southwest, Sikkim and Bhutan in eastern Himalayas. Travel through primal forests. In geologically challenging villages, see cultures confronting modernization
TILLER INTERNATIONAL TOURS INC P O Box 475637 San Francisco CA 94147 Tel (415) 921-8989 E Mail: tillerinternational@yahoo.com
ADVENTURE
4 > ~e: ; r SS th & Central America® ~ Travel Spécialists ~*~ 800-344-6118 adventure-life.com
Inthe Amazon
Egypt’s Nile Delta and Desert Oasis March 18-30, 2007
Follow Dr. Tarek Swelim
on this exploration of Alexandria and desert tombs temples, and mud villages
"d French Caves, Castles, & Canvases June 9-19, 2007
Join Dr. Margaret Conkey as we explore the rich prehistory, history, and art traditions of Southwestern France Zi Vil
E( ‘~ ROW (ANYON
None Le ay ARCHAEOLOGICAL CENTER Nowe
For more information on scholars & explorations or a free catalog;
800.422.8975 / www.crowcanyon.org
OUT SEH ERE
Crash!
A close encounter of the cometary kind
By Charles Liu
he term “astrogeology” (from the Greek for “earth’’) is either an overgen-
“star” and eralization or an oxymoron. If youre an astrogeologist, do you study Earth, or the universe beyond Earth, or both? And if you study both, what else is left? So, let’s avoid the paradox by defining astrogeology as the study of cosmic ob-
jects with the methods and tools de-
veloped for studying our own planet.
It’s easy to see the attraction of this rapidly growing subfield of astronomy. What rock hound wouldn’t love to chisel into a Martian mountain or crack open a geode on Ganymede? And tru- ly dedicated astrogeologists aren’t about to be deterred by something so mun- dane as, say, a multimillion-mile com- mute. With scientific ingenuity, no stone 1s too far out in the solar system to stay unturned.
Maybe the most explosive example of astrogeological research so far is the Deep Impact mission, led by Michael F A’Hearn, an astronomer at the Uni- versity of Maryland in College Park. On July 3, 2005, the Deep Impact space probe released an 800-pound, battery- powered “smart impactor” the size of a washing machine into the path of Comet 9P/Tempel 1, then some 80 million miles from Earth. Twenty-four hours later, cameras on probe and pro-
jectile, as well as elsewhere in space and
on Earth, snapped away as comet and impactor barreled toward each other at more than 20,000 miles an hour. Then, caught on images that will be analyzed for years to come, came the ultimate Independence Day fireworks.
The energy of the crash, which pul- verized the impactor into a fine cop- pery must, was like detonating nearly
five tons of TNT or— for those of us who enjoy more visually en- gaging comparisons— like dropping 800,000 baby grand pianos out of a very large third- story picture window. But aside from the visceral joy of watching, what's the point of causing such a crash? First of all, the collision gouged a hole in the side of a comet the size of a foot- ball field and an estimated hundred feet deep. That gave astronomers the first- ever view beneath the surface of one of those mysterious wanderers. Maybe just as important, knowing a bit more about what’ inside a comet might help hu- manity avoid extinction if we ever dis- cover a comet streaking toward Earth.
CG omet Tempel 1 is, by all mea- sures, an ordinary comet, orbit- ing the Sun in the region between Mars and Jupiter. That was just fine with A’Hearn and his collaborators: studying a typical example from a group of objects gives more insight about the group than the extreme cases do. But examine anything close- ly enough, and it becomes interesting. Intensive studies of Tempel 1, done well before the impact, showed that even such an undistinguished comet 1s an intriguing object. Shaped like a fist, and less than five miles across at its widest, Temple 1 is covered with pits and pockmarks left by more than 4 bil- lion years of cosmic collisions. Comets are thought to have formed early in the solar system’s history and to have undergone little geologic change since that time. Hence their internal
Comet 9P/Tempel 1 is pictured sixty-seven seconds after Deep Impact’s impactor was intentionally crashed into it at 20,000 miles per hour. The collision created a bright burst of light at the point of impact. The photograph was made by the main Deep Impact spacecraft.
composition should hold fossilized clues about the chemical origins of the plan- ets. From thousands of spectroscopic ob- servations made before and after the col- lision, the Deep Impact team was able to determine the relative proportions of the elements and compounds that orig- inally made up the comet and the ma- terial ejected by the impact.
The data showed that, in the two- tenths of a second following the im- pact, the temperature of the impact site flashed above 2,000 degrees Fahren- heit. More than a thousand tons of ma- terial were thrown into space: comet- stuff containing water vapor, carbon dioxide, cyanide gas, and an unex- pectedly large amount of organic mat- ter rich in carbon and hydrogen atoms.
But the water vapor, surprisingly, made up only a small fraction of the ejected material—not what you'd ex- pect if, according to conventional wis- dom, comets are made mostly of ice. Deep Impact’s preliminary results thus seem to confirm a more recent propos- al: that comets are made mostly of rock, not ice. In short, they may be “snowy dirtballs” instead of “dirty snowballs.”
if n one sense, Deep Impact did its job
too well. The collision kicked up so
much cometary material, which in (Continued on page 74)
Advertisement
TV Ears’ has helped thousands of people hear television clearly without turning up the volume.
> g ore than 28 million Americans have some degree of hearing loss. If you struggle to hear TV, or fami- A. V SA ly members complain the TV is too loud, you need TV Ears’! TV Ears’ is a powerful new device that has helped thousands of people with mild, moderate, or severe hearing loss hear the television clearly without turning up the volume. Now you can listen to television
at your own level while others may adjust the volume to fit theirs. TV Ears’ helps you hear every word clear- ly. Imagine watching your favorite programs, and actually being able to
hear every word and sound—it will
Room to charge two headsets simultaneously.
change your life! If you are dealing
with the frustration and arguments that come with turning up your TV volume too loud...read on.
From George Dennis, president and founder of TV Ears, Inc. “The inspiration for TV Ears was based on the well-known statistic that nearly 80% of people with hearing loss go undiagnosed and untreated for a vari- ety of reasons which may include vanity or cost of treatment. TV Ears has proven to be an appealing product to the average person and an excellent adjusted to the user's personal needs. introduction to those seeking improved hearing health.”
Television Audio Processing. (TAP) The transmitter
processes the audio from your TV or other audio devices and
amplifies regular dialogue, hard to hear voices, and whispers.
* Automatic Volume Control. (AVC) Selectively compresses loud bursts of volume that are annoying when watching a program, channel surfing, or during commercials.
* Infrared technology. TV Ears’ infrared technology provides safe, superior sound quality without interference and frequency drifting. Transmits up to 900 square feet.
* Left-Right balance control. Allows you to adjust the volume for rich, high-quality sound in both ears.
* Individual controls. Multiple headsets can be
Le
eo ] Dn Ears® has \
/ high customer satisfaction!
\
To prove it, we are
offering a special
“Now my husband can have the volume as loud as he
needs...and I can have the TV on “Mute” or at my hearing level. “TV Ears” are so uncumbersome that Jack forgets he has them on! We take them to the movie theater and he can once again hear and understand the dialogue. We have given “TV Ears as a gift to
dear friends. They are absolutely the finest product.” Sincerely
— Darlene and Jack B., CA
Try them yourself! If you aren’t totally amazed...send
them back! We're so sure you'll be absolutely astonished with the increase in sound and clarity when using the TV Ears’, that
we're backing them with firstSTREET’s exclusive in-home 90- day trial. If you aren't completely satisfied, simply return them for the product purchase price.
TV Ears® |tem# 3P-3874 Regular price of $169.95 *Now only...3 credit card payments of $49.95 each. Special FREE shipping - a $17.95 Value.
Free shipping within the contiguous 48 states Only. Ask about our special price on additional headsets.
FREE gift pack—a $20.00 value! ¢ $20 Coupon off your next purchase
¢ Free 6-month subscription to firstSTREET magazine
tSTREET
Please mention promotional code 31068.
For fastest service, call toll-free 24 hours a day
866-254-4708
To order by mail, please call for details, or go to
www.tvearsdirect.com
* Long-lasting charge. You can quickly charge two headsets at the same time, and TV-Ears will function up to 10 hours on a 3-hour charge. Charger included.
1998 Ruffin Mill Road Colonial Heights, VA 23834
Mn. . Eee 22... -_ - ee.
1. ADVENTURE CANADA Travel on the 104-passenger, zodiac- equipped M/S Explorer and discover the art, culture and wildlife of Arctic Canada and Greenland with our team of artists, scientists, and culturalists.
2. ADVENTURE LIFE JOURNEYS Small group travel in the Andes, Amazon, Galapagos, Patagonia, Antarctica, and Central America. Expert local guides lead our cultural and ecological explorations and naturalist cruises.
3. ADVENTURESMITH EXPLORATIONS
Small ship cruise and adventure travel experts. Explore nature up close and in style aboard luxury yachts, small ships and wilderness lodges.
4. ALABAMA GULF COAST Spectacular beaches. Outstanding accommodations. And warmed by sunshine, history, culture and unspoiled natural beauty.
5. AMAZONIA EXPEDITIONS Award-winning Jungle Lodge in the Tamshiyacu-Tahuayo Reserve, shown to have the greatest diversity of mammals in all of the Amazon.
6. AMERICAN CRUISE LINES Enjoy scenic and culturally enriching 7-night cruises through the smooth waters of the inland passages along the eastern U.S. seaboard.
7. ASHFALL FOSSIL BEDS
A real fossil site with 3-dimensionally preserved skeletons of rhinos, horses, and camels, victims of the aftermath
of a supervolcanic eruption. Located in Northeast Nebraska.
8. ATHENA PUBLICATIONS, INC. Athena Review, journal of archaeology, history and exploration, invites you to send for more information on a free issue.
9. BELIZE TOURIST BOARD
Catch the Adventure! From rainforest resort to Barrier Reef. Belize is only 2 hours from the USA. Belize. Mother
Nature’s best kept secret.
10. CALVERT-INVESTMENTS THAT MAKE A DIFFERENCE®
The nation’s largest family of mutual funds that integrate rigorous financial analysis with a thorough assessment of corporate integrity including environmental impact.
11. CHARLES COUNTY, MARYLAND
It’s for the birds! Take a hike! Hunt for fossils, golf, fish, shop. Experience the wild side of the Potomac where eagles soar.
12. CHOOSE CALVERT COUNTY, MARYLAND
Less than an hour from Washington D.C. you can discover Chesapeake Bay history. Hunt along sandy beaches for over 600 fossil species at the 15-million-year-old Calvert Cliffs. Hike 15 miles of trails and more.
13. CODY, WYOMING
Yellowstone National Park, Buffalo Bill’s Historical Center, outdoor fun, rodeos, family fun and more. Free guide.
14. CROW CANYON ARCHAEOLOGICAL CENTER Small-group cultural adventures led by world-renowned scholars explore some of the world’s most interesting locations.
15. DORCHESTER COUNTY, MD Destination Dorchester—Home to world-renowned Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, excellent paddling, cycling, fishing and hunting; explore the heart of Chesapeake Country on Maryland’s Eastern Shore.
16. EARTHJUSTICE
Earthjustice is a nonprofit law firm dedicated to protecting the magnificent places, natural resources, and wildlife of this earth by enforcing and strengthening environmental laws.
17. ECOTOUR EXPEDITIONS
Take a walk on the wild side: Explore nature with our small groups and skilled naturalist guides in the Amazon, Galapagos, Costa Rica, Peru, and Brazil. Since 1989.
18. EGYPT Where history began and continues. There’s never been a better time to visit Egypt. Live the adventure you’ve always dreamed about.
19. FREDERICK COUNTY, MD Maryland’s Crossroads of History. Antiques, Battlefields, Covered Bridges, Parks, Wineries and more, close to Gettysburg and DC.
20. GALAPAGOS TRAVEL Specializing in comprehensive, educationally-oriented, professionally- led natural history tours of the Galapagos Islands. Spend 11 or 15 days touring all the significant outer islands.
21. G.A.P. ADVENTURES
Small group adventures, safaris and expeditions to all 7 continents. With a focus on culture, nature and sustainable tourism. We offer authentic, grassroots travel experiences.
22. INTRAV
Innovative deluxe touring opportunities around the globe for discerning travelers since 1959. European River cruises, private-jet adventures, and unique land based journeys.
23. ISLAND PRESS
Island Press is a leading publisher of books about the environment for professionals, students, and general readers-from solutions oriented books for working professionals to books on ideas that inform and inspire.
24. JOHNS HOPKINS UNIV. PRESS Celebrating 150 years of publishing for the world. Books about nature and science.
25. MARYLAND VACATIONS Beaches, mountains, big cities, small towns. Maryland has so many things to do, so close together.
26. MELANISIAN TOURIST SERVICES
Luxury expedition cruising throughout the Sepik River and Trobriand Islands aboard the “MTS Discoverer.” Customized land arrangements.
yaoi ae ne
27. MONTGOMERY COUNTY, MARYLAND
Experience transportation history along the C & O Canal and the National Capital Trolley Museum. So many things to do with easy access to the nation’s capital.
28. NEW BRUNSWICK, CANADA From the World’s Highest Tides in the Bay of Fundy to rivers that reverse their flow. . . there are no small wonders in New Brunswick, Canada!
29. NEWFOUNDLAND & LABRADOR
Travel back 1,000 years to North America’s only authentic Viking settlement at the L’Anse aux Meadows UNESCO World Heritage Site. Free Travel Guide.
30. NEW MEXICO
Where unparalleled scenic beauty, outdoor adventure, world-renowned art and cultural diversity rest under the same magical sunset.
31. NEW ORLEANS This town is happenin’ every day.
32. NORTH CAROLINA OUTER BANKS
The Outer Banks of NC—Immerse yourself in culture and history. Here anytime is quality time.
33. NOVA SCOTIA
Yes, please send me my FREE 400 page Nova Scotia Doer’s & Dreamer’s Travel Guide— packed with everything I need to plan and book my vacation.
34. ORIENT LINES
Explore Scandinavia and Russia. Cruise to the Mediterranean’s most glamorous playgrounds. Enjoy luxury at sea, aboard the elegant mid-sized ships sophisticated travelers prefer.
35. PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND, CANADA
Come experience our unique red cliffs and parabolic sand dunes and hike or bike the Confederation Trail across our Island.
36. PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY, MD Wonderful museums and historic sites, the National Wildlife Sanctuary, affordable accommodations and much more. All just minutes from Washington, DC.
37. PROMPERU
Peru has it all. Fascinating history, as the land of the Incas, incredible nature with more than 1,800 species of birds and colorful traditional culture. Come to Peru.
38. SCOTLAND
Vibrant cities are one thing, breathtaking views another, but in the end, it is the soaring spirit of the Scottish people you will recall most fondly.
39. SERIOUS TRAVELER
Cultural Tours. Small Groups. Exotic Destinations. Craft Tours. Libya, Iran, India, Faroes, Apulia, Tibet, Myanmar, Silk Road, Kenya and much more! Travel Concepts International.
40. SOL INTERNATIONAL
We specialize in South America, offering exceptional nature and cultural programs to areas where wildlife abounds and indigenous communities are unspoiled.
41. SWAN HELLENIC CRUISES Ocean and sea cruises, expedition and river cruises all with the accent on discovery. Exotic destinations and distinguished guest speakers.
42. TALBOT COUNTY, MD
Talbot County’s five beautiful rivers, 602 miles of shoreline, unique charming hamlets St. Michaels, Oxford, Tilghman Island and Historic Easton offer a timeless treasury of natural beauty and history.
43. TARA TOURS
Tara Tours specialize in travel to Central and South America since 1980. Free brochures and quotes.
44. TERRA INCOGNITA ECOTOURS For trips that make a difference to you and to the places we visit. Trek Mountain Gorillas, snorkel on Barrier Reefs, rainforest hikes, whitewater rafting, and more.
or request to: ans
Oey.
45. THE GREAT STATE OF TEXAS Discover a vacation you never knew existed. Discover mountains, prairies, open skies and endless coastlines. Discover it all in your FREE Texas State Travel Guide. Discover why Texas really is like a whole other country.
46. THE ST. JOE COMPANY
The St. Joe Company offers the greatest choice of authentic, organic, and original places to live, work, and escape in Florida.
47. TILLER INTERNATIONAL TOURS INC.
LADAKH SIKKIM BHUTAN— Wondrous eco/cultural tour from arid western Himalayas to the temperate forested eastern range, where Tibetan religion meets the 21st century.
48. TOYOTA
As Toyota continues to expand our U.S. operations, we’re working to create even more jobs and opportunities across the country. Learn more about our ten manufacturing plants, sales and marketing operations, design and R&D facilities, and how we invest in local communities.
49. TUCSON
Tucson, Real. Natural. Arizona Discover a whole new side of nature in our fascinating desert landscape. And the weather’s perfect for exploring our spectacular scenery any time of year.
50. WORCESTER COUNTY, MARYLAND
Maryland’s only seaside county. Visit Assateague Island National Seashore. Kayak, canoe, bird watch or golf. Stay in one of our many Bed & Breakfast Inns.
51. ZEGRAHM EXPEDITIONS Offers small-group expeditions to remote locations around the world. Expertly led and staffed, our programs provide the finest adventure travel experience imaginable.
74
OUT THERE
(Continued from page 70)
turn reflected so much sunlight, that the cloud of comet dust obscured the impact crater from view. By the time the cloud cleared, the Deep Impact mother ship had already flown too far away from the comet to get a clear look at the crater bottom. So A’Hearn and his collaborators still cannot give an ex- act measure of the crater’s depth.
But the gigantic plume from the 1m- pact has led to another important pre- liminary conclusion. The internal struc- ture of Tempel 1 1s downright flimsy. The projectile from Deep Impact didn’t hit a rock or an ice cube or even some- thing in between. Instead 1t whacked in- to a loosely packed ball, assembled slow- ly out of sand and snowflakes over bil- lions of years. The particles did not get cemented together by melting and reso- lidification, and apparently are barely held together by gravity.
So what? Consider this: If a killer comet bound for Earth were equally flimsy, we earthlings probably couldn’t use a single powerful rocket to push or pull it off its collision course. Instead, the comet would break apart, leaving most of its deadly mass still hurtling to- ward our hapless home.
A days after the historic colli- sion, the Deep Impact mother ship was still fully operational. So a big ques- tion loomed: Should the trajectory of the spacecraft be adjusted to fly by Comet Tempel 1 again, in 2011, to get a fresh look at the crater after the dust has settled? After weighing the options, A’Hearn’s team decided instead to aim the space probe toward another comet, 85P/Boethin, for a rendezvous in 2008. If all goes as planned, a little more than two years from now astronomers will once more get a close-up view of an icy cosmic dirtball. Since the Deep Impact impactor 1s nothing but interplanetary vapor now, though, we’ll all have to do without the Fourth of July fireworks.
CHARLES LIU is a professor of astrophysics at the City University of New York and an associate with the American Museum of Natural History.
NATURAL HISTORY April 2006
THE SKY IN APRIL
On April 8, one day after passing aphe- lion (its farthest point from the Sun), Mercury reaches its greatest western elongation. One might hope for good viewing, since the planet attains its greatest possible angular separation from the Sun—twenty-eight degrees. But for observers at mid-northern lat- itudes, that morning's apparition 1s the poorest of the year, because Mercury is well to the south of the Sun and hugs the eastern horizon for much of the month. On the 8th, Mercury shines at magnitude 0.3. Because the planet rises less than fifty-five minutes before the Sun, however, it is soon lost in the glare of sunrise.
Venus is the brightest morning “star” this month, but it blazes low in the east-southeast during the first light of dawn. As the sky brightens and Venus rises, the planet appears to fade and shrink. This month, it gets a little low- er and less brilliant each week. On the morning of the 18th Venus has a close encounter with Uranus, the seventh planet from the Sun. With Venus as a guide, use binoculars to find a small, greenish-blue “star” just 0.3 degree below and slightly to the right of Venus. That “star” is Uranus. On the 24th Venus and the waning crescent Moon pair up in dawn’s early light.
As evening twilight ends, Mars is in the western sky, nearly halfway be- tween the horizon and zenith (the point directly overhead). This month the Red Planet continues to fade and shrink as it speeds eastward from the constellation Taurus, the bull, and in- to the constellation Gemini, the twins, by the 14th. Two evenings lat- er it is midway between the orange star Aldebaran, in Taurus, and the yel- low star Pollux, in Gemini. A fat cres- cent Moon hovers well above Mars on the evening of the 3rd.
As April begins, Jupiter rises in the east- southeast about an hour and a quarter after evening twilight. The planet is
By Joe Rao
about two and a half degrees east of the star Alpha Librae. Each night, Jupiter moves a bit farther to the west; on the night of the 24th and 25th it passes one degree north of the star, the second of three conjunctions the pair has in 2006.
Saturn, in the constellation Cancer, the crab, rides high in the south-south- west as darkness falls and doesn’t set until well past midnight all month. In a telescope the rings are tilted twenty degrees toward Earth. After this month, you won't see the rings tipped this far again until 2014! In fact, in three years the rings will be edge-on to our line of sight. On the evening of the 6th, Saturn is situated below a waxing gibbous Moon.
The Moon waxes to first quarter on the 5th at 8:01 A.M. and to full on the 13th at 12:40 pM. It wanes to last quarter on the 20th at 11:28 pM. and to new on the 27th at 3:44 PM.
On the 1st, observers across much of eastern North America can watch as a waxing crescent Moon occults, or crosses in front of, the main body of the Pleiades star cluster, in Taurus. With binoculars or a low-power tele- scope, watch between about 7:20 and 9:40 P.M. as each jewel-like star in the Pleiades abruptly winks out behind the Moon’s dark side and, later, sud- denly reappears from behind the sun- lit crescent. The Moon’s dark portion will likely be dimly lit by earthshine, giving it a mottled blue-gray and yel- low-white cast. For observers in the central and western states, the Moon edges just to the east of the cluster as darkness falls.
Daylight saving time returns for much of Canada and the United States on Sunday, the 2nd. Remember to “spring ahead,” and set clocks for- ward one hour.
Unless otherwise noted, all times are giv- en in eastern daylight time.
PETTERS
(Continued from page 12)
tant varieties of cotton that could minimize losses to weevils. Starting Life Thank you, Antonio Lazcano, for your summary of the most up-to-date information on how life began [““The Origins of Life,’ 2/06]. Since the sev- enth grade I have been curious about how life got started, and I’ve won- dered what great advances in such knowledge would occur in my life- time (I’m now sixty-four). I have been well satisfied with the progress so far! Joanne R. Polner
Franklin Lakes, New Jersey
Antonio Lazcano has drawn together an excellent comprehensive summary of the many plausible physical phe- nomena that may have led to the be- ginning of life: heterotrophic theory, hydrothermal vents, Miller-Urey re- actions on Earth’s soupy surface, a
pre-RNA world, an RNA world, and seeding from meteorites or other planets. It would be wrong, however, to conclude that, because the list is long, scientists are conflicted and that therefore life began by means of su- pernatural processes. The fact that there are so many plausible ways to create life from inanimate material makes it even more likely that life originated by natural means.
Fred Haag
Burnt Hills, New York
deGrasse Tyson’s statements in “Fire and Ice” [12/05-1/06]: If the fastest
known speed is that of light and other
electromagnetic waves—186,000 mules per second—how could the universe expand to “about a thousand times the size of our solar system” one second after the big bang?
John Stiles
Johnston, Towa
4 Edward O. Wilson
Nature Revealed
SELECTED WRITINGS, 1949-2006
[wo-Time 7 wth Winner of the
Pulitzer Prize
“Edward Wilson is among the great scientists, thinkers, and authors of my lifetime. In this book he gathers and places in context his own key writings from 1949 to
the present. The result is
f
_ both a moving book and a
treasure for those interested in science and history.” —JARED DIAMOND, author
of Guns, Germs, and Steel
“A fascinating collection from one of the most influential thinkers of our time.”
—STEVEN PINKER, author of How the Mind Works and The Blank Slate
$35.00 hardcover
THE JOHNS Hopkins UNIVERSITY PRESS ¢ 1-800-537-5487 * www.press.jhu.edu
NEIL TYSON REPLIES: John Stiles was not the only one who wrote a letter asking this question. The cosmic speed limits imposed by relativity are specific to movement within a pre-existing space, such as what
was described in Einstein’s special theory of relativity. The speed of light caps the rate at which informa- tion can be communicated from one place to another.
In Einstein’s general theory of rela- tivity, the modern theory of gravity, space itself can stretch—at any speed whatsoever. Meanwhile, the speed of ordinary light and matter remains bounded by the speed of light in a vacuum.
Natural History welcomes correspondence
from readers. Letters should be sent via
e-mail to nhmag@naturalhistorymag. com or by fax to 646-356-6511. All letters should include a daytime telephone number, and all letters may be edited for length and clarity.
Bonds hundreds of materials including wood, stone, metal, ceramic & more! Incredibly strong & 100% waterproof!
Extra Thick. Extra Stick. New Gorilla Tape sticks to things ordinary tapes simply can’t
At the Museum
AMERICAN MUSEUM o NATURAL HISTORY 1)
www.amnh.org
Moveable Museum Fleet Expands
inosaurs: Ancient Fossils, New
Discoveries is the latest addi-
tion to the Museum’s fleet of Moveable Museums—converted recre- ational vehicles outfitted as state-of- the-art, walk-in exhibition spaces. This newest Moveable complements the Museum’s recent special exhibition of the same name, focusing on the latest findings in paleontology, and is made possible through the generous corpo- rate support of Bloomberg.
Inside, the vehicle will be divided into three primary zones. “Age of Dino- saurs” will let visitors examine fossil evidence to understand what may have caused the mass extinction about 65 million years ago. “Mesozoic Mysteries’
7
will consider questions about dinosaur diet, movement, and behavior. The final zone, “Bird-Dino Connection,” will feature a diorama re-creating a 130- million-year-old prehistoric forest in what is now Liaoning Province, China.
Interactive activities, interpretive mod- els, captivating video presentations, and numerous fossil specimens that visitors can touch ensure that the Museum’s newest Moveable Museum will offer ex- citing learning opportunities for all ages.
All four Moveable Museums—Dino- saurs: Ancient Fossils, New Discoveries, The Paleontology of Dinosaurs, Structures & Culture, and Discovering the Uni- verse—are free of charge and available
Center for
Biodiversity and Conservation
Spring Symposium
Conserving Birds in Human-Dominated Landscapes: Weaving a Common Future
Thursday and Friday, April 27 and 28 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Visit www.amnh.org for details.
= 4 2 - . B : .
year-round for school programs, sum- mer programs, and community events throughout New York City. All school programs include a pre-visit teacher workshop, in-class lessons with Museum Educators, and a visit to the Moveable Museum.
For more information, please contact Kevin Orangers, Manager of the Move- able Museum Program, at 212-769-5138.
The Dinosaurs: Ancient Fossils, New Discoveries Moveable Museum is generously supported by Bloomberg. Founding support for the Paleontology of Dinosaurs Moveable Museum was provided by the children and grandchildren of Irma and Paul Milstein. Additional gen- erous support provided by The Barker Welfare Foundation The Structures & Culture Moveable Museum is gener- ously supported by Citigroup. The Discovering the Uni- verse Moveable Museum is made possible through the generous support of the Charles Hayden Foundation. Additional support for the Moveable Museum program is provided by KeySpan Energy.
Museum Shop Online www.amnh.org
The Museum Shop is a lively marketplace of wonders that reflect the Museum’s exhibitions on human cultures, the natural world, and the universe. Now, 24 hours a day, you can browse and purchase a variety of merchandise from around the world that will satisfy the curious of all ages. Purchases support the education and research endeavors of the American Museum of Natural History.
PEOPLE AT THE AMNH~
Craig Chesek Senior Photographer Department of Communications
New Book on AMNH Dioramas: Windows on Nature
and sometimes eccentric artists and naturalists who made the dioramas; eye-opening explanations of the art and technology of diorama illusion; and in- formation about the species and loca- tions depicted, including the role of dio- ramas in the conservation movement.
he American Museum of Natural
History in partnership with Harry N. Abrams, Inc., has published the first and definitive book on the Museum’s famous habitat dioramas. Titled Windows on Nature: The Great Habitat Dioramas of the American Museum of Natural History and authored by Stephen C. Quinn, the richly illustrated volume, available in both hardcover and softcover editions, showcases the Museum’s world- renowned habitat dioramas as superb examples of art in the service of science.
Also included are background on the development of dioramas as an art form, the Museum’s preeminent role in the history of dio- ramas, the fascinat- ing and sometimes mind-boggling tech- niques of diorama making, and the current state of diorama art.
WINDOWS ON NATURE
hen Craig Chesek first saw an ad
for a photographer specializing in shooting gems, minerals, and artifacts, he responded quickly. The job description closely fit his interests and background as acommercial photographer. But as Senior Photographer, Craig has had the opportunity to photograph much more than he signed up for.
After a decade at the Museum, Craig has photographed items as varied as the Star of India and a newly named species of bird, along with prominent figures such as Harrison Ford, Maya Angelou, and the Dalai Lama. His work has been featured in many of the Museum’s exhibi- tions as well as Museum-related publica- tions, including Windows on Nature. Over the years, he has seen the Photo Studio shift from strictly film to almost entirely digital, with all the associated challenges and advantages this transition entails. He works daily to maintain “order in the universe” of the photo archives and to service all Museum departments in need of the Studio's assistance.
While his work has brought him to several exotic and distant locales, Craig’s favorite assignment was a
The book includes full-color pho- tographs of more than 40 featured dioramas, rarely seen historical pho- tographs from the Museum’s archives, and an informative, entertaining de- scription of each diorama.
Stephen C. Quinn is an artist and a naturalist and Senior Project Man- ager in the Department of Exhibition
at the Museum.
Windows on Nature is available in Museum Shops in hardcover for $40.00, and in a special softcover edition, available exclusively at the Museum, for $27.95.
Readers will encounter tales of adven- ture and intrigue in the development and creation of individual dioramas; stories about the brilliant, passionate,
The Butterfly Conservatory
The perennially popular Butterfly Conservatory has been extended and will now
HNWV/NINNIJ “G
be on view until June 23! Visitors can stroll among up to 500 live butterflies while learning about their life cycle and conservation efforts, and, with luck, one of the spectacular tropical beauties might perch on an outstretched finger or an upturned head.
This exhibition is made possible, in part, through the generous support of JPMorgan Chase.
location shoot in Mauritania, Africa, to document Museum scientists conduct- ing field research among 900-million- year-old stromatolites, a specimen of which is now on view in the Gottesman Hall of Planet Earth.
A self-professed “two wheel junkie,” Craig commutes to work daily on a bicy- cle, or, when he can, his motorcycle. He has motorcycled cross-country twice, totaling 19,000 miles, to visit and photo- graph numerous national parks.
THE CONTENTS OF THESE PAGES ARE PROVIDED TO NATURAL History BY THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
Museum Events
AMERICAN MUSEUM 6 NATURAL HISTORY i)
EXHIBITIONS
Darwin
Through August 20, 2006 Featuring live animals, actual fossil specimens collected by Charles Darwin, and manu- scripts, this magnificent exhi- bition offers visitors a com- prehensive, engaging exploration of the life and times of Darwin, whose discoveries launched modern biological science.
The American Museum of Natural History gratefully acknowledges
The Howard Phipps Foundation
for its leadership support.
Significant support for Darwin
has also been provided by
Chris and Sharon Davis,
Bill and Leslie Miller, the Austin Hearst Foundation, Jack and Susan Rudin, and Rosalind P. Walter.
Additional funding provided by
the Carnegie Corporation of New York,
Dr. Linda K. Jacobs, and the
New York Community Trust—
Wallace Special Projects Fund.
Darin is organized by the American Museum of Natural History, New York (www.amnh.org), in collaboration with the Museum of Science, Boston; The Field Museum, Chicago; the Royal Ontario Mu- seum, Toronto, Canada; and the Natural History Museum, London, England.
The Butterfly Conservatory Through June 23, 2006
A return engagement of this popular exhibition includes up to 500 live, free-flying tropical butterflies in an enclosed habitat that approximates their natural environment.
This exhibition is made possible, in part, through the generous support of JPMorgan Chase.
Voices from South of the Clouds Through July 23, 2006
China’s Yunnan Province is re- vealed through the eyes of the indigenous people, who use photography to chronicle their culture, environment, and
daily life.
The exhibition is made possible by a gener-
ous grant from Eastman Kodak Company. The presentation of this exhibition at the American Museum of Natural History is
made possible by the generosity of the Arthur Ross Foundation.
Vital Variety
Ongoing
Beautiful close-up photo- graphs highlight the diversity of invertebrates.
LECTURES
76th Annual James Arthur Lecture: Are Human Brains Unique?
Monday, 4/3, 6:00 p.m. Michael Gazzaniga, Sage Center for the Study of Mind, University of California, Santa Barbara, will discuss his research on the mysteries of the human brain.
Art/Sci Collision:
Brandon Ballengée
Thursday, 4/20, 7:00 p.m.
The art projects and installa- tions created by Brandon Ballengée are scientific collaborations meant to engage the public in the broader discussion of envi- ronmental issues.
The First Human
Tuesday, 4/25, 7:00 p.m.
Ann Gibbons will talk about
the race to find the “missing link” and her book, The First
Human: The Race to Discover Our Earliest Ancestors.
Old women chatting
The 2006 Mack Lipkin Man and Nature Lecture: Biodiversity and the Evolu- tionary Roots of Beauty Thursday, 4/27, 7:00 p.m. Renowned ecologist Gordon Orians delves into the intri- cate relationship between humans and nature.
FIELD TRIPS & WORKSHOPS Spring Bird Walks
in Central Park
Four series of eight weekly walks begin Tuesday, April 4. With naturalists Stephen C. Quinn, Joseph DiConstanzo, and Harold Feinberg.
Animal Drawing
Eight Thursdays, 4/6-5/25 7:00-9:00 p.m.
Learn about the gifted artists who created the world-class dioramas as you sketch sub- jects in their “natural” environ- ments with Stephen C. Quinn.
FAMILY AND CHILDREN’S PROGRAMS Science in the Galapagos: Bird Adaptations
Sunday, 4/2, 11:00 a.m.—
12:00 noon and 1:00-2:00 p.m. (Ages 5-7, each child with
one adult)
Join science educator Amy O'Donnell for an introduction
wn > 2 a ac m = e 5 (a) 2 ao} 3E (e} = io} < ie) fay m
‘(NVWOM I¥8 G1O-YVv3A-SP) VNHIT VOHZ
www.amnh.org
to some of the plants and ani- mals of the Galapagos.
Observing Worms
Sunday, 4/30, 11:00 a.m.— 12:30 p.m.
In this hands-on workshop with Museum biologist Eliza- beth Nichols, observe live worms and learn how they transform the soil.
New! Cosmic Collisions Wednesday, 4/5, 4:00-5:30 p.m. See the new Space Show, Cosmic Collisions, and follow up with an in-depth work- shop exploring the science behind the show.
New! Cosmic Splat!
Sunday, 4/9, 11:00 a.m.—
12:30 p.m. (Ages 4-5, each child with one adult) and 1:30-
3:00 p.m. (Ages 6-7, each child with one adult)
In this hands-on workshop, ex- plore the forces that drive the universe.
Space Explorers: Behind the Scenes of Cosmic Collisions Tuesday, 4/11, 4:30-5:30 p.m. (Ages 10 and up)
STARRY NIGHTS Live Jazz
ROSE CENTER FOR EARTH AND SPACE 6:00 and 7:30 p.m. Friday, April 7 HoJos
The 7:30 p.m. set will be broadcast live on WBGO Jazz 88.3 FM.
Starry Nights is made possible, in part, by Constellation NewEnergy and Fidelity Investments.
HNWYV
Artist’s conception of the formation of our Moon from the new Space Show Cosmic Collisions
On the second Tuesday of each month, kids (and their parents) can learn under the stars of the Hayden Planetarium.
Dr. Nebula’s Laboratory: Wind and Water
Sunday, 4/23, 2:00-3:00 p.m. A storm is brewing in Dr. Nebula’s lab! Join Scooter for a whirlwind adventure as she dodges tornadoes and other forces of nature.
AMNH SPRING CAMPS Monday-Friday, 4/17-4/21 9:00 a.M.—4:00 p.m.
New! Meet the Beetles: Darwin Adventures (For 2nd and 3rd graders)
Destination Space: Stars and Light (For 4th and 5th graders)
HAYDEN PLANETARIUM PROGRAMS
TUESDAYS IN THE DOME Virtual Universe
Out of This Galaxy
Tuesday, 4/4, 6:30-7:30 p.m.
This Just In... April’s Hot Topics Tuesday, 4/18, 6:30-7:30 p.m.
Become a Member of the American Museum of Natural History
As a Museum Member, you will be among the first to embark on new journeys to explore the natural world and the cultures of humanity. You'll enjoy:
* Unlimited free general
admission to the Museum
and special exhibitions, and discounts on Space Shows and IMAX films
e Discounts in the Museum Shops and restaurants and
on program tickets
¢ Free subscription to Natural History magazine and to Rotunda, our newsletter
¢ Invitations to Members- only special events, parties, and exhibition previews
For further information, call 212-769-5606 or visit www.amnh.org/join.
Celestial Highlights Of Myths and Maps Tuesday, 4/25, 6:30-7:30 p.m.
HAYDEN PLANETARIUM SHOWS
Cosmic Collisions
Journey into deep space— well beyond the calm face of the night sky—to explore cosmic collisions, hyper- sonic impacts that drive the dynamic formation of our universe. Narrated by Robert Redford.
Cosmic Collisions was developed in col- laboration with the Denver Museum of Nature & Science; GOTO, Inc., Tokyo, Japan; and the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum.
Made possible through the generous support of CIT.
Cosmic Collisions was created by the
INFORMATION
American Museum of Natural History with the major support and partnership of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Science Mission Direc- torate, Heliophysics Division
Sonic Vision
Fridays and Saturdays,
7:30 and 8:30 p.m.
Hypnotic visuals and rhythms take viewers on a ride through fantastical dreamspace.
SonicVision is made possible by generous sponsorship and technology support from Sun Microsystems, Inc
LARGE-FORMAT FILMS LeFrak IMAX Theater Galapagos explores the unique fauna of the islands and the surrounding sea.
IMAX films at the Museum are made possible by Con Edison.
Call 212-769-5100 or visit www.amnh.org.
TICKETS AND REGISTRATION
Call 212-769-5200, Monday-Friday, 9:00 a.m.—5:00 p.m., or visit www.amnh.org. A service charge may apply.
All programs are subject to change.
AMNH eNotes delivers the latest information on Museum programs and events to you monthly via email. Visit www.amnh.org to sign up today!
Darwin’s Voyage of Discovery
This intricately detailed model of the HMS Beagle, the ship on which Charles Darwin made his famous voyage to the Galapagos Islands, is made from a variety of exotic woods and is displayed with a handsome brass nameplate. Captains Line 32"
THE MUSEUM
SHOPS
80
Wild Przewalski’s horses graze in the exclusion zone around Chernobyl.
wenty years ago, on April 26,
1986, a reactor at the Cher-
nobyl nuclear power station exploded and burned, spewing radia- tion around the globe and blanketing large swaths of what was then the Soviet Union with heavy contami- nation. Ever since that day, the word “Chernobyl” has become a synonym for “horrific disaster,’ conjuring the lifeless radioactive deserts of Atomic Age sci fi.
Whenever I thought about the irradiated land fifty miles north of Kiev, it always seemed the last place on Earth to go for the study of nat- ural history. Natural history is about life—what plants and animals do. But wouldn’t a search for life in such a dead zone be, at best, oxymoronic? Surely, one would do better studying the natural history of a parking lot.
What I found at Chernoby] instead was an astonishing new ecosystem that defied my gloomy imaginings. The evacuation of more than 300,000 people from an “exclusion zone” surrounding the reactor was a trau- matic interruption of their lives. But the ban on human habitation and activities has enabled an area of 1,800 square miles—almost double the size of Rhode Island, or half a Yellowstone Park—to come back to life. Today Chernobyl] is Europe’s largest nature sanctuary, with rebounding popula- tions of deer, moose, and wild boar.
During more than twenty visits to the zone, I’ve seen wolves in broad daylight, heard the call of an endan- gered lynx at nightfall, and spent hours communing with a herd of rare Przewalski’s horses that were experimentally released into the wild
NATURAL HISTORY April 2006
ENDPAPER eee
Chernobyl
Paradox
By Mary Mycio
there. Like their habitat, they are radioactive—cesium-137 packs into their muscles and strontium-90 into their bones. But to nearly everyone’s surprise, they are also thriving.
he international border between
Belarus and Ukraine cuts the ex- clusion zone into two roughly equal regions, but the border is meaningless to wildlife. When a lone brown bear (one of the few species not to have made a Chernobyl comeback) wan- dered from one region to another, the Ukrainians thought it came from Belarus, and the Belarusians thought it came from Ukraine. As for the bear, it disappeared, with no hint of its ori- gins or clue to its destination.
Of course, birds, too, are indiffer- ent to borders. In February migrating swans infected with avian flu virus arrived in western Europe from an unusually frigid Ukraine and Russia. But birds are not indifferent when it comes to choosing between places where people live and places where they don’t. As many as 280 species of birds have appeared around Cherno- byl, including such rare species as black storks and aquatic warblers.
Birds that nest in places highly contaminated with strontium-90 can suffer. The isotope mimics calcium and accumulates in eggshells, bom-
barding embryos with beta particles. Some species, such as barn swallows, have depressed fertility. But for now, at least, the benefits of the human- free habitat seem to outweigh the untoward effects of radiation.
My most memorable encounter with Chernobyl birds was in Belarus, which is restoring some peat mires that the Soviet Union drained for farming. The area is one of the most contaminated places in the country— and on the planet. But the contami- nation is mostly cesium-137, which doesn’t accumulate in eggshells, rather than strontium-90, which does.
When my guide and I arrived, dozens of black storks pierced the air above our van with their red beaks. Thousands of ducks took off in a tornadolike cloud. A blur of mute swans, grey herons, and great white egrets flew deep into the reflooded peat mires.
“Tt’s so beautiful,” I murmured.
“And radioactive,’ said my guide.
“Tf it weren't radioactive,’ I replied, “it would be a farm, and there would be no birds.”
It is Chernobyl’s most profound paradox. The worst nuclear disaster in history wreaked havoc with people’s lives and rendered a vast territory uninhabitable.
But in the absence of humans, Chernobyl’s wildlife is not just doing fine. It is flourishing, beautiful—and radioactive.
Mary Mycrio is an American writer living and working in Ukraine. She is the author of Wormwood Forest: A Natural History of Chernobyl (Joseph Henry Press, 2005). Visit www.chernobyl.in.ua to view a gallery of photographs and read excerpts from her book.
Coin Images Not To Scale _Coin Images Not To Scale
2006 EAGLE 51 To Celebrate the 20th anniversary of 2006 EAGLE 51 FIRST STRIKES FIRST STRIKES ioanaee 9 ; souzae7 002
bem the Silver American Eagles, Ist bse i |
~-NGC FIRST STRIKES --NGC FIRST STRIKES
National Reserve, Ltd. is offering brand new, Gem Brilliant Uncirculated (Gem BU) NGC certified, Year 2006
Silver American Eagle “First Strikes.”
ABSOLUTELY FREE!*
Once our allotment is gone, this offer will be withdrawn. *You pay only the cost of priority shipping & insurance.
© Guaranteed Gem BU “First Strikes” by the Numismatic Guaranty Corporation [NGC]
© NGC “First Strikes” Guaranteed struck before 1/31/06
© Sonically Sealed in Tamper Evident Holder
© One Full Ounce of Pure .999 Fine Silver
© NGC is a preferred grading and authentication service of 1st National Reserve, Ltd.
Ist National Reserve wants to be your rare coin team. Call toll free today... (800) 321-8700
Vault Verification: NNHS406 NEW CUSTOMERS ONLY, NO DEALERS PLEASE All customers will receive a five (5) year subscription to our newsletter ($200 value) at no charge with order. We may contact you from time to time regarding items of interest in the newsletter. * Please allow 2-3 weeks for delivery after receipt of good funds * Once our allotment is gone, this offer will be withdrawn. *You pay only the cost of priority shipping & insurance.
1st National Reserve, Ltd. 120 Shakespeare Beaumont, TX 77706
(800) 321-8700
iNT
SEA-C WELLER 4000 f’=1220m TER
ERLATIVggc HRONOME ser OFFIC CERTIFIED
WWW.ROLEX.COM ROLEX
NEW YORK For an Official Rolex Jeweler call \l-800-367-6539. Rolex w Oyster Perpetual and’Sea-Dweller are trademarks.
.