Discover – June 2019

(lu) #1

4 DISCOVERMAGAZINE.COM


ON THE COVER
Apollo at 50: To the Moon
and Back p.
Digital Detox: A Smartphone
Addict’s Test p.
Buried at Sea: Prehistoric Sites
Rise Again p.
Dragonglass: Not Just the
Stuff of Fantasy p.
Cover credit:
Neil Armstrong/NASA

CONTENTS


COLUMNS & DEPARTMENTS


54


9 THE CRUX


An unusual worm
has a sticky solution
to attacking prey;
an academic
dust-up over what
may be the world’s
oldest fossils;
the eerie beauty
of a toxic algal
bloom; the global
traffic patterns of
human migration;
the high cost of
health care; plus
our top picks for
your summer
reading list.

Return to


Aquaterra


Sea levels were lower for
95 percent of our prehistory.
Today’s oceans may be hiding
archaeological sites that could
upend what we know about
our species. BY GEMMA TARLACH

6 EDITOR’S NOTE


Keep Dreaming


Curiosity and the desire


to explore have always


been in our DNA.


22 VITAL SIGNS


Connect the Dots
A woman’s sudden mania,
furious note-taking and
other strange behaviors
leave her doctors in the
dark. BY ELIEZER J. STERNBERG

26 ORIGIN STORY


The Real
Dragonglass
More than a prop for the
hit series Game of Thrones,
obsidian plays a unique
role in archaeology.
BY GEMMA TARLACH

64 MIND OVER MATTER


Digital Detox
A writer discovers how
dependent she is on her
mobile devices — and what
happens when she ditches
them. BY AMY PATUREL

68 OUT THERE


Protecting Mars
From... Ourselves
As human exploration of the
Red Planet increases, is it
time to rethink stringent rules
about keeping it clean?
BY NOL A TAY LOR RED

74 20 THINGS YOU
DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT ...

Feet
Have you heard of the
International Foot? It
turns 60 in July. We take its
measure, and much more.
BY GEMMA TARLACH

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