Discover 4

Contents

Discover®

SCIENCE FOR THE CURIOUS

APRIL 2018

NASA’S BEST PLANET-HUNTER P.

A Tech Revolution

in Fabrics P.

Aztec Temple

Mystery P.

Evolution in Color P.

Editing

What We

EATP.

NEW GENETIC RESEARCH

Seeing the UnseeableMushrooms' Mystic Might P.10 P.

Hard Truths About Diamonds P.

PLUS

4 DISCOVERMAGAZINE.COM

COLUMNS & DEPARTMENTS

6 EDITOR’S NOTE

On Altered States
Transforming our minds and the
world around us is an ongoing quest.

7 INBOX

Readers weigh in on lost languages
and peanut-eating parrots.

22 VITAL SIGNS

Something Within
A doctor dismisses a boy’s peculiar
health complaints, until a creepy
discovery is made.
BY CLAIRE PANOSIAN DUNAVAN

26 MIND OVER MATTER

Sure, I Miss You. But...
When children leave home, parents
have a chance for a new beginning as
a couple, though plenty of challenges
still remain. BY GALADRIEL WATSON

68 ORIGIN STORY

Our New Past

For decades, a debate has
raged over two competing
models of human evolution.
But researchers keep
finding fossil and genetic
evidence that doesn’t fit either
explanation. BY GEMMA TARLACH

9 THE CRUX

An anthropologist comes

face to face with a killer;

an Aztec excavation reveals

a bounty of human skulls; drug

marketing wields influence

when it comes to doctors’

prescriptions; a previously

unseen celestial object is about

to get its close-up; and more.

70 OUT THERE

Orbital Trailblazer

In its search for exoplanets, NASA

will launch a spacecraft this year

with an orbital trajectory like no

other probe before it. BY STEVE NADIS

74 20 THINGS YOU DIDN’T

KNOW ABOUT ...

Diamonds

Though it may not be forever, this

mineral is the hardest we know of,

manifests as rain inside some gas

planets and, in Renaissance

folklore, was considered

an amulet to ward

off madness.

BY GEMMA TARLACH

TOP: NASA’S GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER. BOTTOM: BILLION PHOTOS/SHUTTERSTOCK

ON THE COVER

NASA’s Best Planet-Hunter p.

Editing What We Eat p.

A Tech Revolution in Fabrics p.

Aztec Temple Mystery p.

Evolution in Color p.

Seeing the Unseeable p.

Mushrooms’ Mystic Might p.

Hard Truths About Diamonds p.

COVER: William Zuback/Discover; DNA and salad elements by

Anna Lopatina/Shutterstock and Elenadesign/Shutterstock

An unprecedented

orbit could help a

NASA probe find

distant planets. Learn

more on page 70.