Contents
4 DISCOVERMAGAZINE.COM
COLUMNS & DEPARTMENTS
6 EDITOR’S NOTE
A Year, With Context
As scientiic research evolves, so does
our coverage of it.
7 INBOX
Readers ponder exoplanet living, sand
forensics and questionable pyramids.
9 THE CRUX
The push to sequence the
DNA of every living species;
a farmer points the way to
an archaeological surprise;
the balance for kids between
sleep, screens and exercise;
the science behind deadly
landslides; a serendipitous
eclipse; and more.
CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: ERIC ISSELEE/SHUTTERSTOCK; HUAN TRAN/GETTY IMAGES; MONTEREY BAY AQUARIUM RESEARCH INSTITUTE AND WYSS INSTITUTE AT HARVARD UNIVERSITY18 VITAL SIGNS
Hard to Swallow
A 70-year-old man’s dificulty with
eating turns out to have a potentially
deadly cause. BY DOUGLAS G. ALDER22 MIND OVER MATTER
Making Sense of
Mommy Brain
Motherhood may rewire the brain,
and not always in expected
ways. BY TEAL BURRELL88 OUT THERE
he Constant
Fight
While astronomers
debate numbers,
the universe hangs
in the balance.^
BY COREY S. POWELL94 ORIGIN STORY
To Sleep, Perchance
to Evolve
Our shut-eye habits may be as
important to our species as walking
upright. BY BRIDGET ALEX98 20 THINGS YOU DIDN’T
KNOW ABOUT ...he Year in Science
New research saves squishy
sea life and explains
the “Atacama Alien,”
but we still want to
know who drilled
a hole in a Soyuz
spacecraft.
BY GEMMA TARLACHMarine biologists have
a gentler way to sample
fragile sea life thanks to a
new, origami-inspired device.“Mommy
Brain” is real,
but it might
not be what
you think.