SCIENCE FOR THE CURIOUSDiscover
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OV
ERLife at the Edge
When day-to-day life grinds along
in its own way for each of us, it
can feel like we’re rolling through in the
muddled-up middle. No clear definition,
not much stark contrast. But slow down
and look a little closer, and it’s apparent that
life is full of extremes.
Often, they’re just too big or small to
catch our eye. Some of these extremes we
take for granted. For others, we aren’t even
aware they’re chugging along, invisible to us.
A theme of extremes runs through this
annual special issue — consider it the
Everything Worth Knowing section on
life at the edge. Take the sun, certainly
an extreme environment. Or the moon,
which is extreme in a much different way.
Or the nature of flight, and how it manifests
in all kinds of animals and contraption-
assisted humans.
We’ll also take you to the weirdo physics
world of absolute zero and researchers’ quest to reach
it. We explore the tiny realm of viruses, explaining
how they infiltrate our cells with precise mastery.
The extreme edge of the dark web comes to life,
as we lay out how that corner of the internet operates.
And we take you to the extreme underground,
far beneath our feet to the giant plates that shape
our planet.
You may know quite a bit about some of these
environments, yet discover new details. You may
learn a whole lot about others. Either way, expect
the romp through these pages to bring life out of that
muddled middle and into sharp focus.
O
«
Becky Lang,
Editor in Chief
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