National Geographic Magazine

Amazing discoveries and experiences await you in every issue of National Geographic magazine. The latest news in science, exploration, and culture will open your eyes to the world’s many wonders.

FROM THE EDITOR

CONTRIBUTORS

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC EXPLORERS • These contributors have received funding from the National Geographic Society, which is committed to illuminating and protecting the wonder of our world.

POETRY IN PLUMAGE • When a photographer couple turned to feathers, they got a lesson in the science of beauty.

THE BACKSTORY • A FOCUS ON FEATHERS TOOK THESE TWO PHOTOGRAPHERS ON A DAZZLING FLIGHT INTO EVOLUTION.

The Allure of the Uncontacted • NORTH SENTINEL ISLANDERS LIVE AS HUNTER-GATHERERS AND REPEL OUTSIDERS. STILL, THE WORLD WON’T LEAVE THEM ALONE.

SLANDERS OF THE ISLANDERS

DISPATCHES FROM THE FRONT LINES OF SCIENCE AND INNOVATION

SPOTTING AN ADVANTAGE • WHITE MARKINGS ON MONARCH BUTTERFLIES MAY GIVE THE INSECTS A BOOST DURING MIGRATION.

DNA lingers on ancient teeth

CRITTERS THAT ARE MASTERS OF CAMOUFLAGE • AT EVERY STAGE IN THEIR LIVES—FROM EGG TO ADULT—PHASMIDS PROVE TO BE PREY THAT CAN TRICK THEIR PREDATORS.

1,300-YEAR-OLD SILKEN TREASURE • ONE OF CHINA’S MOST REVERED ANCIENT ART FORMS IS BEING EMBRACED BY THE COUNTRY’S YOUTH.

Charleston Reconsidered • WITH THE OPENING OF A LONG-AWAITED MUSEUM ON A HISTORIC WHARF, THIS SOUTHERN CITY IS RECONNECTING WITH ITS COASTLINE—AND RECKONING WITH ITS TRAGIC PAST.

FEATURES

ICE AND FIRE • SCIENTISTS HAVE LONG SUSPECTED THAT AN ISLAND VOLCANO RISING OUT OF THE SOUTH ATLANTIC CONTAINS A RARE LAVA LAKE. TO STUDY IT, THEY HAD TO VENTURE TO ONE OF THE REMOTEST SPOTS ON THE PLANET.

LAKES OF LAVA • Of the roughly 1,350 potentially active volcanoes on Earth, only nine, including Mount Michael, are known to have recently hosted a persistent lava lake: a fiery mass of molten rock that can pool for decades inside a volcanic crater. Rare but revealing, lava lakes help scientists study and forecast phenomena that typically occur out of view. They are also an indication that their volcanoes are less likely to erupt violently.

CLEARING THE AIR • GETTING TO ZERO CARBON EMISSIONS WON’T SAVE THE WORLD. WE WILL NEED TO REMOVE CARBON ON A MASSIVE SCALE. TO DO THAT WILL REQUIRE A PLANETWIDE EFFORT TO MATCH ANYTHING THAT HUMANKIND HAS EVER ACHIEVED.

THE RACE TO REMOVE CARBON

THE METICULOUS HUNT • Up close with a rarely seen orca behavior: turning water into a weapon.

Building on New Soil • In 2000, photographer Jon Lowenstein met a gutsy Mexican transplant named Guadalupe. At the time, “Lupe” was struggling to raise her family in a tough section of Chicago. Lowenstein became an honorary member of the family. Here, he shares a selection of their trials and triumphs, while writer Luis Alberto Urrea brings us along to a recent family celebration—a rich glimpse into the heart of the immigrant experience.

Hispanics at Home • Nearly one in five U.S. residents—63.7 million people—is Hispanic, accounting for more than half the nation’s population growth over the past four decades and 19 percent of the 2020 workforce. As immigration has slowed, recent gains have been driven by births; today two-thirds are U.S. born.

JASPER DOEST • FROM OUR PHOTOGRAPHERS