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.

What Longer Life Could Mean

Embracing Ingenuity, Constantly Evolving

PORTRAITS THAT TRULY SEE THEM • In Uganda, a photographer collaborates with women who have special needs to showcase their individuality and creativity.

THE BACKSTORY • A PHOTOGRAPHER AND A GROUP OF WOMEN WITH DISABILITIES UNITE TO COMBAT STEREOTYPES.

Red, White, and Blue Zones • EARTH’S LONGEST-LIVED PEOPLE DWELL IN FIVE ‘BLUE ZONES’—BUT THEIR HEALTHY WAYS OF EATING CAN BE FOUND IN PARTS OF AMERICA.

Toll of a ‘typical American’ diet

Forebears’ foods

LUJÁN AGUSTI

DISPATCHES FROM THE FRONT LINES OF SCIENCE AND INNOVATION

DREAM WEAVERS, IN REM • AT NIGHT, WHEN JUMPING SPIDERS ARE ASLEEP, IT SEEMS THEY SEE THINGS IN THEIR DREAMS.

From crab shells to batteries

BEST OF THE WORLD • Our annual list highlights travel destinations that educate, illuminate, and spark connections and wonder.

Dodecanese Islands, Greece

TULI BLOCK, BOTSWANA

Louang-phabang, Laos

CHOQUEQUIRAO, PERU

LIVING TO THE LIMITS • FOR A NEW SERIES ON LONGEVITY, ACTOR CHRIS HEMSWORTH TESTS BOTH ACCEPTED AND EXTREME STRATEGIES FOR ENHANCING HEALTH.

FEATURES

LIVING LONGER AND BETTER

HOW OUR CELLS AGE • Over the past three decades, biomedical researchers have identified a number of mechanisms, or “hallmarks,” of aging to explain the cellular and molecular processes that damage cells. Grouped here into three categories, nine of these are at the core of cuttingedge efforts to slow aging—the leading risk factor for many major diseases, including cancer.

FACING THE FACTS

SLAYING ZOMBIES

FOR LOVE OF MANATEES • EXTINCTION LOOMED FOR THESE GENTLE MARINE MAMMALS IN FLORIDA JUST DECADES AGO. PEOPLE RALLIED, AND MANATEE NUMBERS ROSE. BUT RECENT DIE-OFFS ARE WORRYING.

MANATEES ON THE MOVE • Florida’s manatees face an uncertain future as warming seas, agricultural runoff, and septic tank seepage jeopardize their main food source—seagrass. But human activity, in some cases, is helping. Water discharged by power plants, for example, provides an unlikely winter refuge.

GENTLE GRAZERS • Manatees evolved adaptations for harvesting and digesting aquatic plants after their land-dwelling ancestors took to water 50 million years ago. But degradation of their watery habitats puts these “sea cows” at risk.

ONCE OFF LIMITS TO OUTSIDERS, THE HIMALAYAN KINGDOM OF MUSTANG IS NOW OPENING TO THE WORLD…

BUT WILL ITS UNIQUE CULTURE, AND PRICELESS TROVE OF TIBETAN ANTIQUITIES, SURVIVE WHAT’S COMING?

THE KING OF MUSTANG WILL SEE YOU NOW

ANCIENT GATEWAY • Once a pivotal link in the Silk Road network, Nepal’s Mustang district also served as a crossroads for Buddhist scholars, dating back to the 11th century. Following one of the few routes through the Himalaya, merchants traversing Mustang traded Tibetan salt and wool for spices and grains from the Indian subcontinent until the 1950s, when China’s annexation of Tibet closed the corridor.

15TH-CENTURY MASTERPIECE • In its heyday, Lo Manthang, the Kingdom of Lo’s capital, was a center of Tibetan Buddhist art and architecture, including Thubchen Lhakhang, a temple reconstructed here in its original glory. Today, after centuries of isolation, the region is opening up, threatening the Lo-pa people’s cultural heritage.

Ramping Up Tradition • BOLIVIAN SKATEBOARDERS ARE REVIVING INDIGENOUS FASHIONS TO MAKE A STATEMENT.

MATTHIEU PALEY • FROM OUR PHOTOGRAPHERS