National Geographic Articles

“Paris: Space for the Soul,” National Geographic (October 2006)

That we should find nature rejuvenating is hardly surprising. After all, our tribe arose not in cinderbelt but in wild forests and grasslands. Our ears are made not for the stinging scream of sirens but for the sly scratch of a predator's paws and the whistle of wind that warns of impending weather. Our eyes evolved to tease apart not the monotonous grays of cityscapes but the subtle gold, olive, and burgundy hues that signaled ripe fruit and tender leaves, and our brains to reward our sensory efforts with feelings of deep pleasure. (MORE...)

“Downside of Upright,” National Geographic (July 2006)

In Karen Rosenberg's laboratory at the University of Delaware, a room packed with the casts of skulls and bones of chimpanzees, gibbons, and other primates, one model stands out: It's a life-size replica of a human female pelvic skeleton mounted on a platform. There is also a fetal skull with a flexible gooseneck wire. The idea is to simulate the human birth process by manually moving the fetal head through the pelvis.  (MORE...) (Field Notes...)

“Dragonflies: Strange Love,” National Geographic (April 2006)

You may have seen their antics on a languid summer day: Somewhere on the reedy fringes of a pond, a male dasher dragonfly pursuing a female, like two hyphens of lightning. Or a tiger-striped spiketail diving, twirling, flashing its gossamer wings, then in a blink, meeting a mate to ascend together into the ether. Or a linked pair of brilliant green darners hovering as one over the dark water, the male towing the female, darting forward, then back, then straight up with the kind of aerial agility of which we masters of the helicopter can only dream. (MORE...) (Field Notes...)

“No Mere Bird,” National Geographic (April 2004)

From a blind overlooking the wetlands of central Wisconsin, I can see a long-legged bird in the distance, a stroke of white curled at the top, like a bright question mark against the emerald green grasses. Then up pops another from the screen of reeds. The birds are yearlings, five feet (1.5 meters) tall, with snow-white plumage and elegant black wing tips that spread like fingers when they fly. They're quiet now, but from the long trachea coiled in their breastbones may come a wild, singing whoop, harsh and thrilling, that gives their tribe its name. (MORE...) (Field Notes...)

“When the Frost Lies White: Winter Wildlife in Japan,” National Geographic (February 2003)

In other seasons there might be 20 of us and only a few of them. But now, in the heart of winter, there are 20 of us and 150 of them. We are Homo sapiens, a gaggle of bird-watchers, scientists, and photographers; they are Grus japonensis, the rare and celebrated red-crowned crane. (MORE...) (Field Notes...)

“How Safe is Our Food?” National Geographic (May 2002)

According to the CDC, each year in the United States 76 million people suffer from foodborne disease; 325,000 of them are hospitalized and 5,000 die. In the developing world contaminated food and water kill almost two million children a year. The epidemiologists in this room are keenly aware that behind the numbing, cold-potato statistics are real people, particularly the very young and the very old, who have suffered debilitating, even lethal, disease from what most of us consider one of life’s less risky activities: eating. (MORE...) (Field Notes...)

“Genetically Modified Foods,” National Geographic (May 2002)

In the brave new world of genetic engineering, Dean DellaPenna envisions this cornucopia: tomatoes and broccoli bursting with cancer-fighting chemicals and vitamin-enhanced crops of rice, sweet potatoes, and cassava to help nourish the poor. He sees wheat, soy, and peanuts free of allergens; bananas that deliver vaccines; and vegetable oils so loaded with therapeutic ingredients that doctors “prescribe” them for patients at risk for cancer and heart disease. A plant biochemist at Michigan State University, DellaPenna believes that genetically engineered foods are the key to the next wave of advances in agriculture and health. (MORE...) (Field Notes...)

“New Eyes on the Ocean,” National Geographic (October 2000)

As the R.V. Thomas G. Thompson steams south from San Diego in the winter of 2000, those of us aboard have a personal demonstration of powerful ocean movement. Heavy swells, walls of gray water from a distant storm in the North Pacific, rock and toss the ship, making the greener among us miserable with seasickness. In the computer lab amidships a notice appears on the bulletin board: “Thought problem: What is the distance to the storm that generated this swell?” It’s a good contemplative problem to take the mind off the heaving sea. But the real purpose of this cruise is to probe a more profound motion hidden beneath the endless hurrying forms of foamy waves and flying spray, a big, deep, mysterious movement of immense consequence. (MORE...) (Field Notes...)

“Dinosaurs Take Wing,” National Geographic (July 1998)
 

“Parasites,” National Geographic (October 1997)

"Islands at the Edge,” National Geographic (August 1997)