Innholdsfortegnelse for February 2013 i National Geographic Magazine

There’s another side to this deadly beauty. Among words you never want to hear, I’d suggest that “There’s a black mamba under your bed” ranks fairly high on the list. About ten years ago my guide and friend Dave Hammon and I were staying in a tree house while on assignment near the Mozambique border. Night was falling; it was getting darker in the room with our uninvited reptilian guest, which had slithered into our midst. The mamba is one of the world’s deadliest snakes. I grew up with rattlesnakes, but a mamba makes a rattlesnake seem like an earthworm by comparison. If we didn’t deal with the problem, no one would be getting any sleep. Fortunately the mamba was lured out of hiding and dispatched. Crisis averted. In addition…

China Frigid festivities abound at the annual Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival in northeastern China. Here a swimmer pumps up enthusiasm before plunging into a pool carved out of the frozen Songhua River. England Sporting feathery gills, a mexican axolotl, about six inches long, paddles around a West Sussex fish tank. the unusual salamander species, whose numbers are dwindling in the wild, retains its larval features as an adult. Italy A plastic swordfish head—possibly a cast replica—makes a curious companion for fish enthusiast maria agnese Cornaro, of Canelli. She received the head as a gift years ago, after hosting a town exhibition of people’s aquariums.…

With the earth’s rotation, a person standing at the equator moves at more than a thousand miles an hour. university of Miami neurologist Deborah Mash found an unsavory ingredient in the fins of seven shark species: a neurotoxin with possible links to parkinson’s, alzheimer’s, and lou gehrig’s disease. called beta-methylamino-lalanine (BMaa), the molecule is made by cyanobacteria, often called blue-green algae, and can accumulate as it travels up the food chain. previous research in guam found that BMaa in bats eaten by locals was the likely cause of a neurodegenerative illness; the bats fed on the seeds of cycad trees with bacteria-harboring roots. Because the bacteria are ubiquitous in the ocean, Mash turned to marine species. Some controversy remains about BMaa detection methods, but Mash believes that with cyanobacterial blooms…

The oceans cover nearly threequarters of Earth, so understanding how currents move around the planet requires stepping off the world. Oceanographers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and MIT turned to satellites that can measure water temperatures and sea heights across the globe. They mixed in wind measurements and other data, then fed everything into a computer model. An animation made from the model revealed a dynamic portrait of surface currents. “Everyone is amazed at how chaotic the ocean is—that water doesn’t flow smoothly from place to place,” says Horace Mitchell, head of NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio. Other visions created this way: atmospheric winds and ice flows. Watch the oceans in motion on our digital editions. ET CETERA On february 15 the asteroid 2012 da14 is expected to pass within 27,000…

Libya’s rich archaeology is all over the map. There’s the extensive Greek site of Cyrene on the eastern coast, the elaborate Roman ruins of Leptis Magna and the Phoenician port of Sabratah on the western coast, the rock-art sites of the Akakus Mountains, and the oasis town of Ghadames in the Sahara. Long neglected, these five World Heritage sites—and many other treasures—were nevertheless protected by the lack of development under Qaddafi. And despite fears of destruction during Libya’s revolution, most sites were undamaged by the turmoil, largely thanks to the efforts of local guards and to the Blue Shield’s “no-strike list,” which provided geographic coordinates to help NATO bombers avoid the sites. Now, as Libya rebuilds, its treasures are under a new threat: development, particularly along the coast. Qaddafi’s rejection…

Michael decided to go for a swim. He was on vacation with his family in Guerrero, Mexico, and it was hotter than blazes. He grabbed his swimming trunks from where they’d been drying on a chair, slid them on, and jumped into the pool. Instead of cool relief, a burning pain ripped through the back of his thigh. Tearing off his trunks, he leaped naked from the pool, his leg on fire. Behind him a small, ugly, yellow creature was treading water. He scooped it into a Tupperware container, and the caretaker of the house rushed him to the local Red Cross facility, where doctors immediately identified his attacker: a bark scorpion, Centruroides sculpturatus, one of the most venomous species in North America. The fierce pain from a sting is…

I am hunting otters with Charlie, the two of us in wet suits, our bodies submerged, level with the sea. The tankers are sliding in toward the piers and gas flares of the oil terminal at Sullom Voe. This is Shetland, at the far northern tip of the British Isles. Helicopters from the North Sea rigs clatter into the airport behind us, but they seem a world away. Charlie Hamilton James has been photographing British otters ever since he fell in love with them during their decline some decades ago, and has followed them obsessively as they have made their way back to health. He knows how to stalk an otter and has told me the technique: Your face as low in the water as it can go, neoprene helmet…

“The viper is dead; the boy will live,” read the caption for this photo, published in the October 1943 issue of National Geographic. “At Kasauli, in the Himalayas, is the Central Research Institute which produces serums against snakebites and rabies. Since the identity of the Russell’s viper was known [the father holds the dead snake at left], the frightened lad has a nine-to-one chance for recovery.” The Indian clinic specialized in producing antivenoms and rabies serums. During World War II it was tasked with producing large enough quantities of all manner of antidotes for both military and civilian use. The Russell’s viper—profuse in many parts of Asia—has one of the deadliest bites. Flashback Archive Find all the photos at ngm.com.…

Blood Ivory Your article on the slaughter of elephants for ivory by turns upset me, angered me, and baffled me. Obviously the only course of action is to make the ivory unavailable or unworthy to the poachers. Is there something that can be fed to the animal that can change the color of the ivory from the inside—or can the tusks be deeply stained from the outside—to make it permanently unusable for the ivory trade without harming the animal? STEVEN F. GRAVER Columbus, Georgia I hope that the ignoramus ivory collector in your story who said, “I don’t see the elephant. I see the Lord,” received a copy of the magazine. Maybe the photographs will improve his vision. BRENDA PETRUZZELLA Columbus, Ohio I find Kenya’s stockpiling of ivory yet burning…

This page features two photographs: one chosen by our editors and one chosen by our readers via online voting. For more information, go to ngm.com/yourshot. EDITORS’ CHOICE Natela Grigalashvili Tbilisi, Georgia While visiting a fishing village in southern Georgia, Grigalashvili couldn’t speak with this Armenian boy. “But he made me understand that he wanted a photo with the fish,” she says. As the shutter snapped, the boy kissed and fondled the fish. READERS’ CHOICE Indranil Mukhopadhyay Woodland Hills, California Clouds added drama as the sun rose over Utah’s Canyonlands National Park one morning last summer. Mukhopadhyay, a software engineer, saw how the rays would enrich the view. “Landscape art,” he says, “is simply being in the right place with the right light.”…

BUTTERFLY PATTERNS | A climate’s changes are tough to quantify. butterflies can help. entomologists prefer “junk species”—the kind of butterflies too common for most collections—to keep up with what’s going on in the insect’s world. they’re easy to find and observe. when they do something unusual, something’s changed in the area. Art shapiro’s team at uc davis monitors ten local study sites, some since the 1970s. the ubiquitous species are the study’s go-tos, helping distinguish between lasting changes (climate warming, habitat loss) and ones that will right themselves (one cold winter, droughts like last year’s). consistency is key; they collect details year after year, no empty data sets between. A few species have disappeared from parts of the study area altogether, probably a lasting change. on the other hand, seemingly…

The bronze likeness of muammar Qaddaf’s nemesis was lying on his back in a wooden crate shrouded in the darkness of a museum warehouse. his name was Septimius Severus. Like Qaddaf, he was from what is now Libya, and for 18 years bridging the second and third centuries A.D. he ruled the Roman Empire. his birthplace, Leptis magna— a commercial city 80 miles east of what the Phoenicians once called Oea, or present-day Tripoli—became, in every meaningful way, a second Rome. more than 1,700 years after the emperor’s death, Libya’s Italian colonizers honored him by erecting a statue of the imposing, bearded leader with a torch alof in his right hand. They installed the statue in Tripoli’s main square (now martyrs’ Square) in 1933—where it remained for a half century,…

ARCHAEOLOGY IS A MESSY BUSINESS. Digging holes—in the dirt, in the sand, and in the rain forest—is essential. Now there’s a new way to search, with no shovels needed. Some 400 miles up in space, satellites collect images that are used to identify buried landscapes with astonishing precision. Like medical scans that let doctors examine parts of the body they couldn’t otherwise see, satellite images help scientists find and map long-lost rivers, roads, and cities, and discern archaeological features in conflict zones too dangerous to visit. “There is much we miss on the ground,” emphasizes University of Alabama at Birmingham archaeologist Sarah Parcak, a pioneer in using satellite imagery in Egypt. “We’ve only discovered a fraction of one percent of archaeological sites all over the world.” Parcak is nudging that…

The khan dreams of a car. Never mind that there isn’t a road. His father, the previous khan, spent his life lobbying for a road. The new khan does the same. A road, he argues, would permit doctors, and their medicines, to easily reach them. Then maybe all the dying would stop. Teachers too could get to them. Also traders. There could be vegetables. And then his people—the Kyrgyz nomads of remote Afghanistan— might have a legitimate chance to thrive. A road is the khan’s work. A car is his dream. “What kind of car?” I ask. “Whatever car you want to give me,” he says. The ends of his mustache curl around a smile. But for now, with no car and no road, the reality is a yak. The…

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC ON TV Killing Lincoln John Wilkes Booth carried out one of American history’s most notorious crimes. His 1865 assassination of Abraham Lincoln is now the subject of a film from executive producer Ridley Scott. Travel back in time this month with the National Geographic Channel to meet the murderer—as well as his many accomplices— and relive the events surrounding that infamous day at Ford’s Theatre. LECTURE SAVAGE MOUNTAIN Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner was the first woman to summit all 14 of the world’s highest peaks without using supplemental oxygen. Join her in Los Angeles and Seattle for tales of her many high-altitude feats, including climbing K2. See nglive.org. TRIP TRAVEL TOGETHER National Geographic’s family trips are designed for travelers of all ages and feature activities like scavenger hunts, rafting trips,…

Iain Couzin National Geographic Emerging Explorer EXPERTISE Swarm behaviorist LOCATION Mauritania Locust swarms eat all the vegetation in their path, seeking protein, salt, and water. When that runs out—sometimes even before—they turn cannibal. Locusts hate to be around each other. They change color and behavior when in groups, and start to form swarms. They’re the Jekyll and Hyde of the insect world. Imagine hopping masses of millions of bugs, each trying to eat the ones in front of it. Mauritania suffers countrywide outbreaks of these swarms. My team and I, studying the outbreaks there, wanted to know more. When I picked up one locust to examine it more closely, my hands swelled up. Toxic chemicals on the insect had reacted in sunlight when they touched my skin. To make matters…

Oregon state University researchers were thrilled in 2009 to discover the formula for a new blue pigment, the first new inorganic blue created in more than two centuries. It was a bonus when they realized the compound was also unusually good at reflecting heat, making it an ideal color to paint energy-efficient roofs and cars of the future. made at 2350°f, the pigment is extremely stable. Its recipe—a mix of yttrium, manganese, and indium oxides—isn’t too complicated either. Unlike dyes, which are made easily using organic compounds, it won’t fade over time. Building companies and car manufacturers are clamoring for various shades of the new pigment, eyeing lower energy costs. White still reigns as the most efficient reflector of solar radiation but is hard to maintain. plus, says mas subramanian,…

U.K. scientists are capturing lightning in a bottle. Harnessing a firefly’s glow—actually, the catalyzing enzyme and its companion fluorescent molecule— can reveal food-borne bacteria such as salmonella, listeria, and E. coli. An extract of potentially compromised food is put in a test tube with the firefly molecules plus a bit of DNA that recognizes the suspected pathogen. Lights on signals that DNA from the food and test DNA match: contamination. What else might the test tube do? Molecular scientist Laurence Tisi hopes it can help spot hospital-acquired infections like MRSA and one day monitor viral loads in HIV/AIDS patients who have little or no access to hospital laboratories.…

For 10,000 years Libya’s location on the Mediterranean attracted nomads, settlers, conquerors, and colonizers. As its population absorbed each wave of newcomers, it slowly forged a Libyan identity. Today evidence of other cultures and history—Greek theaters, Roman amphitheaters, Ottoman palaces, even Italian cafés—is indelibly stamped on this now predominantly Arab country. 2000–100 B.C. Indigenous Berbers were engaging in trade by 900 B.C. with the Phoenicians, who had forged Mediterranean trade routes by 1200 B.C. The Greeks, who called North Africa “Libya,” had settled on the eastern coast by 700 B.C. 100 B.C.–A.D. 400 Phoenician and Greek influence gave way to the Roman Empire, which came to dominate North Africa for 450 years; Libyan-born Septimius Severus ruled the entire Roman Empire from A.D. 193 to 211. A.D. 600–1900 Arabs began spreading…

PATRICK MEIER was sitting in his Medford, Massachusetts, apartment when the January 2010 earthquake struck Haiti. The 35-year-old Tufts Ph.D. candidate was soon assisting quake victims—without even leaving home. Opening his laptop, he mobilized hundreds of volunteers to scrape data points from tweets, text messages, UN reports, and more to build a constantly updated online map. His efforts guided citizens, aid workers, and the U.S. Coast Guard; experts say the map likely saved hundreds of lives. Meier, a Swiss citizen who grew up in Africa, now maps crises all over the world. You caught flak from the UN after the situation in Haiti. Why? Some UN agencies struggled with their response and were slow to mobilize. Meanwhile, a large team of volunteers in snowy Boston mapped the impact of the…

Miles from the main roads, in rural Africa, soccer balls bounce unevenly. Playing fields are arid, lush, weedy, sandy—any flattish space will do. Goalposts might be made of gathered mahogany or driftwood. Some feet are bare, others shod in fraying sneakers, boots, rubber sandals. Yet children kick and chase handmade, lopsided balls with skill and abandon, competing for pride and joy—for the sheer pleasure of playing. Has the “beautiful game” ever been lovelier? Jessica Hilltout doesn’t think so. In 2010, when the World Cup came to Africa for the first time, the Belgium-based photographer set out to see what soccer looked like far from the bright lights and big stadiums. What she found—over seven months, ten countries, and 12,500 miles— was a grassroots game where passion trumped poverty, a do-it-yourself…

A photographer doesn’t always rely on pictures to bring back memories. On his first trip to Libya, in 2008, George Steinmetz bought a watch bearing the face of Muammar Qaddafi. He’s also filled a jar with desert sand and kept dinar notes—souvenirs of the now bygone Qaddafiera. The globe-trotting photographer isn’t shy about acquiring artifacts, from butterflies and beetles (displayed in his glass-topped livingroom table) to a sombrero purchased right off a Mexican rodeo cowboy’s head. Once he tasted a giant clam in the Pacific islands, then had a crate built to ship the shell home. BEHIND THE LENS What’s your favorite item here? GS: The watch. A jewelry store in Tripoli had this Qaddafiwatch that was a real rarity. The number is for the 39th anniversary of Qaddafi’s rule.…