Discover January-February 2013

Bill Andrews, previously at Astronomy, is a new editor at discover. He has also written for MayoClinic.com Nate Berg is a Los Angeles–based writer who covers cities, science, and design. Kevin Berger is the features editor of Nautilus, a new digital science magazine. He is a former senior editor at DISCOVER. Jennifer Berglund, a Boston-based writer interested in biology and ecology, is a film producer at prehensileproductions.com David Brin (davidbrin.com) is a physicist and writer whose novels include The Postman, Earth, and Existence. Emma Bryce, a former intern at DISCOVER, is a freelance writer and a contributor to The New York Times. Gillian Conahan lives in New York and focuses on physics and technology. She is a discover researcher. Andrew Curry is a journalist based in Berlin. More of his…

YOU HOLD IN YOUR HANDS (OR VIEW ON YOUR SCREEN) AN object steeped in history. It is a record of science advances from 2012, yes, but also much more. Our #1 story, the discovery of the Higgs boson, is the result of one of the largest and most complex collaborations in history. The two teams that did the research include more than 5,000 physicists. Collectively the 100 stories in this issue represent tens of thousands of people-years of work—a monumental, global effort to expand the reach of the human mind. This issue also represents a more personal historic moment. After 32 years in New York City (ignoring a short, ill-fated vacation in California), discover is closing its editorial offices here. And after 15 years at the magazine, I will soon…

Life by Any Other Name “Frozen. Irradiated. Desolate. Alive?” (page 30) profiled astronomer Britney Schmidt, whose work makes a compelling case that Jupiter’s moon Europa could support life. Schmidt says that extraterrestrial worlds such as Europa must satisfy three basic requirements to support life: energy, a substantial collection of molecules, and water. I would submit that those factors are necessary only for life as we know it. Isn’t it reasonable to suspect that with billions of planets in the galaxy, life may exist in a form completely unknown to our Earth-bound scientists? Jeff Rodgers Lewes, DE Lying Eyes In exploring the fallibility of eyewitness testimony (“False Eyewitness,” page 38), writer Douglas Starr shared the case of Barion Perry, a man convicted of burglary on the basis of one witness who…

EARLY IN MY CAREER, I WAS the resident on call one night in the cardiothoracic intensive care unit when an emergency room doctor called and asked me to come down and see a patient. “Young guy,” he said. “He has some sort of an airway problem.” Those were worrisome words, because airway problems can be immediately life-threatening. I rushed to the patient’s examining room, where two men were supporting a third, younger man. One of the two supporting him was grasping his upper arm so tightly that his own arms were visibly shaking. He looked very scared. “I’m Steve’s dad, doc.” He looked at the man on the other side of the patient. “And this is Coach Alexander.” “Hey, doc,” grunted the coach. “Somethin’ ain’t right here. This is one…

MY WIFE HAS TRIED TO convince me from time to time that I suffer from depression. I point out that I feel fine, I’m productive, I engage in all the basic elements of a reasonably full life. She counters that this is all evidence of how deeply I’m burying my depressive feelings. She has gone on to suggest that my fascination with technology is a way of distancing myself from other people. I’m not buying it. But her comments did get me wondering: If I really did become depressed, could I count on gadgetry to help me find a way out? For once I’m not alone in my distorted thinking. Or so I am assured by Edrick Dorian, a clinical and police psychologist in Encino, California. “Unfortunately, some people don’t…

1 The Tinkerers Journalist Alec Foege explores how amateur inventions, like Steve Jobs’s “blue box” phone, can jump-start technological growth. perseusbooks.com 3 Quadrantids Tonight is the peak of this prolific meteor shower, visible in the northern sky. astronomy.com/quadrantids2013 8 The Universe Within Biologist Neil Shubin tracks the universe’s 14-billion-year history through the molecular structures of our own bodies. randomhouse.com 19 Great Balls of Fire An exhibit at the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center in San Diego considers the odds of a catastrophic impact from an asteroid or comet. rhfleet.org 19 Science Fiction + Fantasy Short Film Festival Seattle’s EMP Museum screens over a dozen sci-fi flicks (including one that chronicles a feline space mission). empmuseum.org/filmfestival 10 Birth of the Subway On this day in 1863, London opened the first underground…