Feature

  1. Tech

    Deep Vision

    Increasingly available virtual-reality gear gives scientists, engineers, and planetarium visitors new perspectives.

    By Peter Weiss
  2. Tech

    Bugs on Mars

    Undaunted by the hurdles on flight posed by thin air and a lack of oxygen, aerospace engineers are devising extraordinary flying machines resembling giant insects and windmills to make the exploration of Mars more rapid and effective.

    By Peter Weiss
  3. Anthropology

    Searching for the Tree of Babel

    Researchers are using new methods of comparing languages to reveal information about the ancestry of different cultural groups and answer questions about human history.

    By John Pickrell
  4. Archaeology

    Openings to the Underworld

    Archaeological finds indicate that ancient groups in Mexico and Central America, including the Maya, held beliefs about a sacred landscape that focused on natural and human-made caves as sites of important ritual activities and burials.