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GETTING TO KNOW EARTH ANEW
WELCOME TO EARTH
PATTERN • SPIRALS. STRIPES. SYMMETRIES. THROUGHOUT NATURE, PATTERNS HELP ANIMALS BLEND IN OR STAND OUT.
A PHOTO ARK FULL OF PATTERNS
FINDING MUSIC IN VIBRATIONS OF SPIDERWEB STRANDS • DON’T JUST GIVE THESE PAGES A LOOK—GIVE THEM A LISTEN. USE YOUR PHONE’S CAMERA TO SCAN THE QR CODE WITH EACH ARTICLE TO HEAR THE SOUNDS IT DESCRIBES.
SNAKE USES ITS RATTLE SPEED TO FOOL FOES
WHAT’S A SONGBIRD WITHOUT ITS SONG? • A SPECIES ’ SURVIVAL MAYRE STONELDERS TEACHING YOUNG MALES MATING CALLS.
NOTING THE CALLS OF THE WILD
WHALE SONGS ACT AS AN ULTRASOUND OF SEAFLOOR • LONG REGARDED AS INTERFERENCE ON QUAKE RECORDINGS, CETACEAN CALLS COULD HELP MAP THE EARTH’S CRUST.
THE SOUNDS OF HUMANITY
A PHOTOGRAPHER’S LONG, AMAZING DAY WITH A VOLCANO • Stephen Wilkes documented an eruption in Iceland for 21 hours straight, making images of the fiery scene as day turned to night.
COLOR • VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS CREATE A CANVAS FOR LIFE IN EVERY HUE, FROM BTINY MICROBES TO TOWERING TREES.
SMELL • THIS TREE LAST BLOOMED ON A HAWAIIAN SLOPE MORE THAN A CENTURY AGO. NOW SCIENTISTS HAVE RESURRECTED ITS EXTINCT FRAGRANCE. TAKE A WHIFF!
SPEED • SINCE 2000 THE WORLD’S GLACIERS HAVE SHED MORE THAN 5.3 TRILLION METRIC TONS OF WATER, REMAKING LANDSCAPES AND RAISING SEA LEVELS.
SWARM • SERENGETI MIGRATION IS ONE OF EARTH’S GREAT SPECTACLES, VITAL TO LIFE IN A LAND OF AMAZING VISTAS AND VIBRANT CULTURES.
AN INTRICATE WEB OF LIFE
THE UNLIKELY KING • THE SERENGETI’S MOST IMPORTANT ANIMAL IS THE WILDEBEEST, AN AWKWARD-LOOKING ANTELOPE WHOSE AGE-OLD MIGRATION DRIVES A COMPLEX CIRCLE OF LIFE.
WAYS OF THE WILDEBEEST • Driven by a constant search for food, 1.3 million wildebeests chase the rains across the greater Serengeti ecosystem every year. The migration stretches from the fertile short-grass plains of the southeast to the woodlands and savanna of the north when rainfall gets scarce.
A POPULATION SURGE
NUMBERS LEVEL OFF
HUMAN IMPACTS ON THE HERDS
GUARDIANS OF THE LAND
THE SPIRITUAL VOICE OF THE FOREST • THE LOITA FOREST IS THE HIDDEN SERENGETI, A PRISTINE WILDERNESS SACRED TO THE MAASAI. THE FOREST’S OCTOGENARIAN PROTECTOR SEES A MYSTICAL LANDSCAPE INCREASINGLY THREATENED BY GREED.
SERENGETI’S HEIGHTS • The Loita region is a lesser known but integral part of the greater Serengeti-Mara ecosystem. It includes a lush forest a mile above sea level that overlooks the Great Rift Valley. The isolated forest supports Maasai traditional ceremonies and serves as a refuge for elephants and other animals—far from the wildebeest herds in the grassy plains below.
A FIGHT TO SURVIVE
THE FRESH EXPLORER • ARMED WITH HIS GRANDMOTHER’S GUIDANCE ABOUT FACING FEARS, ACTOR WILL SMITH TREKKED TO EXTREME ENVIRONMENTS
WHAT’S COMING DECEMBER