2013 January – June

America Strikes New Oil

North Dakota has thousands of wells and temporary laborers - all because of fracking. What's the cost to the land and its people?

Midnight in the Garden

Japanese cherry blossoms, French water lilies, and New York lindens, lit by the moon and stars.

Chinese Class Reunion

River Town was a peace Corps volunteer's tale of teaching English in sleepy Fuling. Ten years later its author returns to a changed town.

The Wild Life of a Bonobo

The ape famous for making love isn't as peach loving as we once thought.

Citizen Scientists

They count ladybugs, whale sharks, elephants.

Ice Water Diver

Rhian Waller goes numb for deep-sea corals.

Drones May Be Watching You

Unmanned aircraft are poised to move from military areas to U.S. highways and byways.

The Mystery of Risk

Why do explorers put their physical self and their reputation in peril? The answer may surprise you.

Risk Takers Tell All

Meet space jumper Felix Baumgartner, voted Nat Geo Adventurer of the Year, and five other stars.

Onward and Downward

Travel along on a record-breaking descent to the deepest spot in the ocean.

First Australians

An Aboriginal village invited our writer to visit. "Anything I can bring?" The reply: "Dinner for 25."

Maxed Out on Everest

Our team saw how the mountain has become an icon for everything that's wrong with climbing

Miracle in Mozambique

Ravaged by war, Gorongosa Park is reborn

Last of the Viking Whalers

Norway reserves the right to hunt minkes. But kids don't want to grow up to be whalers.

Today's Whale Catch

Despite a global moratorium, the hunt goes on

{ Special Poster } Landmarks in Exploration / Space Journeys