One of our senior editors sounded a cautionary note a few years ago as we were publishing a journalistic tour de force about the health risks of drinking milk after childhood. “I think Discover’s readers come to the magazine for awe and wonder, not doom and gloom,” she said. To some extent, reader surveys support her theory. The problem is that the core of our magazine is news. We think Discover should offer you important information before anyone else does, and we take pride in beating other publications to many stories by months and, in some cases, years. Keeping on top of the news requires activating that part of the brain that notices a green snake moving along a green branch in an otherwise motionless green rain forest. Diligent journalism involves lots of awe and wonder, but it also feeds on doom and gloom.
In this issue we strike a ...
