Natural History Was Only One of Many
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OCTOBER 2005 VOLUME 115 NUMBER 8 FEATURES COVER STORY 40TOXIC TREASURE Poisons and venoms from deadly animals could become tomorrow's miracle drugs. Andfew places on Earth harbor so many deadly animals as Australia's Great Barrier Reef. ROBERT GEORGE SPRACKLAND 46 TAKING INVENTORY Biologists are still astonished by the diversity of the rainforest. PIOTR NASKRECKI 50 BLOWN AWAY Since the wakeup call at Mount St. Helens, geologists have realized that collapsing volcanoes are far commoner than ever imagined. LEE SIEBERT ON THE cover: Deadly box jellyfish (Chironex fieckeri) also known as the sea wasp mm DEPARTMENTS 4 THE NATURAL MOMENT Fall Masquerade Photograph by Art Wolfe 6 UP FRONT Editor's Notebook 8 CONTRIBUTORS 10 LETTERS 58 THIS LAND Where Glaciers Did Not Tread Robert H. Mohlenbrock 60 BOOKSHELF Laurence A. Marschall 63 nature.net Maps Take Flight Robert Anderson 64 OUT THERE Number Ten? Charles Liu 65 SKY IN OCTOBER 11 SAMPLINGS THE News from Nature Joe Rao 14 UNIVERSE 68 AT THE MUSEUM Energy to Burn 72 ENDPAPER Neil deGrasse Tyson Wise Guys Noel Ross 21 FIELD NOTES Gary Kahuna Chronicles Joseph Kennedy 38 BIOMECHANICS Boxed Up to Go Adam Summers PICTURE CREDITS; Page 8 Visit our Web site at www.naturalhistorymag.com ) GENUINE 2005 AMERICAN EAGLE SILVER PROOF COIN GIVE A GIFT THAT REMEMBERS THE PERFECT GIFT FOR A SPECIAL OCCASION United States Mint 2005 American Eagle Silver Proof Coin -ZS6 This year, give a gift that remembers. The United States Mint 2005 American THERE ARE TWO Eagle Silver Proof Coin is the perfect gift to mark special occasions, from EASY WAYS TO ORDER: birthdays to graduations. This beautifully crafted, finely detailed coin is a 1 Shop our online catalog miniature work of art and a unique collectible of lasting value. Order today at www.usmint.gov directly from the United States Mint. 2) Call 1-800-USA-MINT (872-6468) For genuine United States Mint products visit ^^_ www.usmint.gov or call 1-800-USA-MINT ^ UNITED STATES MINT ©2005 United States Mint «*' ;RAL MtfMlNf sit ?*13. -.* -^-''-C "fe^ ' j-rr"-*. S^>*J' ^T?*.i" Jsk"-fc jiJUfcCii*.iJV'tiiKyO^A-. — THE NATURAL MOMENT UP FRONT See preceding two pages Disciplined Change '> s-^ What kind of world do we Hve in? Like everyone else, I learned about the universe from my parents and teachers, and I got used to it. A hundred elements, give or take. Nine planets. Three kinds of elementary particles. Two kingdoms of Hfe. One big bang. But perspectives change. No one knew about Mendelevium (number If spring in the Minnesota 101) when I was born. Kuiper Belt object 2003 UB313 wasn't on anybody's woods sings, autumn exhales radar screen. Neither were the quarks that make up neutrons and protons, softly. Take the inch-long spring the three "superkingdoms" of Ufe, or cosmic inflation within a multiverse. peeper, Pseudacris cmcifer, a chorus Error, obscurity, conceptual fiizziness, and sheer ignorance are part of sci- frog that lives among leaf Htter ence, just as they are in any other human activity. The method of science and logs, near freshwater ponds. and science is a method, not a set of conclusions—is to clear away those Its size and coloring make it easy faults. Geologists once thought that collapsing volcanoes were rare in Earth's to miss. The one pictured here history; now they know otherwise (see "Blown Away," by Lee Siebert, page didn't make a sound or move a 50). Toxicologists could once do little more than catalogue obscure animal muscle whUe under the sharp toxins; now molecular and systematic biologists are showing that some tox- eye of photographer Art Wolfe. ins can become Hfesaving medicines (see "Toxic Treasure," by Robert Males start the spring by belt- George Sprackland, page 40) . Planetary astronomers long classified Pluto as ing out a chorus of songs. But a major planet; now a raft of newfound Pluto-Hke objects has forced people on finding a mate, they quickly to think harder about the very concept of a planet (see "Number Ten?" by quiet down (why advertise one's Charles Liu, page 64). Scientific ignorance about the number of species on presence to predators?). Eggs Earth is so deep that the range of informed estimates still spans almost two hatch and tadpoles mature over orders of magnimde (see "Taking Inventory," by Piotr Naskrecki, page 46). the summer. When fall comes, the air can feel a bit like spring, and P. cmcifer occasionally re- With all that change and potential for revision, you'd think that diver- sponds with a round peep; the sity of viewpoint would be a core value of science—that "teach the effect is called the fall echo. controversy," as proponents of so-called intelligent design put it, would be Winter is the real silencer. an unassailable principle of science education. Haven't we learned by now When cold weather sets in, the that every opinion counts, that every voice deserves respect? spring peeper hunkers down un- What a lot ofpeople may not realize, though, is that science doesn't work der the fallen leaves for a deep, that way. Not for nothing are the branches of science called disciplines. In soHtary hibernation. Ice crystals science, opinion poUs don't matter. Not everyone's voice is equal. Yes, sci- start forming on the frog's skin ence is, or should be, open to anyone—anyone with the talent and tenacity and quickly work their way in- to pursue it. And if you do earn your scientific "union card," you are sriE not side. The frog begins to churn immune from criticism—far from it. In fact, the criticism you attract from out glucose from its Hver, which other scientists, grounded in evidence and the canons of valid argument, is a will protect its cells from the good measure of how seriously your scientific views are taken. deepening cold; its pulse slows, But scientific debate is not for the uninformed. Scientific controversy is and its tissues continue to freeze. for scientists, to be hashed out in conferences and peer-reviewed journals, Finally the peeper's heart stops not in the elementary science classroom or the high school science textbook. beating as it, too, solidifies. Yet after the vernal thaw, the frog emerges no worse for the The human and environmental catastrophe caused by Hurricane Katrina frigid wear. Its Uttle body can still is compounded by the teethgrinding sense that so much of the suffer- lighten or darken a few shades to ing and devastation was preventable. Natural History was only one of many match its surroundings. And it voices calling attention to the precarious plight of prehurricane New stUl has the strength for another Orleans. In his "Taming the River to Let In the Sea" (February 2005), Shea mating rush—whose object is to Penland diagnosed the geologic, cUmatologic, and historical forces that ulti- be heard, but not seen. mately led to the disaster, and that must still be addressed as the city rebuilds. —Erin Espelie Penland's article is online at www.naturalhistorynnag.com. —PETER BROWN NATURAL HISTOI'.Y October 2005 The fastest way to learn ^ a language. 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