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CONTRIBUTORS
you mean the world to microbes
shrinking act
where the wild things are
Keeping track over the decades
Tag, You’re It
subtle ripples in space go through a tighter squeeze
bananas: your cousin, maybe?
little critters behind the big cheese
ter-mighty towers
slim chance
LOOKING SHARP
MOBILE MACRO
MEASURED SUCCESS
FLAVOR SAVIOR
LET’S ANTS
COMPRESSED CAMP
SOUND INVESTMENT
MICRO MACHINES
MINI-GOLF MASTER STROKE
WHY DO WE THINK TINY THINGS ARE CUTE?
TINY
THE INCREDIBLE! SHRINKING! AIRPLANE! • JETS ARE GETTING BIGGER, YET, INCH BY INCH, OUR PERSONAL SPACE DWINDLES. HOW THE %*#+ DOES THAT WORK?
THANK YOU FOR FLYING • Welcome to air travel in 2018. Here’s what to expect in your cramped cabin.
Small Wonders • We’re biased toward big. Big ideas, big data, big science—the more mega an achievement, the more attention we shine on it. But this obsession tends to overshadow the smaller innovations that make our lives easier, safer, and longer. In many cases, wee widgets and materials have impacts disproportionate to their size.
DIRTY LITTLE SECRET • Meet the wee, multi-legged chefs behind the world’s most sought-after loaves
How to Start a Starter
Small WONDERS
SHAMU DREAMS OF EUROPA • The microscope that could look for life on Jupiter’s moon
WHAT’S INSIDE THE BOX
Small WONDERS
SAND • A TALE OF INNOVATION, WAR, AND GLORY
SQUAD MODS • Bagnold repurposed civilian trucks for his Long Range Desert Group
Small WONDERS
ZOOMING IN ON THE HISTORY OF MAGNIFICATION • While the naked eye can pick out objects as thin as a hair, humankind has never been quite satisfied with that limited perspective. The smaller we can see, the smaller we want to see. So, over the past three millennia, we’ve worked to improve on our powers of sight with a little help from a lens. A magnifying lens, that is. And we’ve made some not-so-tiny discoveries along the way. Here are the biggest moments in our quest to see minutia.
Small WONDERS
The winding, heated, and absurdly technical oral history of the ginger emoji • In November 2014, a tech-industry consortium announced a new set of emoji that would diversify the physical appearance of the pictograms.
FOCUS ON THE DETAILS • A hyperclose look at our magnificent creepy-crawly neighbors. (Get your tape! Assembly required.)
reaching the past through a 7-inch chute • MARINA ELLIOTT, BIOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGIST AT UNIVERSITY OF THE WITWATERSRAND IN SOUTH AFRICA
what i learned from getting covered in whale snot • IAIN KERR, CEO AND WHALE BIOLOGIST AT OCEAN ALLIANCE
MICROMETEORITE MANIA • Norwegian musician Jon Larsen hunts tiny space rocks, also known as cosmic spherules.
what ancient storms blew into the arctic • ERICH OSTERBERG, CLIMATE SCIENTIST AT DARTMOUTH COLLEGE
the tiniest scientific tools i use • To manipulate wee objects, you need spectacularly tiny tools. We asked scientists to tell us about the cutest little instruments they use in their research. Here are a few of our favorites.
testing bacteria pills in pig bellies • MARK MIMEE, MICROBIOLOGIST AT MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
into the tar pit • LIBBY ELLWOOD, POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCH FELLOW AT LA BREA TAR PITS AND MUSEUM
dust-mite queen • RUBABA HAMID SHAFIQUE, RESEARCH ASSOCIATE AT INSTITUTE OF BIOMEDICAL...