Cavern DecorChandeliers and pillars of stone, their edges and shadows doubled in the glass-smooth surface of an underground pool, have awed visitors to the Reed Flute Cave in China's Guangxi Zhuangzu region for more than a thousand years.
Arboreal Light ShowA tree ablaze with fireflies in Indonesia blinks on and off as each insect adjusts its flashes to match the others. Such self-organized behavior resembles the synchronized firing of heart muscle cells or the rhythmic applause of a crowd—but seems more mysterious.
Breaking ThroughIsolated rays of sunlight pierce the clouds hanging thick over Favorite Channel. Such weather is characteristic of the Tongass, where rainfall averages 146 inches (371 centimeters) yearly.
On the MoveWildebeests crossing the Mara River in Kenya may be able to follow a migration route even if only a few of them know the way, say researchers using a computer model of herd behavior. Never mind that the informed animals aren't trying to lead. The rest follow anyway.
Menace Under ScrutinyA female Anopheles mosquito acts as a deadly hypodermic, injecting the malaria parasite when she feeds on human blood. Nearly half a billion people get malaria each year. More than a million die. After decades of neglect, the world is renewing its fight against the disease.
Sun-washed RampartsHigh winds scour peaks on the Chilkat Range. Of the Tongass National Forest's 16.8 million acres (6.7 million hectares), the majority is glacier, rock, or scrub. Industry and conservationists spar over some 600,000 acres (240,000 hectares) of surviving big-tree forestland.
Vibrant DisplayA red bird of paradise, Paradisaea rubra, spreads its wings elegantly in a New Guinea mountain forest.
Color BlastSparkling like underwater fireworks, this six-inch-wide (15 centimeters) Olindias jellyfish at California's Monterey Bay Aquarium displays an extravagantly curled and colored armament of tentacles loaded with stinging cells.
