National Geographic Magazine @ nationalgeographic.com

December 2002

Browse our online feature offerings, from field adventures and factoids to maps and multimedia. On every feature screen you can Zoom In on Web-exclusive photo galleries and get the tech facts behind the frames. Then enter the world of writers and photographers with behind-the-scenes tales of life On Assignment. Finally, find full resource listings from links to printable maps in More to Explore. Be sure to check out this month’s Sights & Sounds—our multimedia showstopper.

The Hawaiians
A century after Hawaiians lost their kingdom and much of their culture, a new generation is discovering its roots—and some of them want their islands back.

Highlight: MAP Downloadable, printable, high-resolution map of the Hawaiian archipelago.

Highlight: FORUM Why is it important to embrace one's cultural traditions?

Highlight: FINAL EDIT An image of the "dance of life."

Highlight: SIGHTS & SOUNDS Learn how a small group of Hawaiians are doing big things to revive their cultural traditions.

X-ray Vision
The orbiting Chandra X-ray Observatory lifts the veil on exploding stars, pulsars, quasars, and black holes.

Highlight: VIDEO Get a close-up look at the Crab Nebula pulsar in motion.

Highlight: ONLINE EXTRA Learn about the stellar achievements of the man whose name and memory live on in space.

Highlight: WALLPAPER From a space observatory to the curve of a camel's hip bone, the views of this month's images will wow your desktop.

Surviving the Sahara
Fifteen-hundred miles (2,400 kilometers) of heat, cold, hunger, and evil spirits. The team's only hope: their steadfast camels.

Highlight: MAP Downloadable, printable, high-resolution map of the trail that author John Hare followed through the world's largest sand desert.

Highlight: VIDEO Learn what it takes to keep a camel caravan going in this online journey across the Sahara.

Highlight: POSTCARDS Send a friend a sea of sand with this e-greeting of a camel caravan.

The Search for PT 109
Explorer Bob Ballard goes after JFK's PT 109, and Senator Ted Kennedy recalls a heroic brother's return.

Highlight: MAP Downloadable, printable, high-resolution map of the Solomon Islands.

Highlight: MULTIMEDIA VIDEO Return to 1943 with Senator Edward Kennedy as he recalls how PT 109 affected his older brother Jack.

Highlight: FORUM What does heroism mean to you? Who are the heroes in your life? Enter>>

Highlight: VIDEO Probe what experts believe is the wreckage of PT 109 with help from a Remotely Operated Vehicle.

A New Day in Kabul
Children are returning to school. Women are starting businesses. Can the recovery of Afghanistan's weary capital city be sustained?

Highlight: MAP Downloadable, printable, high-resolution map of Afghanistan.

Highlight: VIDEO Photographer Steve McCurry talks about changing times in Kabul.

Highlight: FORUM How far should peacekeeping forces go to maintain stability in Afghanistan? What role should the international community play in rebuilding nations? Enter>>

Highlight: ONLINE EXTRA International journalists help establish independent press—including two women's publications—at the Afghan Media and Culture Center.

Snowy Owls
They've got movie-star charisma, with power (and talons) to match. But to raise chicks, snowy owls rely on the boom-or-bust market of their favorite prey: the humble lemming.

Highlight: MAP Downloadable, printable, high-resolution map of satellite tracking of snowy owls.

Highlight: POSTCARDS Young wizards aren't the only ones receiving owls. E-greet a friend with this portrait of a snowy owl chick.

Highlight: VIDEO Watch this majestic master predator in flight.

Highlight: WALLPAPER Decorate your desktop with your own Hedwig.

ZipUSA: Tysons Corner, Virginia
If money talks, then this suburban mall shouts. Hard to believe it was once a rural crossroads.

Highlight: NOMINATE your own wonderful, weird, or wacky choices for this magazine series.