The Great Wall 
Over the centuries the Chinese built not one wall but a vast network of walls to keep foreigners out. Now two foreigners, a writer and a photographer, set off on an unprecedented mission: to follow as much of the walls as they can by car, traveling deep into China's rural heart.

Highlight: MAP Downloadable, printable, high-resolution map of China's Great Wall.

Highlight: MULTIMEDIA VIDEO Explore life along the Great Wall with photographer Michael Yamashita.

Highlight: FORUM How can antiquities such as the Great Wall, the Pyramids of Giza, or Stonehenge, for example, be accessible to visitors and still be preserved? And what, if any, restrictions should be imposed? Enter>>

Highlight: ONLINE EXTRA Get all the need-to-knows for trekking along the Great Wall with this helpful travel article.

Highlight: WALLPAPER Discover images that have evoked reverence since ancient times and bring them to life on your desktop.

Highlight: FINAL EDIT Rescued from the cutting room floor is this month's Final Edit, an image of "horsepower" along the Great Wall.

Highlight: POSTCARDS Send this galloping e-greeting to a friend.

Strangest Volcano on Earth?
In a remote corner of Tanzania stands an astonishing mountain called Ol Doinyo Lengai, where lava fountains harden in midair then shatter like glass.

Highlight: MAP Downloadable, printable, high-resolution map of Tanzania's Ol Doinyo Lengai.

Highlight: POSTCARDS Blast a friend with an e-greeting of nature's fireworks.

Dreamweavers
The textiles of tomorrow are still on the drawing board. But one day—maybe not so long from now—they could take humans to outer space, make soldiers invisible, keep people in touch with their friends, and move buildings.

Highlight: MULTIMEDIA VIDEO From balancing carbon-fiber engine valves to controlling a garment-clad cow, photographer Cary Wolinsky went the distance to set up his high-tech textile shots.

Highlight: FORUM To illustrate this article, the photographer manipulated some images, but today's technology makes some altered photos difficult to detect. When does image manipulation go too far? Enter>>

Highlight: FORUM Pageable pants? Heart-monitoring T-shirts? This is functional fashion of the future. And with clothes this smart, the sky's the limit. What would you like your clothes to do for you? Enter>>

Highlight: FLASHBACK to 1939 when Firestone unveiled its newest product—women's rubber undergarments.

Egypt's Forgotten Treasures
They've opened the vaults. An exclusive look at Cairo's Egyptian Museum centennial exhibit includes stunning antiquities on display for the first time ever.

Highlight: MAP Downloadable, printable, high-resolution map of the exhibit's artifact storage sites.

Japan's Winter Wildlife
A frosted stage gathers red-crowned cranes, whooper swans, sika deer, and snow monkeys. Can Japan turn an ancient reverence for its animals into modern conservation?

Highlight: MAP Downloadable, printable, high-resolution map of Japan's coldest regions.

Highlight: MULTIMEDIA VIDEO Watch the mating dance of whooping swans, the high kicks of red-crowned cranes, and more.

Highlight: FORUM Japan's reverence for nature is ancient, but its efforts to protect wildlife are relatively young and limited by a lack of space. With such restricted land area, how can Japan preserve its wildlife? What kinds of grassroots efforts can help raise Japanese awareness? Enter>>

Highlight: SIGHTS & SOUNDS Experience the breathtaking beauty of Japan's wildlife in winter through the eyes of Japanese-born biologist Tim Laman.

Highlight: POSTCARDS Share holiday happiness with an e-greeting of wintry whooper swans.

ZipUSA: Athens, Ohio
And they're off! From dawn to dusk one cloudy day, 114 photography students at Ohio University head out to document a rural zip, and learn a few things along the way.

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