NGM MARCH 2026
THE QUEST FOR SUPERSILK
Genetically modified silkworms and microbes are producing “supersilk,” a breakthrough material that could yield everything from stronger textiles to greener detergents—and even change the future of medicine. A handful of the leading labs and researchers in China are providing the latest academic knowledge of how spider silk is naturally produced and what future applications there are still to be unlocked. Other features in this issue include:
• Learning To Listen In Japan: At jazz cafes known as kissas, where vinyl aficionados gather in hushed reverence, there’s no such thing as background music.
• Searching For Ghosts: Made wary by decades of human conflict, Angola’s last highland elephants seem almost like a species apart. For the ecologists looking to understand the stealthy herds, the hard part is finding them.
• The Vikings Who Vanished: During the Middle Ages, Norse colonies thrived in southern Greenland—until they disappeared. Now archeologists are piecing together new clues about what might have happened.
