In Search of Vikings
By Priit J. Vesilind
Photographs by Sisse Brimberg

Viking seafarers—raiders, traders, craftsmen—burst from Scandinavia in the eighth century, carrying their freewheeling pagan ways from the Gulf of St. Lawrence to the Aral Sea.

Mystery Ships From a Danish Bog
By Michael Klesius
Photographs by Sisse Brimberg

Sleek, oar-powered vessels teach archaeologists about Scandinavian raiders who were pillaging coastal towns 450 years before the Viking age began.

Queen of the African Sky
Article and photographs by Peter McBride

In 1920 two pioneering aviators completed the first aerial journey from England to the southern tip of Africa. Modern adventurers attempt to reenact this deed of derring-do.

New Caledonia
By Thomas O’Neill
Photographs by Peter Essick

The Pacific isles of New Caledonia make their mark on the world with a wealth of plant species found nowhere else.

Dawn of Humans
By André W. Keyser
Photographs by Kenneth Garrett
Art by Mauricio Antón

Exploring the hills close to home, not far from Johannesburg, South African geologist André Keyser made the find of his career—Drimolen, among the richest hominid sites in Africa.

• Related Site: Join paleoanthropologist Lee Berger in his search for human origins in southern Africa.

Ants and Plants
Article and photographs by Mark W. Moffett

Tropical “ant plants” recruit armies of loyal insect defenders by providing tasty rations and barracks fit for a queen.

• Related Site: Burrow into the realm of Tarantulas.

Cape Hatteras Lighthouse
By Angus Phillips
Photographs by Karen Kasmauski

This Outer Banks beacon shines again after a half-mile [0.8-kilometer] retreat from the advancing Atlantic surf.

• National Geographic News: Lighthouse Reopens in New Location.

Mount St. Helens
By Rowe Findley
Photographs by Jim Richardson

Herds of elk now flow past stands of alder 20 years after eruptions ravaged 230 square miles [596 square kilometers] of the Pacific Northwest.

* Read excerpts of the article and an online-only essay, then join our forum to talk about your experiences with natural disasters.

• Read an excerpt of the classic St. Helens article, and hear a photographer’s recollections.

In Next Month’s Issue of NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC
London; Debut Sue; Suriname; Sierra Madre Pilgrimage; Jelly Bellies; In Focus: Golan Heights; Indus Civilization