Jan-Feb 2010: Crazy Smart

Table of Contents

Cover Story:

Crazy Smart: 11 Acts of Genius, Ripped from the Tabloids!

Sex, drugs, aliens, and more awkwardness than you can handle. We've got the inside scoop on what it means to be crazy smart.

Features:

Butterflies on the Black Market: The Ins and Outs of Exotic Animal Smuggling

By ethan trex
When wildlife smuggling gets to be a $20 billion industry, it's time to start asking questions. Ethan Trex takes a look at the world's most dangerous butterfly collector, and learns why criminals are trafficking endangered animals instead of drugs.

How Leiber & Stoller Became the Most Successful Songwriters in Rock History

By bill demain
"Yakety Yak," "Love Potion No. 9," "Hound Dog," "Jailhouse Rock"--did two guys really write all those hits? They sure did, and a whole lot more. Find out how Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller whipped up the classics that taught 1950s America how to let down its hair.

The Pros and Cons of Swedish Socialism

By linda rodriguez
Swedish parents get 16 months of paid maternity leave, their children get free schooling, and everybody gets free healthcare. So, why are we worried about turning into Sweden again? (Hint: the economy.)

scatter_brained:

Face Time

It's time to face the facts. Lots of them! Learn how babies fake smiles, Botox brightens up the world, and why a little too much silver will make you blue in the face. Plus, we've got the dirt on Mr. Potato Head, White Castle, and an Iranian bear that became a Polish war hero.

right_brain left_brain:

Masterpiece #87: Robert Indiana's "love"

By Megan Wilde
You know LOVE. You've seen it on postage stamps, in greeting cards, and towering over major cities. This is the story of one simple word--and how it broke an artist's heart.

masterpiece #86: Dashiell Hammett's the Maltese falcon

By bill demain
Dashiell Hammett was a two-bit detective who spent his days drinking, smoking, and tracking down missing Ferris wheels. Then he put his pen to paper and turned pulp fiction into an art form.

5 things benefiting from global warming

By gideon banner
Mountains will get taller, satellites will spin faster, Greenland will get richer, and jellyfish will rule the high seas! We're not saying that climate change is a good thing; we're just saying that every acid-rain cloud has a silver lining.

50-Cent Tour

sweden

By linda rodriguez

underground education

the tunnel that saved bosnia

By robert isenberg

6 degrees of ken jennings

martin luther and lex luthor

by ken jennings

the_quiz

By kara kovalchik and sandy wood

the back page: lightning round lists

by stacy conradt