National Geographic magazine, February 2026 Issue

Go into a seahorse utopia—and discover if science can build a better beer.. National Geographic stories take you on a journey that's always enlightening, often surprising and unfailingly fascinating. This month–can science build a better beer?

In this issue: Inside the quest to build the ultimate nonalcoholic beer — Scientists in Belgium—that celebrated bastion of ancient beer culture—are harnessing genetic breakthroughs and machine learning to reimagine how great booze gets built. Here’s how their revelations in the lab could transform the global beer industry.; Revealing the hidden kingdom of seahorses — On a Bahamian island, in a landlocked lagoon, the planet’s densest collection of seahorses is offering scientists new insights into the secret lives of one of the world’s most mysterious fish.; Why is country music booming in Brazil? — As Big Agriculture transforms the country, a homegrown musical style—and a new kind of cowboy chic—is moving from its rural roots to the center of the popular culture.; Inside the sacred wolf hunts of western Mongolia — High in the mountains, Kazakh herders have lived in careful balance with wolves for centuries. Now a celebrated tradition has become a matter of survival.; The mission to keep the borderlands wild — In the rugged terrain where Mexico and the United States meet, a border wall is just the latest obstacle fragmenting habitats and disrupting migration paths. Here’s how a cadre of conservationists is trying to get animals moving.; The Basilica of Saint-Denis inspired Notre Dame. Can it be returned to its former glory? — Inside a 180-year quest to restore the world’s first Gothic church; Searching for life across the planet’s frigid frontiers — In order to understand the massive changes afoot in the warming polar regions, oceanographer Allison Fong is hunting for the tiniest clues.; Is the grumpy-faced Texas horned lizard adorable enough to survive? — As habitat loss and invasive predators decimate the Texas horned lizard population, researchers are banking on statewide fervor to bring them back.; This sunken trove of ceramics ushered in a new era for archaeology — Off the coast of Marseille, National Geographic Explorer Jacques-Yves Cousteau hauled up thousands of ancient clay vessels—and showed what fantastic discoveries modern scuba gear made possible.