The Dogs of War - Christy Ullrich Barcus

Domesticated dogs have evolved with humans as their caretakers, earning their keep by offering protection, loyalty and companionship. These characteristics also make them ideal soldiers in some of the world's most dangerous conflict zones. And sometimes dogs provide comfort to families when soldiers don't come home. Christy Ullrich Barcus tells of one family's struggle to cope with the death of their son and brother and how Eli, his retired service dog, provided comfort to all of them. The June 2014 issue of National Geographic magazine features many services that "The Dogs of War" provide on the battlefield.

Running Through the Middle East for Peace - Pat Farmer

Pat Farmer ran 13,000 miles pole-to-pole in 2011, from the north to the south, averaging two marathons per day, without a day off. He regularly had to run more than 70 miles per day through Central and South America to make up for lost time in the Arctic. The jaw-dropping feat is something that most people couldn't fathom; yet Farmer, a former member of Australia's House of Representatives, refers to his most recent Middle East Peace Run as his "greatest accomplishment." Farmer explains that the 900-mile run through Jordan, Lebanon, Israel and Palestine brought people of different religions and cultures together through their common enthusiasm for sports. While the run wasn't without tense moments, Farmer says that the goals of finding common ground across national and religious borders were fruitful and successful.

Professional Cliff Diving in Cuba - Blake Aldridge

Not all diving boards are created equal. The Olympic 33-foot high dive might be daunting to non-divers, but Blake Aldridge has learned through personal pain that water feels significantly harder when it's being approached from a 90-foot cliff. The British diver won the year's first event of Red Bull's Cliff Diving World Series in Cuba and explains that it was a large adjustment to triple his diving height. Aldridge also disagrees with Boyd that colliding with the water might be easier if divers wore baggy swim trunks, rather than their skimpy Speedo suits. The Series' second event is June 7 in Forth Worth, Texas.

Mother Nature is Trying to Kill You - Dan Riskin

Dan Riskin explores the often-untold dark side of nature in his book, Mother Nature is Trying to Kill You. He explores unusual animal behaviors that span the seven deadly sins including strange reproductive characteristics. Dan shares stories of male spiders, which have to avoid becoming a meal to their mates, a marsupial that dies after mating, and a wasp larva that slowly eats its victims while they are still alive.  His story of a baby shark that eats its siblings before they are born will make you feel better about your sibling rivalry. Dan believes “this is what gives nature its character” and that humans may not be as selfish and barbaric as some may think:

Swedish Ship Found After 500 Years at Sea - Lundgren & Ronnby

Scouring the ocean's depths for something recently lost is difficult enough, as was learned this past spring when Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 went missing; with that in mind, locating a wrecked ship that sunk nearly 500 years ago can seem much more daunting. Richard Lundgren spent 20 years searching the Baltic Sea's frigid depths for the legendary Swedish war ship, Mars. With perspective from historian Johan Ronnby, they confirmed the ship's location. The divers explain how they dove to the bottom of the Baltic to confirm their finding and how they hope to honor the legendary ship's legacy.

Exploring the Newest UNESCO Heritage Site - Steve Boyes

Twenty First Century exploration is usually marked not by “filling in the blank areas of the map,” as it was in centuries past, but by the improved understanding of an ecosystem deep in the ocean or on the edges of our solar system – places that can scarcely be imagined by non-scientists. But National Geographic’s Steve Boyes has recruited a team of his fellow Emerging Explorers to venture deep into Botswana’s Okavango Delta, to paddle barefoot in stand-up kayaks through waters haunted by hippos, crocodiles and elephants, like in the days of the earliest European adventures into Africa's waterways. The expedition is part of a nine-year survey to better understand a wetland so remote that only local tribes who have mastered survival over hundreds of years maintain a presence there. The team's 2014 Okavango adventure will go from from August 16 to 25.

Undocumented Children at the Border - Jason De Leon

America's attention shifted earlier this summer to a border crisis years in the making. Thousands of children from Central America streamed across the border, overwhelming border patrol agents and straining the resources of a child welfare system already working overtime. But National Geographic Emerging Explorer Jason De Leon, Director of the Undocumented Migration Project, explains that this has been happening in large numbers for the past 4 years. De Leon provides cameras to migrants preparing to cross into the United States from Mexico so he can better understand the challenges that they face, but points out that the most dangerous part of the journey for the vulnerable Nicaraguan and Honduran children come well before they reach their point of entry into the United States.