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The Earth’s surface has so many different colors, features and forms that it’s not hard to understand why early scientists found it difficult to determine what was responsible for creating the natural landscapes that surround us.
There are many delightful and magical myths about the aurora borealis, also known as the northern lights. The Inuit of North America interpreted the lights as a ball game—with a walrus head serving as the ball—played by their ancestors.
On this Christmas morning, I hope you are happy, healthy and spending time with family and friends. During this holiday season, however, it’s the “happy” part of that wish that I found myself thinking about most, precipitated by the often-heard, classic holiday song Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, which—some say—is a bit dark.
Growing up in the Arctic regions of Canada made a lasting impression on National Geographic Young Explorer Nansen Weber. When he wasn’t out guiding guests who visited his parents remote lodge on the otherwise uninhabited Somerset Island, he was out exploring—often accompanied by a handheld camera and a camera drone.
If you love to travel, you’ve probably collected a lot of stamps in several, worn-out passports. The one you received from the island nation of Palau, however, may be the most extraordinary: Children of Palau, I take this pledge, as your guest, to preserve and protect your beautiful and unique island home.
When someone says he or she wants to “talk turkey” with you, it usually means that you’re in for a frank, straightforward and serious discussion. But if you’re with Joe Hutto, he literally means speaking the language of the birds.
Encircled in mists and surrounded by emerald, forested slopes, the long-ago Inca city of Machu Picchu in Peru wears an even heavier cloak of mystery. Although this World Heritage site, built on a mountaintop in the Andes, was discovered more than 100 years ago, archaeologists have yet to unravel the reason for its existence.
With their piercing stares, heads that turn almost 360 degrees and nocturnal lives, owls have become a universal symbol for spookiness. A hoot is often the only hint you’ll have that an owl is near, which can make their covert presence even scarier. And, in the dark, they hunt prey.
It can be hard to be alone, hurt and abandoned by your own kind. How are you supposed to learn what you need to know in order to survive? Luckily, for one bird, having some human friends was the answer.
Mexico’s Amazing Monarch Migration Presented by Natural Habitat Adventures Watch Now Seeing a million butterflies take flight above forest groves and hearing their symphony of whirring wings is truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience—unlike any other in nature!
Wildlife overpasses save the lives of hundreds of animals—such as deer, elk and pronghorn—every year. But if an overpass isn’t available and you’re a creature that stands just about a foot tall and weighs less than three pounds, what’s the safest way to cross a busy road? Perhaps to go under it.
There’s a village just 40 miles southeast of Shanghai, China, that might be the greenest in the world. No, it’s not because of its CO2-sequestering buildings, recycling programs or eco-friendly neighborhoods. It’s because it’s literally green: it’s covered in plants.
