Nature & Wildlife
Life Goes On in Earth’s Most Extreme Environments
“Life finds a way.” That’s a now-famous statement from Dr. Ian Malcolm, a fictional character played by actor Jeff Goldblum in the 1993 movie Jurassic Park.
Good Nature Travel Blog
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Nature & Wildlife
Nature’s Lights: Bioluminescence and Fluorescence
Natural lights in nature come in two familiar forms: bioluminescence and fluorescence. They differ primarily by their light source: bioluminescence is a chemical reaction within an organism that creates its own light, while fluorescence is a physical process where an organism or object absorbs external light and reemits it.
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Galapagos Islands
Galapagos: Fit Birds and Darwin’s Fine Books
If you’re a lover of books (or a bibliophile) like me, you’ll appreciate Charles Darwin, the biologist famous for his Theory of Evolution that was formulated while visiting the Galapagos Islands. Arguably the most influential man of science in history, Darwin accumulated a vast personal library throughout his working life.
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Nature & Wildlife
Birds as Architects of Life
When the island of Surtsey erupted from the sea near Iceland in 1963, it became a living experiment in how life begins anew. Decades later, scientists discovered that the plants colonizing this young island weren’t carried there by ocean currents or by the wind, but by birds, who served as winged gardeners.
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Nature & Wildlife
The Balance and Bond of Predators and Prey
The predator/prey relationship is an age-old association. Despite that longevity, it can still mystify us. For example, on a remote Alaskan island, gray wolves are rewriting the rule book by hunting sea otters—a behavior few scientists ever expected to see.
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Nature & Wildlife
Minuscule Mosses and Their Truly Tall Talents
Small plants like mosses rarely draw our attention. Many moss species grow close to the ground in damp, shaded environments and are no wider than an eyelash. Despite their modest appearance, however, these plants have some formidable capabilities.
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Nature & Wildlife
Orangutans Show Us a Better Way of Eating
How are you progressing on your New Year’s resolutions? If you’re like most people, you gave up on them surprisingly fast, with the second Friday in January often called “Quitter’s Day,” because many abandon goals by then. By the second week of February, an estimated 80% of people have scrapped their ambitions.
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Conservation
Vanishing Things
Things are vanishing. Here’s an example: humanity has already pushed 60% of Earth’s land outside its safe biosphere zone, with 38% in a high-risk state. Centuries of data confirm how human demands on biomass—from energy production to farming—have destabilized ecosystems worldwide. Asia, Europe and North America show the deepest disruptions, reflecting centuries of land-use change.
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Travel Tips
20 Tips for Making the Most of Your National Park Trip
Mountains, seashores, grasslands, wetlands, coral reefs and glaciers. Our national parks protect a multitude of terrains for every taste. And with more than 400 national park units across the country to explore, it can be daunting to choose which one you want to visit the soonest. Luckily, you have help.
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Nature & Wildlife
The Cure for the Pressures of Modern Life Is Nature
The end-of-the-year holidays are once again over. Now, we enter January, famously known as “get-in-shape month.” Typically, this is when we focus on diet plans and gym memberships. But this year, you may want to give your mental health equal priority.
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News & More
Gatherings and Gifts that Speak of Place
Foods speak of place. They reflect a region’s culture, geography and history through their ingredients, preparations and traditions. When traveling, you can take in much of the essential nature of a new place by eating its local, favorite foods.
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Nature & Wildlife
Incredible But Imperiled Bird and Caribou Migrations
Migration is a wonderful word. It doesn’t merely mean a physical relocation but is an expression of strength, resilience, the universal desire for well-being and a movement toward hope. I have always thought of migrations as nature in motion.