Nature & Wildlife
Animals and plants are remarkably resilient in the face of environmental changes. Their creative adaptations and strategies for surviving in ever-altering conditions include going dormant, developing drought tolerance, adjusting migrations, switching to nocturnal activity, forming a salinity tolerance and making social partnerships.
Nature & Wildlife
Our impacts on the natural world can be very large—and often detrimental. This manifests in various ways, including in biodiversity loss, climate change, habitat destruction and pollution. These changes can have cascading effects on ecosystems and human societies, leading to a range of challenges.
Antarctica & Arctic
Part of the reason that I’m so enthralled with Antarctica is because it’s one of the rare places on Earth that has never had an Indigenous population; in other words, there are no native human Antarcticans. Of course, animals other than us have lived there for eons. Perhaps, the best known and most abundant are penguins.
Nature & Wildlife
What if all the biodiversity on Earth followed a surprisingly simple pattern? There is a universal rule that applies to everything from dragonflies to forests.
Conservation
Virtual reality (VR)—a technology that simulates a three-dimensional (3D) environment, allowing users to interact with a computer-generated world as if they were physically present—can create dynamic, immersive and personalized experiences.
Conservation
Conservation is growing up. The field is no longer just about how to protect an animal group’s numbers and making efforts to keep it from going extinct by identifying key habitats and focusing on natural resource management. Ethnobiology has entered the conservation space in a big way.
Conservation
It’s July, and I already know what’s coming. Scientists will find that 2025 is one of the hottest years on record, just like 2024 was and 2023 before it. They’ve been warning us for decades that this would happen.
Conservation
While wildfires and controlled burns (also known as prescribed burns) are both fires, they differ significantly in their impacts, management and origins. Wildfires are unplanned and unrestrained, often caused by natural events like lightning or human error—such as unattended campfires or discarded cigarettes—and they can cause extensive damage.
Nature & Wildlife
Recently, several scientists from the SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) Institute have had close encounters with nonhuman, intelligent beings. These creatures blew bubble rings toward them, in what could be a sophisticated form of nonverbal communication. The nonhuman beings, however, were not from another planet.
Nature & Wildlife
Fourth of July fireworks can release harmful pollutants into the air you breathe. There are, however, other, healthier alternatives.
Conservation
No one type of wildlife corridor benefits all animals. Overpasses, tunnels and underpasses need to be built smarter, with particular needs in mind.
Nature & Wildlife
Captivating remnants of ancient times, fossils offer a window into Earth’s history and the evolution of life. They document the past, providing clues about extinct species, vanished environments and the processes that shaped our planet.
