Of Moths and MarsupialsArticle 04.26.2023The ancient relationship between the mountain pygmy possum and the bogong moth reveals the complexity of global climate change—and the lengths people may have to go to save some species from extinction.
Rogues of the RainforestArticle 03.22.2023Tropical vines are wandering, as they always have, but recent environmental changes are giving them an edge over other rainforest plants—a shift that could have enduring impacts on climates around the globe.
What Conservation Sounds LikeArticle 02.17.2023New bioacoustic tools are revolutionizing scientific research and enabling much quicker conservation efforts around the globe.
Downward SpiralArticle 06.04.2022The nautilus’s lineage made it through all five of Earth’s previous mass extinctions. But can it survive the Anthropocene?
Bringing out the DeadArticle 10.28.2021By sinking a wide array of carcasses into the deep ocean and studying what turns up when they fall, scientists are learning about some of the world’s most exotic scavengers and the roles they play in the darkness.
Signs of the TimesArticle 07.08.2021Despite their perceived abundance, the periodical cicadas that emerged across the eastern United States this summer point to a growing set of threats facing both the insects themselves and the ecosystems they help support.
Antarctica’s Upside Down WorldArticle 05.12.2021Clinging to the underside of ice hundreds of meters thick, strange communities of sea life eke out a living in perpetual darkness. Now, researchers are racing to find and study these creatures before they—and their ice sheets—disappear.
Scales of ReferenceArticle 03.11.2021Collected at the tail end of British Columbia’s “silver fever,” hundred-year-old salmon scales are now helping conservation scientists reconstruct and better manage the populations of one of Canada’s most important fish.
Swamp SentinelsArticle 02.18.2021Buried in mud for millennia, some of New Zealand’s ancient kauri trees are revealing surprising clues about Earth’s climate—past, present, and future.
A Novel DemiseSpotlight 09.22.2020Although we’ve marveled over carnivorous plants for centuries, the plants’ penchant for vertebrate flesh has been largely overlooked.
Records of ChangeVideo 01.17.2020Thanks to foresight and meticulous records collected nearly a century ago, scientists are reconstructing a picture of some of Mexico’s most important ecosystems before they were transformed.
Unexpected PlaymateSpotlight 08.27.2019A young humpback whale is spotted off the coast of Sri Lanka. Is it a sign of a promising trend, or just a fluke?
Lens of Time: Jaw JumpersVideo 07.30.2019Sometimes the best solution to a sticky situation is a quick escape, and few escapes are faster than a trap-jaw ant’s.
Ghosts of the EvergladesImmersive 07.11.2019Clinging to survival in shrinking swamps, ghost orchids are so elusive that their pollinators have remained unknown—until now. One team’s findings may help to save both the flower and its threatened home.
Sounds of SurvivalVideo 10.09.2018A quest to record a quiet frog’s call may mean the difference between its survival and its extinction.
Lens of Time: The Art of Staying StableVideo 08.27.2018A tiny copper cannonball is no match for this hawkmoth’s hovering prowess.
Lens of Time: Growing Against the OddsVideo 06.12.2018As reefs endure another onslaught, scientists are taking a closer look at how corals live and grow—and what may enable some of them to persist in a changing world.
Lens of Time: Huddle MastersVideo 04.24.2018Emperor penguins just may be the best huddlers on Earth—and scientists are finally revealing the secrets to their success.
Scuba FliesPhoto Essay 03.27.2018In California’s Mono Lake—whose alkaline waters are deadly to most insects—these diving flies don’t just survive; they thrive.
The Anomalies: Venom RaceVideo 02.06.2018A group of scorpions is evolving increasingly deadly toxins, and scientists might finally know how and why.
