Our Planet

The True Story of Kudzu, the Vine That Never Truly Ate the South

A naturalist cuts through the myths surrounding the invasive plant

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Anthropocene

These Maps Show the Severe Impact of Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans

Where does the city stand now, compared to where it was ten years ago when the storm hit

Humans take 14 times more adult biomass from the oceans than other marine predators.

Anthropocene

Modern Humans Have Become Superpredators

Most other predators target juveniles, but our species tends to kill more full-grown adults

The remains of slash-and-burn land clearing in Rondônia in 1985.

Age of Humans

How a Farming Project in Brazil Turned Into a Social and Ecological Tragedy

This week's Generation Anthropocene podcast looks at Rondônia, a textbook tale of how not to set up sustainable land use

Discharge from the Gold King Mine colored Colorado's Animas River a distinct golden hue on August 6.

Anthropocene

Why Tens of Thousands of Toxic Mines Litter the U.S. West

The spill in Colorado's Animas River highlights the problem of wastewater building up in abandoned mines

This inscription in Dayu Cave dates to 1894. The writing on the wall says that a scholar and several local leaders brought more than 120 people to the cave to get water during a drought.

Anthropocene

Chinese Cave Graffiti Records Centuries of Drought

And chemical clues in a stalagmite inside the cave confirm the chronicles on the walls

People walk past the damaged Durbar High School a few days after the major earthquake that struck Nepal in April.

Anthropocene

What Happened When a Disaster Preparedness Expert Was Caught in an Earthquake

In this Generation Anthropocene podcast, geologist Anne Sanquini gives her first-hand account of April's disaster in Nepal

Debris still litters Durbar Square in Kathmandu, seen in June 2015.

New Research

Why the Nepal Earthquake Was Especially Bad for Cultural Sites

The major quake sparked a resonance in the basin that made taller buildings more likely to topple

Corythomantis greeningi frogs carry potent venom in their pouts.

Ask Smithsonian

What’s the Difference Between Poisonous and Venomous Animals?

The first known venomous frogs, discovered in Brazil, raise some basic questions about toxic biology

Climate change is raising the stakes for human conflict.

Anthropocene

A Hotter Climate May Boost Conflict, From Shootings to Wars

In this episode of Generation Anthropocene, scientists explore the link between rising temperatures and aggression

Visit the World's Most Amazing Old-Growth Forests

Here are some of the best places to hug centuries-old trees

An aurora glows near Australia in a photo taken from the International Space Station. Auroras are products of charged particles from the sun interacting with Earth's magnetic field.

Earth’s Magnetic Field Is at Least Four Billion Years Old

Tiny grains of Australian zircon hold evidence that our magnetic shielding was active very soon after the planet formed

Skimming Oil in the Gulf of Mexico

Scientists Find a Natural Way to Clean Up Oil Spills, With a Plant-Based Molecule

Researchers at the City College of New York are testing a spray made of phytol, a molecule in chlorophyll, on oil in lab wave pools

Elephants are complex communicators.

Age of Humans

How Elephants and Songbirds Are Helping Humans Communicate

In this Generation Anthropocene podcast, social animals show scientists how to trace our evolution and improve interactions

Ensuring a bountiful harvest will require some ingenuity.

Anthropocene

How Will We Feed 9 Billion People on Earth of the Future?

This week's Generation Anthropocene reveals how seeds on ice and poisonous tubers may offer hope for food security

Brazil's Surui people, like the man pictured above, share ancestry with indigenous Australians, new evidence suggests.

New Research

A DNA Search for the First Americans Links Amazon Groups to Indigenous Australians

The new genetic analysis takes aim at the theory that just one founding group settled the Americas

A natural gas flare burns over a fracking site in the Bakken Oil Fields of northwestern North Dakota.

Anthropocene

Recession, Not Fracking, Drove a Drop in U.S. Carbon Emissions

The switch from coal to natural gas played only a small role in the recent carbon dioxide decline

EJSCREEN overlays demographic data with EPA pollution data.

The EPA Has a New Tool For Mapping Where Pollution and Poverty Intersect

To better target its efforts, the agency is identifying problem areas, where people are facing undue environmental risks

Flames and smoke cover the hillsides near Yucca Valley in California during a June wildfire.

Anthropocene

Wildfires Are Happening More Often and in More Places

Average fire season length has increased by nearly a fifth in the last 35 years, and the area impacted has doubled

Not all water is easy to see.

Anthropocene

How Can We Keep Track of Earth's Invisible Water?

This week's episode of Generation Anthropocene goes on a deep dive into some of the planet's more mysterious water sources

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