Environment

Is SpaceX Being Environmentally Responsible?

Falcon Heavy’s flashy space car may not have been the best idea—for Mars

The American eel fishery has historically focused on mature eels (as shown here), which are exported around the world. But these days, there’s more money to be made from juveniles.

The Epic Fight Over the Enigmatic Eel

The slippery fish is at the center of a Canadian national debate about economics, conservation and Indigenous rights

All Praise The Humble Dung Beetle

By recycling and removing feces, these unsung insects make the world go 'round

Runaway Sprinkles from the Museum of Ice Cream Create ‘Environmental Hazard’ in Miami Beach

Here’s the scoop: officials are worried that the museum’s fake sprinkles will get washed into oceans and eaten by marine creatures

Nilgai antelope, like the cattle fever ticks they carry, are considered an invasive species in places like Texas.

Why We Should Rethink How We Talk About "Alien" Species

In a trend that echoes the U.S.-Mexico border debate, some say that calling non-native animals "foreigners" and "invaders" only worsens the problem

Few realize that the lovable, cotton-candy-pink amphibian is on the edge of extinction.

How to Save the Paradoxical Axolotl

Despite being a common pet and beloved cultural icon, the grinning amphibian is nearly extinct in the wild

Arabian oryx at the Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve.

Why the UAE Should Be Your Next Ecotourism Destination

Artist’s representation of “neglected story on Smithsonian.com.”

The Ten Stories You Didn't Read in 2017 But Should Have

From music behind prison bars to a San Francisco building with a dark past, here are the top 10 pieces we published last year that deserve another look

Air Pollution May Diminish the Benefits of Exercise

You might want to rethink that walk along the smoggy roadway

In Fallujah, ISIS blew up this bridge during its 2016 retreat.

What Does the Future of the Euphrates Spell for the Middle East?

In the wake of the war against Isis in Iraq, an ominous journey along the once-mighty river finds a new crisis lurking in the shallows

A worker unloads pipe from a truck during construction of the southern portion of the Keystone XL pipeline.

Keystone XL Pipeline Clears Major Obstacle for Construction

The move is the latest development in the long history of the controversial pipeline

Recycling bins at the Whiteman Recycling Center in Montana.

How the 1970s Created Recycling As We Know It

People recycled before then, but for different reasons

A Paradise for Grizzly Bears Gets an Up-Close Look

This unique North American sanctuary lets a few lucky observers see the besieged species in its wildest state

The Climeworks device in Iceland that can filter carbon dioxide from ambient air and send it underground

First 'Negative Emissions' Plant Opens in Iceland, Turning Atmospheric CO2 Into Stone

The plant's operators hope to halt the warming of the Earth, but many challenges remain for the plan to work on a large scale

Mike deRoos and Michi Main rebuild skeletons of marine mammals for their company Cetacea. Here, deRoos adjusts a blue whale chevron bone placement.

How to Give Dead Animals a Second Life: The Art of Skeleton Articulation

Mike deRoos and Michi Main build beautiful models from the remains of Pacific sea creatures

Illustration of the proposed Thirty Meter Telescope

Controversial Hawaiian Telescope Gets State Approval

The long-delayed Thirty Meter Telescope on Mauna Kea faces opposition from native Hawaiian groups and environmentalists

This NASA Landsat image shows the Mackenzie River surrounding the town of Inuvik, and the uniquely pock-marked landscape of this delta.

With Federal Funds Dwindling, Climate Scientists Turn to Unusual Partnerships to Study Methane in a Warming Arctic

As the urgency of climate change becomes tangible to those in the Arctic, federal funds are growing harder to come by

The elusive Vangunu giant rat lives in trees, a habitat under attack from deforestation in the Solomon Islands.

Fall in Love With This Newly Discovered Giant Island Rat

The Vangunu rat is the first rodent species to come to light on the Solomon Islands in 80 years—and it’s already endangered

The Abajo Mountains in Bears Ears National Monument

Interior Secretary Recommends Shrinking Six National Monuments

The review, which has been leaked, also suggests changes in uses and/or management of several other monuments

Sunita Narain has been working for climate justice with the New Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment since 1982.

How an Environmental Activist Became a Pioneer for Climate Justice in India

Reducing India’s emissions will take more than science—it will take a new paradigm of de-colonialism, says Sunita Narain

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