The Strange Beauty of David Maisel’s Aerial Photographs
A new book shows how the photographer creates startling images of open-pit mines, evaporation ponds and other sites of environmental degradation
April 26, 2013 |
By Megan Gambino
Before and After: America’s Environmental History
For the EPA's State of the Environment Photography Project, people are returning to sites photographed in the 1970s. They are snapping the scenes yet again—to document any changes in the landscape
April 22, 2013 |
By Marina Koren
Transforming Raw Scientific Data Into Sculpture and Song
Artist Nathalie Miebach uses meteorological data to create 3D woven works of art and playable musical scores
March 01, 2013 |
By Marina Koren
Seven Must-See Art-Meets-Science Exhibitions in 2013
Preview some of the top-notch shows—on anatomy, bioluminescence, water tanks and more—slated for the next year
December 28, 2012 |
By Megan Gambino
Malibu’s Epic Battle of Surfers Vs. Environmentalists
Local politics take a dramatic turn in southern California over a plan to clean up an iconic American playground
November 2012 |
By Claire Martin
Collage of Arts and Sciences: Now In Session
Our newest blog explores the fertile ground where art and science meet
September 04, 2012 |
By Megan Gambino
Keeping the Smithsonian Sustainable
Secretary Clough writes on the benefits of being an environmentally savvy institution
May 2012 |
By G. Wayne Clough, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution
A Little Independent Energy Experiment on the Prairie
If you can fight your way through the dirt storms of Madelia, Minnesota, you may be able to find the future of renewable energy
April 06, 2012 |
By Maggie Koerth-Baker
Is it Too Late for Sustainable Development?
Dennis Meadows thinks so. Forty years after his book The Limits to Growth, he explains why
March 16, 2012 |
By Megan Gambino
Preparing for a New River
Klallam tribal members make plans for holy ancestral sites to resurface after the unparalleled removal of nearby dams
December 2011 |
By Abigail Tucker
America’s First Great Global Warming Debate
Thomas Jefferson and Noah Webster argue over conventional wisdom that lasted thousands of years
July 15, 2011 |
By Joshua Kendall
Making Beautiful Art out of Beach Plastic
Artists Judith and Richard Lang comb the California beaches, looking for trash for their captivating, yet unsettling work
July 14, 2011 |
By Jeff Greenwald
How to Turn 8,000 Plastic Bottles Into a Building
Peace Corps volunteer Laura Kutner demonstrates how she turned trash into the building blocks for one community's revival
June 2011 |
By Arcynta Ali Childs
A Mega-Dam Dilemma in the Amazon
A huge dam on Peru's Inambari River will bring much-needed development to the region. But at what cost?
March 2011 |
By Clay Risen
Devastation From Above
J. Henry Fair's aerial photographs of industrial sites provoke a strange mix of admiration and concern
January 2011 |
By Megan Gambino
The Colorado River Runs Dry
Dams, irrigation and now climate change have drastically reduced the once-mighty river. Is it a sign of things to come?
October 2010 |
By Sarah Zielinski
Kayaking Alaska in the Exxon Valdez’ Shadow
The massive oil spill devastated the Prince William Sound shore 21 years ago; now the wildlife and vistas are making a comeback
September 13, 2010 |
By Megan Gambino
A Crude Awakening in the Gulf of Mexico
Scientists are just beginning to grasp how profoundly oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill has devastated the region
September 2010 |
By Michelle Nijhuis
An Earth Day Icon, Unmasked
The 1970 photograph became an instant environmental classic, but its subject has remained nameless until now
August 2010 |
By Timothy Dumas
By the Numbers: A Marine Advisory
Scientists say the outlook for the world's oceans is bleak—unless we stop overfishing and reduce air and water pollution
August 2010 |
By Sarah Zielinski
