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Science / Our Planet

Speleologists in metallurgical “cooling suits” emerge from the extreme heat of a lava tube formed by the eruption in 2021 of Mount Fagradalsfjall.

Journey Into the Fiery Depths of Earth’s Youngest Caves

What Iceland’s volcanoes are revealing about early life on our planet

In the late 1960s, Bob Paine described the Pisaster sea star as a “keystone species” in Pacific Northwest tide pools. The concept has since taken on a life of its own.

Has the Term ‘Keystone Species’ Lost Its Meaning?

More than 50 years after Bob Paine’s experiment with starfish, hundreds of species have been pronounced “keystones” in their ecosystems

A multi-vortex tornado touches down on the town of Patricia, Texas.

Ten Amazing Facts About Tornadoes, Explained

To prepare you for the movie “Twisters,” we’ve compiled some jaw-dropping details about the powerful phenomenon

The earthquake on March 27, 1964, dropped Anchorage’s Fourth Avenue and some cars on it roughly 20 feet below normal.

How the Great Alaska Earthquake Shook Up Science

Sixty years ago, the largest earthquake in U.S. history shocked geologists. It’s still driving scientific discoveries today

Piles of coal sit in front of a power plant in Utah. Such coal-fired power plants emit greenhouse gases that drive climate change.

What Myths About the Anthropocene Get Wrong

These ten misconceptions underplay how much we have altered the global environment and undermine the new perspective we need to deal with a drastically changed world

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What Happens When Animals Cross the Road

Our byways are an unnatural incursion into the natural world, especially when they’re allowed to fall into disuse. Meet a roadkill scientist and a journalist tracking how roads mess with nature—and what we can do about it

Wide-ranging anecdotal reports and studies suggest many animals respond to a total solar eclipse, whether by showing anxiety, performing nighttime behaviors or doing something unexpected.

How Do Animals React to a Total Solar Eclipse? Scientists Document Strange and Surprising Behaviors

Nature enthusiasts work with researchers to figure out how creatures respond to the celestial phenomenon

American video artist Brian Fridge created a five-billboard series in Dallas called View Finder that portrayed a solar eclipse.

The Long History of Art Inspired by Solar Eclipses

For centuries, curious artists have been trying to make sense of the celestial event

The mountain range is beloved for its challenging rock climbing and unusually varied terrain, from grassland and forest to rugged alpine rises.

Climbing Malawi’s Island in the Sky

A steep, lush massif—the country’s highest peak at 10,000 feet—beckons adventurers

A straw-headed bulbul 

How Singapore Became an Unexpected Stronghold for a Critically Endangered Bird

Despite being the smallest country in Southeast Asia, the city-state is now home to the largest population of the straw-headed bulbul

The Aria Resort & Casino, a striking pair of curved buildings on the Las Vegas Strip, bills itself as eco-friendly and water-efficient.

Las Vegas Is Going All In on Its Water Conservation Plan

As the Southwest dries, can a city notorious for excess find a way to survive with less?

Leaves and roots analyzed by botanist Mason Heberling

These Researchers Are Digging Into the Understudied Science of Roots

After centuries of neglect, botanists are using new techniques to understand roots

A forest in Minnesota

In Minnesota, Researchers Are Moving Trees Farther North to Save Forests

As the world warms, trees in such forests will no longer be adapted to their local climates. That’s where assisted migration comes in

The otherworldly form of the octopus has inspired millennia of fear and awe from humans.

Ten Wild Facts About Octopuses: They Have Three Hearts, Big Brains and Blue Blood

These bizarre creatures have been around for hundreds of millions of years, and for humans, they’ve inspired horror, admiration and culinary prestige

Minerals and algae form patterns in the scalding hot water at Grand Prismatic Spring in Yellowstone National Park's Midway Geyser Basin. Yellowstone National Park has more than 10,000 thermal features, making it the largest concentration of active geysers in the world.

How a Microbe From Yellowstone’s Hot Springs Could Help Feed the World

A Chicago startup has turned a fungus found by NASA into a protein-packed food

A volcanic eruption moves toward the outskirts of the evacuated town of Grindavik on Iceland’s Reykjanes Peninsula.

Iceland’s Recent Volcanic Eruptions Are Unleashing Deep Secrets

Each dramatic episode over the past few years has led to fresh geologic revelations, and researchers think another bout is on the way

A logging road in Montana’s Lolo National Forest. America’s woodlands are carved up by obsolete roads that fragment wildlife habitat and degrade fragile ecosystems. Now ecologists are calling in bulldozers to rip them up.

Planet Positive

The Case for Destroying Old Forest Roads

Can demolishing abandoned dirt paths point the way to a more sustainable future?

Greenhouse gas emissions that result from burning fossil fuels drive climate change.

Six Big Ways Climate Change Could Impact the United States by 2100

Climate change is expected to affect all parts of the country in the coming decades, threatening everything from our food supply to our coastlines

Farmers have shown a renewed interest in planting coffee in the shade of other plants. The resulting farms are visited by a multitude of creatures from ants to birds to bats.

How Shade Coffee Aids Conservation

When managed in the right way, the farms that provide our morning brew can be a refuge for plant and animal biodiversity

This small, bucolic waterfall in Western New York has one highly photogenic feature: a grotto lit by a dancing orange flame.

Seven Natural Phenomena Worth Traveling For

You need to be in the right place at the right time to see these celestial and earthly wonders

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