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The McDougall Creek wildfire burns in the hills of British Columbia, Canada, on August 17, 2023. Evacuation orders were put in place for areas near Kelowna, as the fire threatened the city of around 150,000.

Ancient Humans Mastered Fire. Now, Burning Fossil Fuels and Blazing Landscapes Threaten to ‘Undo the World’

Intensifying wildfires across the continent are spewing air pollution, putting human health at risk, particularly Americans living with chronic illnesses

Lorraine Boissoneault

Mountains in Montana’s Makoshika State Park, where some of the Hell Creek Formation lies.

The Hell Creek Formation Is North America’s Legendary Boneyard. See the Top Five Discoveries Found in the Iconic Fossil Bed

From the perspective of the Orion spacecraft, seen at left, the moon eclipsed the sun on April 6.

What Lies Beyond Artemis 2? These Other Missions Are Setting Their Sights on the Moon This Year—and on a Future With Humans in Space

More than 95 percent of the world’s bergamot oil production is concentrated in Southern Italy’s Calabria region. But harsh conditions driven by climate change threaten that supply.

Earth’s Smells Are Disappearing Because of Climate Change, and It’s a Vast Cultural Loss

Nearly 200 hippos are estimated to roam in Colombia.

Colombia Plans to Euthanize Dozens of ‘Cocaine Hippos,’ Descendants of Animals Brought by Notorious Drug Trafficker Pablo Escobar

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Students at Anne Wien Elementary School in Fairbanks pilot test the Fresh Eyes on Ice data collection protocol with project team member Allen Bondurant in 2019.

‘Fresh Eyes on Ice’ Teaches Kids to Collect Vital Ice Data in Remote Alaskan Communities

Students measure ice thickness and monitor spring break-up to help save lives in areas where frozen rivers are used as roadways

The McDougall Creek wildfire burns in the hills of British Columbia, Canada, on August 17, 2023. Evacuation orders were put in place for areas near Kelowna, as the fire threatened the city of around 150,000.

Ancient Humans Mastered Fire. Now, Burning Fossil Fuels and Blazing Landscapes Threaten to ‘Undo the World’

Intensifying wildfires across the continent are spewing air pollution, putting human health at risk, particularly Americans living with chronic illnesses

Mountains in Montana’s Makoshika State Park, where some of the Hell Creek Formation lies.

250 Places to Celebrate America

The Hell Creek Formation Is North America’s Legendary Boneyard. See the Top Five Discoveries Found in the Iconic Fossil Bed

From preserved plants to T. rex, the material found in these Late Cretaceous rocks has resulted in countless breakthroughs for paleontologists

From the perspective of the Orion spacecraft, seen at left, the moon eclipsed the sun on April 6.

What Lies Beyond Artemis 2? These Other Missions Are Setting Their Sights on the Moon This Year—and on a Future With Humans in Space

As the historic lunar flyby comes to a close, space companies and nations around the world are also shooting for the moon. Upcoming landings aim to change the landscape of space exploration

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There's More to That

Hear From a Wildlife Photographer’s Dramatic Glimpse Into the Dwindling World of the Cascade Red Fox

Gretchen Kay Stuart has chronicled the work of a small team of biologists who are trying to keep a little known and breathtakingly beautiful endangered species from disappearing

The Mercer Botanic Gardens in Houston, Texas, has its own Shakespeare garden.

Shakespeare Gardens Around the World Honor the Playwright—and Hold Their Own Storied History

The curated plots of flowers, herbs and trees serve as windows into Shakespeare’s work and life

More than 95 percent of the world’s bergamot oil production is concentrated in Southern Italy’s Calabria region. But harsh conditions driven by climate change threaten that supply.

Earth’s Smells Are Disappearing Because of Climate Change, and It’s a Vast Cultural Loss

A triple threat of pollution, extinction and warming temperatures is altering the way the planet smells. Scientists are only beginning to understand the stakes for humans

A visitor gazes at a statue of a giant short-faced bear. At around 11 feet tall, the Ice Age animal was the largest carnivorous mammal ever to roam North America.

250 Places to Celebrate America

The La Brea Tar Pits Have Been Sucking in Visitors for Millennia. Paleontologists Are Still Finding Out What Lies Within the Ooze

In Los Angeles, scientists are delighted to decode one of the richest fossil records on Earth

Some 150 proboscis monkeys like this one make their home in Bako National Park, a protected area on the northwestern coast of Borneo.

The Endangered Proboscis Monkey Is Easily Identifiable By One Physical Trait: Its Supersized Schnoz

When you see this primate’s nose, you know you’re in Borneo, where efforts are underway to restore its habitat

Purple martins are long-distance migrants that nest in human-provided boxes across North America.

Purple Martins Rely on Human ‘Landlords’ to Provide Nest Boxes Each Spring. Can That Dynamic Last?

The large swallows have nested alongside human settlements for centuries. Now, the birds’ breeding success depends on caretakers who are beginning to age out of the role

Onlookers capture photos and videos as the Space Launch System rocket carrying the Artemis 2 crew’s Orion spacecraft Integrity lifts off at 6:35 p.m. Eastern time on April 1.

Spectators Flocked to the Artemis 2 Launch to Witness History Being Made. One Awed Viewer Called It ‘the Best Thing Ever’

Wednesday evening, a human mission to the moon lifted off for the first time in more than 50 years. These 13 photographs capture what it was like to experience the moment

Scientists have discovered that each of the sea star’s tube feet is driven independently using local feedback from the environment.

Sea Stars Can Lose an Arm and Soldier On. What If Robots Could Do the Same?

Bioinspiration looks to nature for clues on how to build more efficient, resilient robots

The adult female fox, Shadow, was around 5 months old when Stuart first documented and named her in 2022. 

Cascade Red Foxes Are Notoriously Reclusive. So How Did This Photographer Capture These Stunning Images of the Endangered Species?

Even the scientists who study the animals rarely see them except on camera. But Gretchen Kay Stuart spent a season documenting them up close

During a training exercise in Houston in January 2025, the Artemis 2 crew practiced configuring the Orion spacecraft for orbit and its return to Earth.

The Revolution in Moon Exploration

It’s Almost ‘All Systems Go’ for Artemis 2 to Take the Next Giant Leap Toward Stepping on the Moon Again

Scheduled to launch this week, NASA’s Artemis 2 is part of the bold 21st-century vision for returning astronauts to the lunar surface

Spinosaurus was the largest and most aquatic of the spinosaurs, a group of dinosaurs with crocodilian snouts.

Was Spinosaurus Really a ‘Hell Heron’? Digging Into the Star of Netflix’s ‘The Dinosaurs’

With an incredible sail and heavy bones that might have acted as ballast, Spinosaurus seems primed for snatching fish. The creature has long captivated the public, from its early mysteries to the recent discovery of a new species

Modern fish traps require pilings that are driven into the riverbed and netting that reaches across part of a river.

Fish Traps Have Been Banned on the Columbia River for Nearly a Century. Could Bringing Them Back Help Save Salmon?

A new experiment is testing the commercial success of fish traps in Washington and Oregon. Even as some conservationists embrace the technique, its return has reopened old wounds among local fishers

A young living root bridge, barely a decade old, is seen from the deck of a much older root bridge on the same riverbed. Five months after I shot this photograph, monsoon rains triggered a landslide that sent boulders crashing into the younger bridge. It absorbed the impact and shielded the older bridge downstream.

In One of the Wettest Places on the Planet, Indigenous People Build Bridges and Ladders Out of Living Tree Roots

For hundreds of years, Khasi and Jaintia people in Meghalaya, India, have woven the roots of Indian rubber trees into structures that help them navigate flooded areas

Snowdrops can push through snow and icy ground to bloom in winter, bringing their blossoms to the largely dormant landscape.

How a Small Winter Flower Has Attracted Droves of Admirers—and Offers a Symbol of Resilience

The snowdrop, or Galanthus, blooms when the world is still frozen. Gardeners enamored with the plant gather each year in Pennsylvania to celebrate its subtleties and endurance

Microplastics pose a growing global concern as they infiltrate not just the environment but also humans and animals.

This High School Student Invented a Filter That Eliminates 96 Percent of Microplastics From Drinking Water

Virginia teenager Mia Heller’s filtration system harnesses the power of ferrofluid, a magnetic oil that binds to microplastics in flowing water

An artist’s illustration of the exoplanet HD 219134 b, a rocky world about 21 light-years from Earth. This scorching planet, which orbits extremely close to its host star, might have a partially molten surface and volcanoes.

Alien Life Could Look Nothing Like What We Expect. Here’s How Microbes Beyond Earth Might Live Without Liquid Water

Like the lead character of “Project Hail Mary,” some scientists are proposing ways that life might exist beyond a star’s “habitable zone,” often considered the gold standard of potential livability

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