Germany, Hamburg, Speichrstadt and Hafencity district

Age of Humans

Coastal Cities Need to Radically Rethink How They Deal With Rising Waters

“Transitional architecture” is both a futuristic solution to sea-level rise and a hearkening back to older ways of living

Feather identification expert Roxie Laybourne stands surrounded by colorful birds. This image took roughly eight hours to set up.

The Story Behind Those Jaw-Dropping Photos of the Collections at the Natural History Museum

The images capture only a fraction of the millions of creatures and objects that are stored away from the public eye

Hoh Rainforest moss

National Parks

Is This the Quietest Square Inch in the U.S.?

An acoustic ecologist reveals his findings

Stunning Timelapse of a Dragonfly Growing Wings

Watch the transformation unfold before your eyes

Ancient Mayan skull and bones remain in a Mexican sinkhole, remnants of a long-ago human sacrifice. The victims of sacrifice in Mayan rituals were varied, ranging from slaves to captive rulers of other lands.

New Research

Human Sacrifices May Lie Behind the Rise of Ancient Social Status

Dark practices may have helped the elite keep the lower classes in line, a new study hints

These Light-Up Fishing Nets Could Save Sea Turtles

New research shows attaching LED lights to fishing nets can keep turtles from becoming accidentally entangled

Butterflies Zigzag Wildly for a Reason

A butterfly’s slow wing beat enables it to make rapid and unpredictable changes of direction. Here’s why that’s such a useful trait

The fake egg looks and feels the same as a real vulture egg.

Scientists Are Using Electronic Eggs to Study Vultures

A sensor-packed egg, developed by a team at Microduino, could lead to clues about the birds’ livelihood

As we turn towards Kawaihae, I get another turn at the steering paddle. All of us steered at different times, sometimes two or three at once to handle the paddle in rough seas.

A Firsthand Account of What It Takes to Pilot a Voyaging Canoe Across the Ocean

More than just a desire to learn, a seat aboard the historic vessel Hōkūle`a requires skill, dedication and well, …obsession

Flatline on a heart monitor

The Lazarus Phenomenon, Explained: Why Sometimes, the Deceased Are Not Dead, Yet

What does CPR have to do with the curious case of clinically dead patients coming “back to life”?

T. rex had tiny arms. But that’s no reason to mock the dinosaur.

Stop Making Fun of Tyrannosaurs’ Tiny Arms

The stubby limbs may seem out of place, but they may have been key to the T. rex’s terrifying bite

In a reconstruction, by artist John Gurche, the Smithsonian's Natural History Museum displays what the Hobbit would have looked like in the Hall of Human Origins.

“Hobbits” Disappeared Much Earlier Than Previously Thought

If the tiny hominins ever coexisted with modern humans, the arrangement apparently didn’t last long

Pluto’s ‘heart’ is a giant crater that may be slowly moving across the dwarf planet’s surface, scientists say.

Pluto May Have a Wandering Heart

The enormous impact basin may be slowly traveling across the dwarf planet’s surface

An ant of the species Iridomyrmex purpureus (center) lifts a leg in an aggressive display when she encounters ants from a different nest.

Antennae Yield New Clues Into Ant Communication

Despite more than a century of study, scientists still have much more to learn about the complex world of ant communication

The Right Body Language Can Boost Odds of Online Dating Success

Potential partners size you up in seconds, and the way you sit or stand matters

A crackmeter in action, measuring the gaps between a rock sheet and a rock wall

Why Rockfalls Happen on Beautiful Days in Yosemite

Temperatures drive rocks to expand and contract—until one lovely day when slabs may suddenly fall

Coquerel's Sifaka (Propithecus coquereli) trio in trees, Ankarafantsika National Park, Madagascar

Why People Turn to Lemurs and Other Endangered Animals for Dinner in Madagascar

A close look at trade in bushmeat finds that consumption is common and out in the open

An adorable shelter dog shouldn’t have a difficult time finding a home—but it might if it comes with the label “pit bull.”

Call a Dog a Pit Bull and He May Have Trouble Finding a Home

Dogs labeled as pit bulls at shelters may wait three times longer to be adopted—even when they aren’t actually pit bulls

What’s It Like in Space? Ariel Waldman Has the Answers

The NASA adviser and author of a new book gives some insight on living beyond the Earth’s atmosphere

What a Tiny Fish Can Tell Us About How Humans Stood Upright

What is the root of why our ancestors gained the power to walk on two feet and chimpanzees didn’t?

Page 187 of 456