Once extracted, labeled and bundled, the cores are carefully airlifted to the safety of the lab. Only there will the ice's true secrets be revealed.

Glaciologist Erin Pettit Reports from the Field

Light shining through the ice turns a cave's roof (above, Amy Rarig, age 17) an eerie blue.

The “Girls on Ice” Share Their Experiences in the Field

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An Interview with Rob Irion, Author of “The Planet Hunters”

Rob Irion spoke with Amy Crawford about his article, “The Planet Hunters”

A stone statue of Hatshepsut

Climate Change

Time often shapes perceptions

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Last Page: The Wrath of Khan

Even IRS auditors will tremble in my presence

Madeleine Nash

Interview with J. Madeleine Nash, Author of “Storm Warnings”

Nash, a science reporter, discusses her most thrilling weather experience, and her fascination with the scariest forces of nature

Sloth bears will have their own amphitheater.

Trailblazers

This month, pandas and other exotic creatures go on view at the National Zoo’s new Asia Trail

Christopher Landsea and Stanley Goldenberg (above, aboard a NOAA jet) say there's not enough data to blame recent powerful hurricanes on global warming. Instead, they say, other air and sea conditions are responsible.

Storm Warnings

Is global warming to blame for the intensity of recent Atlantic hurricanes? While experts debate that question, they agree that tempests are headed our way

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Wild Things: Life As We Know It

Human behavior, primate intelligence, meal planning, tree-dwelling orchids and detangling history

Mountain lion climbing down rock, Yellowstone National Park

Cougars on the Move

Mountain lions are thought to be multiplying in the West and heading east. Can we learn to live with these beautiful, elusive creatures?

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Interview with Steve Kemper, Author of “Cougars on the Move”

Kemper talks about how cougars have been hated throughout history and what surprised him while researching the animals

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Wild Things: Life As We Know It

Figs, canary songs, whales with legs, ancient flowering shrubs and beaver dams

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Last Page: Weight of the World

The battle of the bulge goes global

Building Sustainable Cities

The 227-city U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement is just the beginning.

Ferns and bamboo grow densely where ancient trails (walked by Josh Rapp, to the left of Miles Silman) allow more light to penetrate the canopy.

Uphill Battle

As the climate warms in the cloud forests of the Andes, plants and animals must climb to higher, cooler elevations or die

Nature Works has figured out how to make plastic out of corn.

Corn Plastic to the Rescue

Wal-Mart and others are going green with “biodegradable” packaging made from corn. But is this really the answer to America’s throwaway culture?

Lepeadon, the "fierce man" of the Letin clan.

Raffaele Among the Korowai

Paul Raffaele describes his adventures (and misadventures) in Indonesian New Guinea, reporting on the Korowai

Swartz (holding some of his experimental hybrid moschata strawberries) says his "holy grail" is a hybrid with the breed's exotic musky flavor and aroma that is also hardy enough for U.S. markets. He predicts it's no more than a few years away.

Berried Treasure

Why is horticulturalist Harry Jan Swartz so determined to grow an exotic strawberry beloved by Jane Austen?

The View From the Center of the Universe: Discovering Our Extraordinary Place in the Cosmos

Finding a Home in the Cosmos

In a new book written with his wife, Nancy Abrams, cosmologist Joel Primack argues that the universe was meant for us. Sort of

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Interview with John Seidensticker and Susan Lumpkin

The authors of “Building an Arc” talk about wildlife conservation and what drew them to work with tigers.

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