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Science

Scientists believe the bacteria may hold clues to the origins of life itself.

Subterranean Surprises

Scientists are discovering that caves more complex than we ever imagined may yield vast riches about the origins of life

Kakapos eat many fruits but particularly enjoy rimu fruit, which seems to encourage breeding.

Going to Extremes

Without the extraordinary dedication of a few conservationists, New Zealand’s kakapo would likely have gone the way of the dodo

A star in stripes: Paul Rhymer and John Matthews prep a zebra for display in the new mammal hall.

Bats Will Scatter

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Net Gains

A California biologist discovered a new insect species and then caught evolution in the act

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Rain Man

Snow, sleet, hail or volcanic eruption cloud physicist Peter Hobbs will find a way to fly into it

Star formation in the constellation Orion as photographed in infrared by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope

Astronomy’s New Stars

Thanks to new technology, backyard stargazers have traveled light-years of late to join professionals in mapping the heavens

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Palm Plight

Assaulted by myriad threats to their survival, palm species around the world face the likelihood of extinction

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Thar They Blow!

Gentle giants? New research suggests that male sperm whales may butt heads over females

"I can Monday-morning quarterback, but no one knew that [starvation killed the animals] until after they were dead," says beleaguered rescue leader Becky Arnold."

Incident at Big Pine Key

A pod of dolphins stranded in the Florida Keys reignites an emotional debate over how much human “help” the sea mammals can tolerate

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Second Nature

More and more, innovative scientists are turning to the natural world for inspiration…and design solutions

American ginseng—whether wild or cultivated (for sale at left in New York)—commands higher prices than Asian varieties.

Getting to the Root of Ginseng

Questions about the herb’s health benefits haven’t cooled the red-hot market in wild American ginseng

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Stimulants

Both ginseng and dolphins evoke passionate emotions

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Peewee Power

The invention of a gas-fueled generator the size of a quarter heralds a future of ever-smaller machines

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Not a Lot of Ocelots

Once thought to have vanished from North America victims of hunting and habitat loss the cats maintain a slender pawhold in the thickets of South Texas

Birdbrain Breakthrough

Startling evidence that the human brain can grow new nerves began with unlikely studies of birdsong

When scouts discover a suitable plant near their nest, they leave a pheromone, or chemical, trail, to efficiently guide legions of worker ants to it. The workers soon stream back to the nest in six-inch-wide columns bearing loads up to ten times their own weight.

Small Matters

Millions of years ago, leafcutter ants learned to grow fungi. But how? And why? And what do they have to teach us?

Canadian biologist Pierre D'Amours surveys rivers (here the Restigouche in New Brunswick) to learn what is responsible for the dwindling population of Atlantic salmon.

Lost at Sea

What’s killing the great Atlantic salmon?

Joinery techniques in even the largest modern structures are similar to those used by Henry David Thoreau to build his simple cabin.

Building to a Different Drummer

Today’s timber frame revivalists are putting up everything from millionaire mansions to a replica of Thoreau’s cabin

Enormous gypsum crystals in a Naica cavern

Crystal Moonbeams

A pair of Mexican miners stumble upon a room filled with what could be the world’s largest crystals

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Look! Up in the Sky! It’s a Bird! It’s a Planet. It’s a Very Large Ball of Ice!

It’s Pluto, with its moon, Charon

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