Richard Kurin on the Importance of Pandas

Just outside North Carolina's Outer Banks is Roanoke Island, the scene of one of the greatest unsolved mysteries in U.S. history: the disappearance of an entire colony of English settlers.

The Colonial Settlement That Vanished Into Thin Air (2:10)

A diver stumbles across a whale shark trapped in a commercial fishing line. Sensing the diver is there to help, the goliath lies still while the rope is cut.

A Whale Shark Cooperates With a Diver Saving Him (1:28)

One highly influential ancient Middle Eastern civilization established some of the essential systems we still use today. Think you know which it is?

Who Decided to Put 60 Seconds in a Minute? (2:33)

Green tree vipers can kill in the dark. With special heat-sensing abilities, they can find prey that's all but invisible.

A Pit Viper's Sixth Sense (2:03)