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Migration

Some hybrid thrushes varied their routes, suggesting that different genes may influence fall and spring migration.

Migratory Birds May Come Programmed With a Genetic Google Maps

These hybrid avians inherit some mixed directional messages

An African-American family leaves Florida for the North during the Great Depression.

The Long-Lasting Legacy of the Great Migration

When millions of African-Americans fled the South in search of a better life, they remade the nation in ways that are still being felt

Age of Humans

Mesmerizing Animation Shows Potential Animal Escape Routes in a Warming World

“Migrations in Motion” models the journeys over 2,900 species may take to find new habitats

A view of the area of the ice-free corridor today

New Research

First Humans Entered the Americas Along the Coast, Not Through the Ice

Evidence mounts against the traditional story of early human migration through an ice corridor

Cool Finds

Common African Union Passport to Allow Free Movement Across the Continent

The African Union unveiled a new passport earlier this week that will allow citizens to cross between its 54 member states without visas

The Masonic Lodge in Monrovia, Liberia. Before the civil war, the descents of American slaves who mainly controlled the government often made official decisions at the lodge, which did not allow native members.

These Abandoned Buildings Are the Last Remnants of Liberia’s Founding History

The world created by former slaves in Liberia was a cruel paradox for more than 150 years

Louisiana is spending $42.5 million to rebuild the marshes in the Grand Liard Bayou. Without the project, the land was expected to disappear entirely by 2050.

Age of Humans

The Residents of This Louisiana Island Are America’s First “Climate Refugees”

As the sea levels rise, these photos provide a big picture view of a place losing the battle against climate change

American Exiles: Leaving Home

A series of three photo essays explores how America has treated its own people in times of crisis

Gambian asylum seekers look at a map while waiting in an Italian migrant center.

Trending Today

Report: Nine Out of Ten Refugee Children Travel Alone

Tens of thousands of kids are on the move—and face scary challenges as they migrate

New Research

Bronze Buckle Shows Ancient Trade Between Eurasia and North America

Metal objects found on Alaska’s Seward Peninsula indicate that local people received trade goods from Asia almost 1,000 years ago

New Research

Bison Fossils Offer Clues to Track Human Migration Into the Americas

DNA analysis of bison fossils show that people likely migrated down the Pacific coast and not through the Rocky Mountains

Weird Animals

Eco-Celebrity Crane Inspires Wetland Protection in Taiwan

An endangered Siberian crane that has made Taiwan home is inspiring locals to protect the wetlands

The new Broadway hit revival of Fiddler on the Roof deliberately breaks with tradition in its opening and closing scenes.

History of Now

The Broadway Revival of “Fiddler” Offers a Profound Reaction to Today’s Refugee Crisis

Popular musicals on Broadway are regarded as escapist, but the worldwide issue of migration and displacement is inescapable

Jewish refugees about the St. Louis

The U.S. Government Turned Away Thousands of Jewish Refugees, Fearing That They Were Nazi Spies

In a long tradition of “persecuting the refugee,” the State Department and FDR claimed that Jewish immigrants could threaten national security

A coffle of slaves being marched from Virginia west into Tennessee, c. 1850.

Secrets of American History

Retracing Slavery’s Trail of Tears

America’s forgotten migration – the journeys of a million African-Americans from the tobacco South to the cotton South

New Research

Fossilized Teeth Reveal Humans Were in Asia Long Before Europe

Early humans might have been more inclined to roam than scientists previously thought

Overwintering monarch butterflies

New Research

Scientists Are Still Baffled by Monarch Migration

When it comes to declining winter butterfly populations, something just doesn’t add up

Cool Finds

Why 2015 Is Shaping Up to Be Another Good Year for Snowy Owls

Ornithologists are tracking the second major snowy owl southern migration in as many years, indicating that the birds’ numbers are still going strong

New Research

These Birds Take Turns So No One Gets Too Tired Flying in Formation

“Reciprocal altruism” in a migrating flock of birds means that the more exhausting lead position is deliberately and equally shared

A rufous hummingbird.

Cool Finds

One Hummingbird’s Unusual Flight: From Minnesota to Texas, on a Plane

Rufous hummingbirds have no business being in St. Paul amid freezing temperatures

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