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Nature

The author points directly at the hole in a rock wall in Groléjac where he left two cans of strong beer. Come get them.

Free Beer in the Dordogne Valley: Come and Find It!

These beers should last for several hot summers and cold winters. Where exactly are they hidden? Here are the directions

Drylands design students walking a ditch in the Embudo Valley

Designing Democracy Around a Ditch

How a ditch irrigation system in the arid Southwest became the backbone of local democracy

Sliders served at last year's ZooFari benefit

Events May 15-17: Words, Earth and Aloha, merengue and méringue, and ZooFari

This week, watch a documentary about Hawaiian music, enjoy a performance of Dominican merengue and Haitian méringue, and chow down at ZooFari

The Dordogne River flows through some of the finest country of southern France. Truffles, cep mushrooms and wild pigs occur in the woods, while huge catfish and pike lurk in the slow eddies of the river.

Off the Road in the South of France

Ernest Hemingway popularized the cosmopolitan lifestyle of Paris, but he missed out every day he wasn’t walking through the forested hills of Périgord

A stepwell in India

Rebuilding Rainwater Collection in India

From one conservationist’s perspective, harvesting rainwater doesn’t mean high-tech strategies—traditional techniques have been around for centuries

The deathstalker scorpion, a Middle East native shown here in captivity, kills several people each year and occasionally hammers its stinger into the hands of hobbyist collectors.

The Nastiest Critters Lurking Outside Your Tent

The bite of a Goliath bird-eater is hardly worse than a bee sting—-but it is among the nastiest things that could skitter across your face in the Amazon

Feline Face and Stylized Ornaments from Horse Tack, late 4th–early 3rd century BCE

Explore the Treasures of Kazakhstan in New York City

Artifacts from the Central Asian nation, including saddles ornamented with gold foil and cinnabar, are on display for the first time in the United States

A freakishly cold winter coated Rome's Colosseum in snow

The Snows of…Tenerife?

The white stuff can fall at any time and almost anywhere, from the streets of Rome to the subtropical Canary Islands

Image from an animated graphic showing satellite readings of groundwater fluctuations around the world.

Groundwater, Gravity and Graphic Design

An important piece of science recently popped up in Times Square, in the form of a 19,000-square-foot interactive map by a Dutch information designer

The Ginger Ninjas on the move in Guadalajara, Mexico. Where buses and airplanes would provide the horsepower for other touring bands, the Ginger Ninjas go by bicycle.

Rock, Pedal and Roll: Band Tours the World by Bicycle

“I believe the bicycle is one of the best, if not the coolest, machines ever invented,” says the frontman of the Ginger Ninjas

A future vision of Fresno, California, as proposed by architect Darin Johnstone and environmental consultant Mark Merkelbach

Futureproofing California Farmland

Design teams propose new models for farming and suburban development in California’s water-scarce Central Valley

King Juan Carlos, at right, stands with his guide from Rann Safaris as his dead Botswanan elephant lies propped against a tree.

World Wildlife Hunt

It takes $6,000 to shoot a leopard in Botswana. For $1,200, you can shoot a crocodile. Short on cash? There’s always baboons, which go for $200 a pop

David Baggett, famed among noodlers, explodes from the water with a giant catfish in his hands.

Hand-Fishing for Swamp Monsters

“It’s the most exhilarating thing I’ve ever done,” says filmmaker Bradley Beesley, whose documentaries have popularized the ancient art of noodling

A pre-flood view of Vernazza

Springtime Comes to the Flood-Damaged Cinque Terre

The future is looking brighter for the cliffside Italian villages ravaged by last fall’s rains

El Capitan, as seen here from the floor of Yosemite Valley, was once considered almost unclimbable.

A Short Talk With a Legend of Rock

“Climbing without risk isn’t climbing,” says Yvon Chouinard, American rock climbing pioneer and founder of Patagonia

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Ask Smithsonian: What Is Lightning? How Do Bees Make Honey? How Do Cats Purr?

Smithsonian experts answer your burning questions

Wilson says our instinct to settle down both ensures our success and dooms us to conflict.

Edward O. Wilson’s New Take on Human Nature

The eminent biologist argues in a controversial new book that our Stone Age emotions are still at war with our high-tech sophistication

A new exhibition will examine the ecological and cultural ramifications of cell phones.

Coming Soon: A Natural History of the Cell Phone

An upcoming Natural History Museum exhibit will look at the cultural and ecological effects of mobile phones

Mahanoy Mountain shows the scars of strip mining.

A Short Trip to Coal Country

The model of Titanoboa will be on view at the Natural History museum starting tomorrow.

Titanoboa, the 48-Foot Monster Snake, Slithers Into the Natural History Museum

See the giant prehistoric snake everyone’s been talking about at the Natural History Museum, starting Friday, March 30 through January 6, 2013

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