Anthropocene Culture

The Algodón River flows through a forest of the Amazon Basin in the remote northeastern corner of Peru. Scientists collected and analyzed a series of ten roughly 3-foot-long soil cores from three sites, each located at least a half-mile away from river courses and floodplains.

In a Remote Amazon Region, Study Shows Indigenous Peoples Have Practiced Forest Conservation for Millennia

Smithsonian researcher Dolores Piperno says native people have always played an important role in sustainability

While looters discard bones, they are invaluable to archaeologists’ research.

As Mongolia Melts, Looters Close In On Priceless Artifacts

Climate change and desperation are putting the country’s unique history at risk

English Bulldogs illustrate the dramatic turn dog evolution has taken at the hands of humans.

The Evolution of Petface

The same traits that make these dogs adorable threaten their health and well-being

This celestial chart from 1687 is one of many illustrations from books, charts, and maps showing artists’ imaginings of polar bears.

How Polar Bears Became the Dragons of the North

Renaissance maps depicting the “white bears” say more about our own fears and fantasies than about the predators themselves

From the Batpod to the Batcomputer, the Caped Crusader's gadgets use up a whole lot of energy and spew a whole lot of carbon. But when it comes to carbon footprints, Gotham's techiest hero has nothing on some of pop culture's other saviors.

Which of Your Favorite Superheroes Is Destroying the Earth?

Measuring the carbon footprints of your favorite comic book heroes, from Batman to Jessica Jones

Any faithful recreation of elephant ivory must be hard, strong and tough—three qualities that are difficult to engineer in any one material.

Appalled by the Illegal Trade in Elephant Ivory, a Biologist Decided to Make His Own

Faking the stuff of elephant tusks could benefit wildlife conservation and engineering—yet many technical hurdles remain

In 300 years of fundamentally altering the Earth and its climate, what have we learned?

Your Guide to All Things Anthropocene

Documenting an era of manmade change

Electronic waste, shown here, is just part of the "technosphere," which comprises the totality of the stuff humans produce.

Humans Have Bogged Down the Earth with 30 Trillion Metric Tons of Stuff, Study Finds

The authors say this is more proof that we are living in an Age of Humans—but not all scientists agree

Workers from the Kenya Wildlife Service carry elephant tusks from shipping containers full of ivory transported from around the country for a mass anti-poaching demonstration.

Most Ivory for Sale Comes From Recently Killed Elephants—Suggesting Poaching Is Taking Its Toll

Carbon dating finds that almost all trafficked ivory comes from animals killed less than three years before their tusks hit the market

Are these kinds of experiences worth the carbon footprint?

Visiting Melting Glaciers Can Be Profound. But Is It Morally Wrong?

How to weigh the moral costs of your climate change tour

Kayak may be the best way to explore the climate change memorial of the future.

What Will the Memorials of the Future Look Like?

From underwater trees to mechanical parrots, the memorials of tomorrow don’t look much like the ones that exist today

Many boundaries between geologic eras are marked by physical golden spikes. This one, in South Australia, marks the end of the Ediacaran period, 635 million years ago.

Where in the World Is the Anthropocene?

Some geologists believe we’ve entered a new era. Now they have to search for the rocks that prove it

What secrets do those lonely ice sheets hold?

A Radioactive Cold War Military Base Will Soon Emerge From Greenland’s Melting Ice

They thought the frozen earth would keep it safely hidden. They were wrong

The Tent of Casually Observed Phenologies.

Can the Art of Divination Help People Cope With Climate Anxiety?

A Brooklyn-based artist strives to create emotional connections with the looming threat of climate change.

Kim Stanley Robinson

Podcast: Kim Stanley Robinson Says 'Either You're An Environmentalist, Or You're Not Paying Attention'

Award-winning writer Kim Stanley Robinson discusses sci-fi's role in helping us understand the world.

In recent years, enough Arctic ice has melted to clear parts of the Northwest Passage for shipping traffic.

Melting Arctic Ice Might Mean Faster Internet for Some

The dwindling ice has an unexpected benefit: more underwater cables

Statue in front yard, Chalmette neighborhood

Plastic is Forever: The Art of Mass Consumption

For International Bag Free Day, an intimate look at American mass consumption through the eyes of photographer Chris Jordan

Pozzi and her team at the Washed Ashore project, achieve a remarkable and convincing array of textures.

There’s a Bunch of Animals at the Zoo this Summer Made Out of Ocean Garbage

Delightfully whimsical, the sculptures drive home the message that there’s a whole lot of trash washing ashore

Podcast: What Our Garbage Can Teach Us

In this episode of Generation Anthropocene, tracking trash and why there's so much garbage on the moon.

A selection of "Emotikis" inspired by Maori culture and traditions.

Emotikis and New Keyboards Bring Indigenous Cultures to Text Messaging

From Maori emojis to First Nations languages

Page 1 of 2