Our Planet

Annual forest fires blaze on the floor of Yosemite Valley, California in 2015.

What Is the Future of Fire?

Geologist Andrew C. Scott reconstructs the sites of past blazes to look at our relationship with this elusive element

This Molecule Could Explain the Origin of Life

Hydrogen cyanide is a molecule that appears to be at the heart of the creation of life. To create it, scientists need a burst of energy

Flying Dog plans to release a seasonal beer each year with hops grown from the project.

The East Coast May Be On the Brink of a Hop Renaissance

Can a farmer and a brewer come together to bring hops back to the eastern United States?

Why Deception Valley's Deadly Heat is Good for Wildlife

The harsh climate of Deception Valley, a remote section of the Kalahari, deters people from living there

A very happy World Bee Day to you. Let's talk pollinators.

How to Protect Your Local Pollinators in Ten Easy Ways

As the first annual World Bee Day looms, insect and garden lovers are abuzz with excitement

Sacred Sites Can Also Be Hotspots of Conservation

Protecting burial grounds, temples and churchyards can bolster wildlife and forests

You Won't Believe the Size of Botswana's Salt Flats

In Deception Valley, giant salt flats the size of Portugal are a major boon to the Botswanan economy

Mrs. Jane Loudon’s The Ladies' Flower-Garden of Ornamental Greenhouse Plants (1848)

A Botanical Wonderland Resides in the World of Rare and Unusual Books

The Smithsonian’s librarian and antiquarian Leslie Overstreet time travels, sharing centuries of horticultural splendors

Can Bringing Back Mammoths Help Stop Climate Change?

Scientists say creating hybrids of the extinct beasts could fix the Arctic tundra and stop greenhouse gas emissions

One of the Most Dangerous Mountain Passes in the World

The Sani Pass, which cuts through the mountain peaks between South Africa and Lesotho, is known for being a death-defying experience

The Most Beautiful View of South Africa's Tswaing Crater

About 220,000 years ago, a meteor slammed into a corner of South Africa creating the Tswaing Crater. Today, it's a hotbed of wildlife and exotic vegetation

What Created These Strange Geoglyphs in South Africa?

In the Karoo region of South Africa, mysterious spiral shapes carved into the ground have attracted conspiracy theorists

Guzmán and his team were only able to pinpoint the whale shark's whereabouts when it rose to the surface to feed.

What the Longest Known Whale Shark Migration Ever Tells Us About Conservation

Researchers in Panama tracked a specimen via satellite over an unprecedented 12,516 miles

Why Las Vegas's Landscape Is So Lush and Green

One of the most important byproducts of the Hoover Dam is an artificial body of water known as Lake Mead

When the director of DARPA heard about the blasts and their purpose, he had an immediate reaction: “Holy shit. This is dangerous.”

How Soviet Bomb Tests Paved the Way For U.S. Climate Science

The untold story of a failed Russian geoengineering scheme, panic in the Pentagon, and a Nixon-era effort to study global cooling

How Was Red Rock Canyon Formed?

One of the most important byproducts of the Hoover Dam is an artificial body of water known as Lake Mead

Why Birds Flock to This South African Nature Reserve

For sheer biodiversity, it's hard to top iSimangaliso Wetland Park. A World Heritage Site since 1999, it boasts a wealth of varied species

Human evolution is “one of the highest hurdles — if not the highest hurdle — to science education in America,” says Smithsonian's Rick Potts. Here, an early human fossil found in Broken Hill, Zambia.

How to Talk With Evangelicals About Evolution

For two years, researchers from the Smithsonian traveled the country explaining the science of our shared origins

Potter envisioned Hill Top as a living testament to rural tradition. Its artifacts, from crockery to rustic furniture, are reproduced in her drawings.

Britain's Lake District Was Immortalized by Beatrix Potter, But Is Its Future in Peril?

Shepherds and ecologists are butting heads over what's next for the beloved landscape

Nizina Glacier became more accessible to paddlers around 2000, when melting ice formed a lake on which float-planes could land.

A Daring Journey Into the Big Unknown of America's Largest National Park

If dangling from a rope inside a melting glacier is your idea of a vacation, then come with us to Alaska's Wrangell-St. Elias

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