Science

Scientists studying the bones of the Hawaiian petrel, which flies great distances over the north Pacific Ocean to feed, are collecting an invaluable long-term story dating from thousands of years ago.

Bones of the Hawaiian Petrel Open Up a Window Into the Birds' Changing Diet

Industrial fishing may play a role in the shift

Hemingway led a life of adventure and, sometimes, violence. The author is shown here holding a tommy gun aboard the Pilar in 1935.

Multiple Concussions May Have Sped Hemingway's Demise, a Psychiatrist Argues

The troubled author may have suffered from Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, the disease that plagues modern football players

Submerged Beach, 1400 Fathoms, Else Bostelmann, Bermuda, 1931. Watercolor on paper, 11 1/2 x 14 1/2 inches.

Art Meets Science

In the Early 20th Century, the Department of Tropical Research Was Full of Glamorous Adventure

A new exhibition features 60 works by artists the New York Zoological Society department hired to help communicate field biology

Every cupful of pond water is swirling with DNA sequences. Now, scientists are putting them to work to solve stubborn conservation mysteries.

Future of Conservation

How Scientists Use Teeny Bits of Leftover DNA to Solve Wildlife Mysteries

Environmental DNA helps biologists track rare, elusive species. It could usher in a revolution for conservation biology

Why We Need To Start Listening To Insects

You may not think of the buzz and whine of insects as musical, but the distinctive pitch of mosquito wingbeats could tell us how to fight malaria

Saturn and its rings backlit by the sun, which is blocked by the planet in this view. Encircling the planet and inner rings is the much more extended E-ring.

Bye Bye Cassini, the Tenacious Space Probe That Revealed Saturn’s Secrets

For two decades, the sophisticated probe has brought us insights into space weather and water on distant worlds

A sea otter floats in Kachemak Bay, Alaska.

Future of Conservation

The Remarkable Return of Sea Otters to Glacier Bay

Rarely do apex predators recover from human oppression. These otters are an exception

The lush, rugged landscape of Japan's island of Hokkaido is a major draw for amateur photographers—but do Flickr photos really represent the most important conservation sites?

Future of Conservation

Is #Hashtagging Your Environment on Instagram Enough to Save It?

Location-based data might help pinpoint key ecosystems—or make conservation a popularity contest

Henry Bates (Calum Finlay) was a self-taught field biologist and note taker. He created remarkable drawings and watercolors of his collections and observations. Several of his original notebooks are in the archives of London's Natural History Museum.

Science in the Movies

How Filmmakers Distill Science for the Big Screen

The new film <i>Amazon Adventure</i> turns decades of research into 45 minutes of visual majesty

The Ocean Is Running Out of Fish. Here's the Alarming Math

Based on reporting, the ocean has long appeared to offer an infinite bounty of fish. But research paints a grim picture, with annual catch on a decline

“Salt Series” taken during a low-altitude flight in Western Australia.

Australia's Salt Ponds Look Like Beautiful, Abstract Art From Above

Taking to the sky to show how industry shapes the earth

In 1950, Tollund Man’s discoverers “found a face so fresh they could only suppose they had stumbled on a recent murder.”

Europe's Famed Bog Bodies Are Starting to Reveal Their Secrets

High-tech tools divulge new information about the mysterious and violent fates met by these corpses

“Very, very early in my boyhood,” Hudson wrote, “I had acquired the habit of going about alone.”

The Naturalist Who Inspired Ernest Hemingway and Many Others to Love the Wilderness

W.H. Hudson wrote one of the 20th century’s greatest memoirs after a fever rekindled visions of his childhood.

An illustration of LHS 1140b orbiting its faint red star

New Research

Exoplanet Discovery Arrives in Time for New Telescope Technology

Astronomers call LHS 1140b one of the "best targets" for hunting liquid water with NASA's James Webb Space Telescope

The Tsavo lions' teeth bore marks indicating that they ate soft food, similar to those seen on the teeth of captive lions today. Wild lions, like these pictured in South Africa's Greater Kruger National Park, show different microwear patterns.

New Research

Man-Eating Lions of Tsavo Did Indeed Eat People, Teeth Reveal

Dental clues confirm some rumors about the ravenous cats of Tsavo, while also raising new questions

A recipe for an eyesalve from ‘Bald’s Leechbook’

Medieval Medical Books Could Hold the Recipe for New Antibiotics

A team of medievalists and scientists look back to history—including a 1,000-year-old eyesalve recipe—for clues

Equus first evolved in North America millions of years ago.

How the Mustang, the Symbol of the Frontier, Became a Nuisance

A mainstay of Western culture, the free-roaming stallions are now a force to be reckoned with

Why I Take Fake Pills

Surprising new research shows that placebos still work even when you know they’re not real

A new study recommends that the peanut-allergic try consuming other nuts—but only under the supervision of a licensed allergist.

New Research

Tree Nut Allergies May Be Massively Overdiagnosed

But don’t go for the jar of almond butter just yet

Seahorses are valued for their use in traditional medicine.

The Secret Massacre of Millions of Seahorses

Millions of seahorses meet their doom each year as by-catch in a fisherman’s net. Less-charming fish may share the same fate

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