Anthropocene

Expanding human populations in India have pushed tigers into small, isolated habitats—and resulted in some unusual behaviors.

Sorry, Tiger Dudes: Your Ladies Are Faking It

India’s tigresses may be feigning interest in sex as the result of shrinking habitat and overlapping territories

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

A schematic design of the upcoming “Icebergs” installation for the National Building Museum

A Maze of Palatial Icebergs Has Floated Into a Washington, D.C. Museum

The new exhibition touches on design, landscape architecture, the life of icebergs and climate change

A prototype gene gun developed by Dennis McCabe and Brian Martinell in 1986 delivered new genetic material into the cells of plants.

How Roundup Ready Soybeans Rocked the Food Economy

This 1980s-era “gene gun” fired the shot heard around the world

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Video: The Past, Present and Future of Agriculture

Globalization and new technologies have given us more control and more power over our food than ever before. What's next?

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.

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

“I hope people of the future will look back on us and see that we learned the lessons of deep time,” says Smithsonian paleontologist Scott Wing.

Studying the Climate of the Past Is Essential for Preparing for Today's Rapidly Changing Climate

A Smithsonian scientist explains why in the new Age of Humans, we must turn from crisis management to planet management

A captive Eurasian brown bear (Ursus arctos arctos) in Denmark.

Mama Bears Use Humans To Keep Their Cubs Safe

During mating season, humans might stress female bears out, but male bears stress them out more

Shanghai in 2009.

Stop 'Naming and Shaming' Polluted Cities. It Doesn't Work

Why calling out 'Most polluted cities' sometimes backfires

Keep on the sunny side

Podcast: "Warm Regards" and the Challenge of Humanizing Climate Change

Meteorologist Eric Holthaus and others seek the bright side of an often gloomy conversation

Museum collections can help public health officials identify new diseases, learn their origins, and determine how to best stop them.

Museum Director Calls for Increased Funding for Scientific Collections to Save Lives

Infectious disease researchers should be using museum collections to fight newly discovered pathogens

A man walks by a botanica, a store stocking medicinal plants, in Chicago.

Will Medicine Survive the Anthropocene?

Up to ten percent of major drugs contain plant-derived ingredients, but a warming world could put those—and other medicines—at risk

An algal bloom caused by eutrophication, when an ecosystem is overloaded with nutrients like phosphorus.

Podcast: On the Way to Peak Phosphorus

On this episode of Generation Anthropocene, we dive into one of the most underappreciated elements on the periodic table

The Svalbard seed bank is one of many seed libraries in the world, and one of the best funded.

From Lack Of Diversity To Lack Of Funding, Seed Banks Face a World Of Challenges

Gene banks are meant to protect biodiversity, yet they themselves are in need of protection

Container ships can now plug in while berthed at the Port of Los Angeles, which lets them use the electric grid to keep the lights on rather than burning fossil fuels.

Is Zero-Emission Freight Possible? The Port of Los Angeles Thinks So

The ports in southern California are cleaning up their act, but what will it take to ship cargo with no emissions?

The view looking into the Shenandoah Valley can be hugely obscured by haze.

Even in 'Pristine' National Parks, the Air's Not Clear

And cleaning it up might take centuries

Scientists injected more than 200 tons of dissolved carbon dioxide into this field in Iceland. Two years later, almost all the carbon had been converted into rock.

Iceland Carbon Capture Project Quickly Converts Carbon Dioxide Into Stone

More than 95 percent of gas injected into the ground precipitated out as harmless carbonate, scientists calculate

Podcast: How Humans Caused Mass Extinctions Thousands of Years Ago

Humans have been the dominant species for longer than thought

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