Conservation Group Seeks Protection for Endangered Crayfish, Gets Newly Discovered Species as a Bonus
A funny thing happened on the way to the endangered species list. Five years ago the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) petitioned to protect an Appalachian crayfish species under the U.S.
Discover the Puerto Rico Trench with America’s Ocean Exploration Team
Every two years people around the world suddenly obsessively watch odd niche sports like ice dancing, biathalon, and rhythmic gymnastics. So I wish similar enthusiasm could be summoned for the exploration dives of the Deep Discoverer, NOAA’s ROV aboard the research vessel Okeanos Explorer and vehicles like it, which are streamed live on the internet.
Tiny Opossum Could Be Farmers' Friend
A small mammal that likes to feast on a soybean pest in Brazil's Cerrado illustrates how preserving this savanna landscape is good for farms as well as biodiversity
The Richest Reef: Exploring the Most Diverse Marine Ecoystem on Earth
Editor's Note: "The Richest Reef" follows members of a scientific dive team as they attempt to pinpoint the center of the most biologically diverse marine ecosystem in the world.
Acidic Oceans Implicated in Earth's Worst Mass Extinction
Huge amounts of CO2 spewed from colossal volcanic eruptions in Siberia may have turned the world's oceans dangerously acidic 252 million years ago, helping to drive a global environmental calamity
Farmers Urge Return of Jaguars to Protect Crops
The big cats could return to do the job they once did in Brazil's grassland—hunt a growing population of wild pig relatives, called peccaries, that decimates crop yields
Amazing Discovery: Nearly Extinct Bird Found Breeding in Japan
Higashijima Island doesn't look like much from the sky. This tiny, uninhabited scrap of land 1,000 kilometers south of the coast of Japan is only a few hectares in size.
The BP Oil Spill 5 Years After: How Has It Affected You?
Send us photos, videos and stories illustrating how your shores and communities are rebounding—or not—from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill
Wonderful Things: The Amazing Mimicry of the Mummy Berry Fungus
Author's note: This is the latest post in the Wonderful Things series. You can read more about this series here. There is a fungus on our planet which is capable of not one, but two audacious and duplicitous acts: it pretends, on separate occasions, to be both to be a flower and a pollen grain, [...]
What Will Happen in Vegas Won't Stay in Vegas [Excerpt]
Michael Tennesen’s book looks ahead to the dusty, thirsty future of Las Vegas and other regions on Earth
Did the Anthropocene Begin in 1950 or 50,000 Years Ago?
Scientists debate whether hunting, farming, smallpox or the nuclear bomb define the start of irreversible human impacts on our planet
Massive Wildfires Speed Loss of Northern Trees
A new analysis finds widespread forest loss in Russia and Canada