Ecology

Though plankton drift with the ocean currents, that doesn’t mean they’re incapable of any movement. Many of them can move to find food or mates, and they do so in some surprising and sometimes entertaining ways.

A first-of-its-kind study finds it’s possible to analyze snake DNA left in a bite victim’s wound to identify the species—and thus the correct antivenom. Dina Fine Maron reports

 

Earlier this year, I had the opportunity to attend Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak's keynote presentation during the 2014 Energy Thought Summit in Austin.

An effort to build a scheme involving crop rotation, ethanol and clean cookstoves in Mozambique was defeated by bad roads, old trucks, slow carbon credits, civil unrest and tradition

Protected land and sea areas serve the wildlife within them as well as the humans who live near them. But countries are backtracking on their financial commitments to these vital regions. Steve Mirsky reports

 

This savannah in Brazil is being swallowed up by industrial farming

Conservationists go to war over whether humans are the measure of nature's value

Chimps choose an overnight camp site based on the likelihood of finding calorically rich food nearby. Karen Hopkin reports

Experts share their priorities for what must be done to make protected areas more effective at conserving global biodiversity

In 2001 a few tigers in Russia started to show signs of obvious distress. Endangered Amur (or Siberian) tigers (Panthera tigris altaica) were underweight, weak, disoriented and incapable of hunting as a result.

Scientists recently confirmed what anglers have known for centuries—there's something special about a big mama fish. The bigger the fish, the better the bragging rights—and often, the bigger paycheck or prize.

Editor's Note: This is the second installment in a new series by Ulyana Horodyskyj, who chronicled an earlier expedition to Nepal in a series called, "Climbing Mount Everest," which can be found by clicking here.