Prince Rupert Drops

Prince Rupert’s Drops of Mystery

400 years of trying to solve the mystery of Prince Rupert's Drops, bizarrely hard beads of glass that have long captivated scientists.
Hurricane Harvey

Does the Internet Help or Harm Our Ability to Weather Natural Disasters?

Does our technology help us deal with disaster? Or does it put us at risk by creating the illusion that we are immune from disaster?
virtual farming

New Farming Frontiers—Heat, Pesticides, and Virtual Reality

As climate change pushes agriculture into the unknown realms, farmers develop new methods of farming and organic sustainable farming takes hold.
Freshwater Mussels

America’s Imperiled Freshwater Mussels

Freshwater mussels were once found in astonishing numbers and diversity in North America. Then came the button fanciers, and then the pearl-makers.
Hurricane Katrina drawing

Helping Kids After Harvey

Right now, there’s an outpouring of support for families displaced by Harvey, but what happens after the waters recede in Texas?
Spotted Owl sitting on a tree branch

Scientists Turn to Spotted Owls to Understand Wildfire Patterns

To better understand how the warming climate affects wildfires, Scientists are turning to Spotted Owls that evolved to deal with such disasters.
Costa Rican rainforest

A Clever Way to Conserve Forests

As climate change looms, scientists seek ways to reduce the release of carbon. Sometimes a low-tech approach is overlooked: conserving forests.
Unite the Right rally

Is Doxxing the Right Way to Fight the “Alt-Right?”

In the aftermath of Charlottesville, people with similar names to white supremacists involved in the march were also caught in the crossfire.
Pico Bolívar

The Last Glacier of Venezuela

Glaciers are retreating around the world. The Andes are no exception: in Venezuela, the ice has mostly already disappeared.
Restoration of an American mastodon herd by Charles R. Knight

This Week in Sustainability: From Ice Age to Internet Age, Scientists Look for Clues to Species’ Extinctions

Scientists explore the causes--climate change, habitat destruction, and more--that decimated animals and humans alike, from Ice Age to Internet Age.