Lister spraying phenol over the wound while the doctors perform an operation.

Joseph Lister’s Antiseptic Revolution

Joseph Lister's landmark articles on antiseptic surgery in the Lancet were published 150 years ago. The revolution was not immediate.
Iditarod dogs

Breaking Trail at the Iditarod, Alaska’s 1,000-Mile Dog Sled Race

Each year, Alaska hosts a 1,000-mile-long dog sled race called the Iditarod. Its founder, Joe Redington, Sr., deserves credit for preserving the sport.
Glacier National Park

How Global Warming Is Threatening Genetic Diversity

The meltwater stonefly, an insect on the leading edge of climate change, is in danger because its frigid mountain habitat is rapidly disappearing.
Ernst Haeckel's Kunstformen der Natur depicts a horned Texas lizard

The Craziest Ways Animals Escape Their Predators

From shedding skin to making slime to shooting blood out of their eyes, these animals have defense mechanisms that are convincing, to say the least.
Acrobats

Who Can You Trust Online?

Who can you trust online? It’s a question that comes up constantly in our digital lives, and it’s also a subject of great fascination to internet scholars.
karst

The Incredible Unsung Karst Ecosystem

One of the world’s most incredible, yet unsung, ecosystems, karsts are home to a remarkable biological diversity.
Aral Sea Ships

The Agonizing Death of the Aral Sea

After decades of environmental disaster, fish and wildlife may rebound to Central Asia's Aral Sea, but the lake will never be restored to its former glory.
plastic grocery bag

How Should We Deal With Plastic Bags?

A proposed 5-cent plastic bag fee was just blocked in New York City. What can be done to effectively reduce plastic bag use?
Indian Cobra

Venom’s Healing Touch

Venom kills thousands every year, but research is showing that venom can heal as well. Venom works in a way that most drugs can only dream of.
Alan Emtage

Meet Alan Emtage, the Black Technologist Who Invented ARCHIE, the First Internet Search Engine

Internet search has had a profound impact on our own internal makeup—on how we learn, and how we think.