Tonka beans

Tonka Bean: The Tale of a Contested Commodity

The rise and fall of the sweet-smelling seeds of Dipteryx odorata stands in stark contrast to the tree’s lasting presence in global markets.
An illustrated reconstruction of the dire wolf

“Playing God” with De-Extinction

As tech companies tout successes in bringing back the likes of the long-gone dire wolf, they must grapple with accusations such innovation is immoral. Why isn’t it?
An old oyster bed now lying exposed on a beach in South Carolina. The oysters are no longer alive, but many shells remain in their original position.

Shucking the Past: Can Oysters Thrive Again?

Dredging and pollution devastated the once-bountiful reefs. Careful science may help bring them back.
Whale shark (Rhincodon typus), Isla Mujeres, Cancun, Mexico

A Whale of a Shark

The largest fish, Rhincodon typus, is obviously not a whale, but it’s also unusual for a shark.
The leg of this purple ochre sea star in Oregon is disintegrating, as it dies from sea star wasting syndrome. Photo by Elizabeth Cerny-Chipman, courtesy of Oregon State University.

The Long Quest to Uncover a Sea Star Killing Bacteria

Scientists say they’ve found the cause of a marine epidemic more than ten years after it started. What took so long?
pumpkins, squashes and gourds , dried a corn cob with kernels and dried beans were randomly spread on a wooden plate on a black background.

The Macronutrients of the Three Sisters System

If the intercropping of beans, squash, and corn produces smaller yields, why did the the Haudenosaunee prefer the Three Sisters system?
Western meadowlark singing on a fence post at sunrise in Fort Niobrara National Wildlife Refuge near Valentine, Nebraska.

Birding by Ear

How to learn the songs of nature’s symphony with some simple techniques.
Jane Goodall watching her photographer husband, Baron Hugo Von Lawick, adjust a camera, to which a baboon is clinging, in the Gombe Reserve, east central Africa.

Jane Goodall

An intellectual powerhouse and dedicated conservationist, Goodall showed generations of humans how to engage with—and take care of—the natural world.
Dancer surrounded by others foragers

The Bee Dance Debate

Can insects communicate? In the middle of the twentieth century, scientists disagreed on whether bees could possess a “language” expressed through motion.
Blue-stained serpentine Neotyphodium coenophialum mycelia inhabiting the intercellular spaces of tall fescue leaf sheath tissue. Magnified 400x.

Better Farming Through Endophytes

Scientists look to “probiotics” for crops as a new green revolution in agriculture.