Adolf Hitler at his Berghof mansion in Obersalzberg.

A Blind Beetle Named Hitler?

The case for changing offensive names of animals and plants, and how it can be done
Dusky lories (Pseudeos fuscata)

A Single Atom Can Change the Color of a Bird

These are the genes responsible.
A wild turkey

The Great American Turkey

The turkey was semi-domesticated and kept in pens in the American Southwest some 2,000 years ago—but not for the reason you think.
A cluster of Azolla filiculoides plants.

Azolla filiculoides: Balancing Environmental Promise and Peril

One of the world’s tiniest fern species, Azolla filiculoides may be one of our greatest tools for lowering agricultural pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.
Male tarantula hawk (Pepsis formosa)

Sting! (Don’t Stand So Close to the Tarantula Hawk)

Tarantula hawk wasps offer some of the most painful stings known to humans, giving them almost absolute protection from vertebrate predators.
Plate 82 of Birds of America by John James Audubon depicting Whip-poor-will.

The Whip-Poor-Will Has Been an Omen of Death for Centuries

What happened to this iconic bird of American horror?
Monotropa uniflora in bloom by Nichole Ouellette

Ghost of the Forest: Monotropa uniflora

Look for this other-worldly plant in moist, shaded areas of mature forests throughout much of North America, East Asia, and northern South America.
Woodcut of a badger, 1551

Hooray, Hooray for Badger Day!!

Striped-faced, short-legged badgers appear in folklore and tall tales around the world.
"Fresh, red cloves grow on the branch, green leaves. Zanzibar, Tanzania"

Cloves: The Spice that Enriched Empires

Behind one humble spice lies a complex history of empires and profit, commodities and globalization.
White Pines in Cathedral Woods, Intervale, White Mountains, N. H

Tree of Peace, Spark of War

The white pines of New England may have done more than any leaf of tea to kick off the American Revolution.