Dramatic skies over the Arenal Volcano, Costa Rica

Central American Volcanoes Offer Clues to Earth’s Geological Evolution

Along 1,100 kilometers, from Mexico to Costa Rica, lies the Central American volcanic arc, where the variety of magma types make for a geological paradise.
two tyrannosaurus rex fighting on a yellow colored background

Five Things You Probably Have Wrong about the T. rex

How well do you really know Tyrannosaurus rex, the so-called Tyrant Lizard King?
An illustration of seven Earth-size planets orbiting the TRAPPIST-1 star

Why TRAPPIST-1 Is Our Favorite Alien Planetary System

The TRAPPIST-1 system is a treasure trove of possibilities and questions. Observations by JWST have just begun.
A Kākāpō in New Zealand

New Zealand’s Quest to Save Its Rotund, Flightless Parrots

DNA sequencing, GPS tracking and tailored diets are slowly restoring the endangered kākāpō.
Sketches of cinchona trees. Aylmer Bourke Lambert, A Description of the Genus Cinchona (1797). Rare Book Collection, Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection.

Cinchona: A Legacy of Extraction and Extirpation

The source of quinine, cinchona tells a story about the value placed on parts of plants and how that value can be extracted and distorted in support of empire.
An artist's rendering of a black hole

Ancient Black Hole Challenges Our Understanding of the Early Universe

The Big Bang theory is not threatened, but astrophysicists have some explaining to do.
Adoration of the Magi with Saint Anthony Abbot

What was the Star of Bethlehem?

Never stop looking at the skies in wonder.
Lion's Head rock formation on the shoulder of Mt. Washington, NH

Why the Worst Weather on Earth Is in New Hampshire

A combination of factors makes the weather at New Hampshire’s Mount Washington arguably the most brutal in the world.
The Sun photographed at 304 angstroms by the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA 304) of NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO)

How Earthquakes Helped Us Map the Interior of the Sun

Temperatures in the Sun's core exceed 10 million degrees Celsius. But how on Earth did we actually come to know that?