When a Killer Climate Catastrophe Struck the World's Oceans
The worst extinction in Earth’s history offers chilling predictions for the planet’s future—and for humanity’s efforts to keep climate doom at bay.
-
Projects
Life Up Close
![]()
Zoë van Dijk The Search for Alien Life Begins in Earth’s Oldest Desert
In the Martian landscape that is the Atacama desert, astrobiologists are learning how to recognize extraterrestrial organisms.
-
![]()
Esther Aarts Humans Made Drones by Copying Birds. Birds Are Fighting Back.
As machines fill the skies, they meet resistance from the animals who already live there.
-
![]()
Radio Atlantic: The First Gene-Edited Babies
A scientist has claimed he used the revolutionary CRISPR gene technology on human embryos, igniting a global controversy.
-
-
![]()
Courtesy of Amina Akhtar The Dog That’s Famous for Not Wanting to Be Eaten by a Coyote
Meet Beanie. Her viral spiky vest is the latest in a long line of protective gear for pets.
-
![]()
Karl-Göran Sjögren An Ancient Case of the Plague Could Rewrite History
A 4,900-year-old skeleton has turned the accepted story of the disease on its head.
-
![]()
Carlos Barria / Reuters The Democratic Party Wants to Make Climate Policy Exciting
After years of infighting, the Democrats may finally have found an environmental consensus in the Green New Deal.
-
![]()
Neil deGrasse Tyson, #MeToo, and the Celebrity Photo Op
A picture with a famous person can cause uncomfortable misunderstandings or, worse still, encourage predatory behavior.
-
![]()
Morgan Heim / BioGraphic The Re-beavering of the American West
An industrious but finicky pest could be the key to restoring Washington State’s wetlands and salmon populations.
-
-
![]()
Reuters The CRISPR Baby Scandal Gets Worse by the Day
The alleged creation of the world's first gene-edited infants was full of technical errors and ethical blunders. Here are the 15 most damning details.
-
![]()
Dmitri Lovetsky / AP Soyuz Is Back in Business
Russia has resumed crewed flights to the International Space Station after a failed attempt. That’s good news for NASA.
-
![]()
sdecoret / Nerthuz / Henrik Lehnerer / Shutterstock ... How to Build a Museum in Outer Space
Researchers have begun to imagine how the people of the future might visit exhibits in orbit or on the moon.
-
![]()
Bill Allen / AP Project Troy: How Scientists Helped Refine Cold War Psychological Warfare
By working for the CIA, a crack team of researchers honed the United States’ first formal peacetime campaign of propaganda and manipulation.
-
![]()
‘We’re All Hallucinating All of the Time’
A neuroscientist explains how human perception is built of hallucinations.
-
-
![]()
Space Telescope Science Institute / NASA How to Measure All the Starlight in the Universe
Astrophysicists have devised a clever way to count up the photons in space, stretching back to the cosmos’ adolescence.
-
![]()
Mike Blake / Reuters NASA Administrator on Elon Musk: ‘That Was Not Appropriate Behavior’
Jim Bridenstine recently told the SpaceX founder he doesn’t want NASA contractors engaging in questionable behavior.
-
![]()
An Ingenious Autodidact in the Mountains of Tajikistan
A botanist in remote Central Asia sustains his community with a litany of inventions.
-
![]()
Mohamed Sahnouni 2.4-Million-Year-Old Stone Tools Turn Up in an Unexpected Place
Artifacts found in Algeria complicate the story of early-human evolution.
-
![]()
Marlon Lopez MMG1 Design / Vandame / Shutterstock ... There’s a Spider That Makes Milk
It feeds its young a white, nutritious fluid secreted from its underside.
-
-
![]()
Stephanie Rabemiafara / Art in All of Us ... 300 Million Letters of DNA Are Missing From the Human Genome
The world’s most famous genetic tool has a major diversity problem.
-
![]()
Mark Schiefelbein / AP Chinese Scientists Are Outraged by Reports of Gene-Edited Babies
Researchers fear that the controversial study will be a stain on China’s scientific reputation.
-
![]()
Benoit Tessier / Reuters It's Not Just America: Climate Policies Are Stumbling Worldwide
According to the UN, most major polluters are not on track to meet their Paris goals. But critics say that accounting may be too pessimistic.
