How does a shape-shifting microbe survive extreme heat?
Discover the fire amoeba, an extremophile that’s breaking records and expanding what scientists know about the limits of life.
Inside the race to save wild axolotls
Lake Xochimilco in Mexico City is the only place where axolotls live in the wild. In a 2025 story, we explore the growing threats they face.
Squirrel poop drops Ice Age clues + The neuroscience of laughter
Ancient squirrel poop provides a snapshot of life during the last ice age. And, how different types of laughter originate in the brain.
Can you learn to love the scorpion?
Fossils suggest there were ancient scorpions over 3 feet long. Terrifying? Perhaps, but there’s a lot to love about these arachnids.
A vast whale graveyard + Zombie sea cucumbers
A massive “whale graveyard” contains whale remains dating back 5 million years. Plus, some detached parts of sea cucumbers don’t seem to die.
Should we bring mountain lions back to the Northeast?
A wildlife conservationist discusses an ambitious and controversial plan to reintroduce mountain lions in New England.
How fast can you grow a forest in a parking lot?
Communities across the world are planting miniforests of trees and native plants to restore biodiversity in unexpected places.
Parenting tips from the animal kingdom
How poison dart frogs deal with their kids asking for snacks, and other parenting inspiration from the animal kingdom.
Our evolutionary path to parenting—and sharing the load
“The Creatures’ Guide to Caring” explores how communal child-rearing allowed animals from wasps to humans to evolve and thrive.
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Scientists retire ‘implausible’ worst-case climate scenario
Scientists say one extreme climate change scenario isn’t realistic. Plus, a journalist’s quest to discover new insect species in New York.