How the Pandemic Transformed This Songbird’s Call
When the San Francisco Bay Area locked down, urban noise levels plummeted. In response, the white-crowned sparrow changed its tune.
Meet Curly, the Curling Robot That Beats the Pros
Curling is one of the world's most precise sports. An ice-going, stone-throwing robot just mastered it.
The Anthropause: How the Pandemic Gives Scientists a New Way to Study Wildlife
A group of scientists argue that the Covid lockdown, what they're calling the “anthropause,” is an unprecedented opportunity to study how humans affect animal behavior.
Why Massive Saharan Dust Plumes Are Blowing Into the US
Every summer, an atmospheric event propels desert dust thousands of miles across the Atlantic. This year is particularly bad, and timed terribly with Covid-19.
Why the Arctic Is Warming So Fast, and Why That’s So Alarming
When permafrost thaws, sea ice disappears, and wildfires rage in the north, the consequences extend to the rest of the world.
Who’s to Blame for Plastic Microfiber Pollution?
Tiny bits of plastic are corrupting every corner of the planet. The major culprits: cheap synthetic clothing and washing machines.
A Deep Dive With the Weirdest Fishes in the Sea
Go behind the scenes at the California Academy of Sciences to see their greatest specimens, including fish from the “twilight zone” and a massive megalodon tooth.
Scientists Go Back in Time to Find More Troubling News About Earth’s Oceans
A clever study finds communities of foraminifera, a hard-shelled kind of plankton, have transformed dramatically since the Industrial Revolution.
Inside Facebook’s New Robotics Lab, Where AI and Machines Friend One Another
The social network has a plan to merge the worlds of artificial intelligence and real-world machines, so that both may grow more powerful.
Now Ocean Plastics Could Be Killing Oxygen-Making Bacteria
The toxins that leach into seawater severely affect bacteria that provide perhaps 20 percent of Earth's oxygen. That's where things get complicated.