The 1876 Map of the World’s Ecozones That Still Holds Up
The 19th-century naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace created a visualization that tied different species to specific regions of the world.
The Cartoonishly Giant Antlers of the Irish Elk
The mystery of the Irisk Elk's giant antlers attracted the attention of famous evolutionary biologist Steven Jay Gould.
The Souls of Magnets
Lodestones are dull, lumpy, and slate-gray, but their “magnetic intelligence” made them fabulously expensive.
How Offshore Oil Exploration Affects Marine Life
Offshore oil and gas exploration in the Atlantic Ocean will involve seismic blasts, which may be harmful to whales and marine mammals.
A Decades-in-the-Making Artwork in a Dormant Volcano
James Turrell is building an observatory that uses the human eye instead of optical instruments. It may soon be open to the public for the first time.
How to Measure a Mountain
It’s not easy to measure a mountain. Mount Everest's height has been known since the middle of the nineteenth century, but how did they figure it out with no altimeters or GPS?
What Happens if Earth’s Magnetic Poles Reverse?
What would happen if the Earth's magnetic poles flipped? The poles have a long history of switching from North to South and back again.
War Has Made Afghanistan’s $1 Trillion in Minerals Worthless
Developing rare earth mining in Afghanistan has been a potential objective since the USGS estimated the country had $1 trillion in mineral ore deposits.
Exploring Mexico’s Otherworldly Cave of Crystals
The Cave of Crystals is a massive cavern, filled with gigantic gypsum crystals, larger than any crystals ever before seen on Earth.
The Incredible Unsung Karst Ecosystem
One of the world’s most incredible, yet unsung, ecosystems, karsts are home to a remarkable biological diversity.