Every March, hordes of creatives flock to Austin, Texas, for the famed South by Southwest music and film festival. But another annual event is unfolding there this month as well. The city is home to the world’s largest urban bat colony, and just after sunset each evening, hundreds of thousands of the winged creatures emerge […]
Johnny Appleseed is up there with Paul Bunyan and Davy Crockett as one of the key characters in American folklore. Most of us associate him with apple trees and the American frontier, but what exactly is the real story behind the fruit-loving figure? In celebration of today’s holiday in his honor, we thought we’d find
Talk about a can-do attitude: A 13-year-old boy has raised tens of thousands of dollars for charity by recycling more than 1.5 million drink cans over the past three years. Ryan Hulance, founder of the We Can initiative, launched his passion project as a way to make money for food banks while also caring for
If you asked most people where they get their weekly haul of fruit and vegetables, they’d likely say a grocery store or farmers market. A garbage dump on the other hand? That surely wouldn’t be on the list — but a project in England may have folks rethinking the idea. In a world first, a huge dome installed at a landfill site will use gas from waste to grow produce.
It may be March, but we’re not done with exciting environmental milestones from 2025. Coinciding with World Wildlife Day today, the global conservation org Shoal revealed that scientists named 309 freshwater fish species last year, the most recorded in a year since 2017 — and the new identifications may help protect their populations from dwindling.
A sweet scene is currently taking place in the Arctic. Polar bear moms are cuddled up in dens with their newborn cubs, preparing to venture out onto the ice and get the serious child-rearing started. But the vulnerable youngsters — fewer than half of which may reach adulthood — need more than just their mothers’ protection.
The humpback calf featured in the 2026 World Nature Photography Awards’ grand prize-winning photo is a rare sight: Only 1 in 40,000 humpbacks are born with its all-white coloring, caused by a lack of pigmentation. Australian photographer Jono Allen captured the calf as she glided through the sea with her mother off the coast of
You’re looking at the world’s rarest primate: the Hainan gibbon. Back in 2003, there were just 13 of these tree-dwelling apes living on the island of Hainan in the South China Sea due to deforestation and hunting. (For context, roughly 2,000 roamed the island in the 1950s.) But against the odds, the species has more
The World’s Rarest Primate Is Making a Comeback … Again Continue Reading »
As temperatures plunged throughout the U.S. during Storm Fern last month, one family found the silver — or, should we say, rainbow — lining. When heavy snow fell across Pennsylvania, Ashley Barron decided to embrace the freeze by creating a multicolored igloo with her family out of 342 blocks of ice.
Polar bears play a uniquely crucial role in the Arctic ecosystem — and thankfully, one population in particular may be in better physical health than 25 years ago. A new study suggests that despite sea ice losses caused by climate change around the Norwegian island of Svalbard, the mammals’ fat reserves have increased.
Svalbard Polar Bears Are Healthier Now Than 25 Years Ago, Scientists Say Continue Reading »
