The New York Times Magazine
Many of the planet’s outrageously gorgeous creatures may be beautiful for beauty’s sake, just as Darwin initially suggested
Trees exchange resources and information through massive underground networks of root and fungi, ultimately helping one another survive
By ceaselessly rearranging ecosystems to suit our whims and needs, we have opened the floodgates for zoonotic diseases like COVID-19
A radical new way of studying the brain is transforming our understanding of anatomy, evolution, and intelligence
Do prairie dogs, and many other creatures, have true language?
In ancient botanical remedies, new solutions to antibiotic resistance
One man’s quest to revive the flavor and nutrition of genuine whole wheat
Can You Really Be Addicted to Video Games?
Video game addiction is a real phenomenon with highly complex origins
Is there a limit to the human lifespan and, if so, can we transcend it?
Brain-computer interfaces, which already enable paralyzed people to move and communicate, may one day fundamentally alter how humans and machines interact
Letter of Recommendation: iNaturalist
Learning the names of our many wild neighbors changes the way we think about nature
Symbolic thinking emerged in Africa much earlier than previously thought
The wind and clouds are full of microbes that change the weather
The New York Times
The Earth Is Just as Alive as You Are
Once mocked, the idea of a living, breathing planet is gaining scientific acceptance
What happens when Earth’s solar umbilical cord is temporarily severed
Emily Dickinson’s Lost Gardens
Archaeologists are reviving the poet’s beloved orchard and conservatory
The New Yorker
There’s a deep, intuitive connection between the mind and feet
Cats and humans have a relatively young and ambivalent relationship
Time may pass at very different rates for different kinds of creatures
Orangutans teach each other to fish, use tools, and almost make fire
National Geographic
Meet the marvelous microscopic creatures that bring soil to life
The Atlantic
It’s far less scientific, and far more prone to gratuitous procedures, than you might think
Harper’s
What the hidden relationships of ancient tales reveal about their evolution—and our own
Outside
Many people struck by lightning endure a lifetime of baffling disorders
Lapham’s Quarterly
The history of our struggle to answer a profound question: are apes people?
Slate
How Emily Dickinson Grew Her Genius In Her Family’s Backyard
Dickinson’s poetic innovations depended on her skills as a gardener and naturalist
Wired
It’s Time to Face Facts, America: Masks Work
Contrary to some official advice, decades of scientific research and lessons from past pandemics clearly demonstrate that universal masking helps prevent the spread of infectious respiratory diseases like COVID-19
Hakai
Despite the ostensible controversy, substantial evidence indicates that fish consciously experience pain
Moonlight’s ancient and mysterious power over earthly life
The Secret History of Bioluminescence
Our long, strange, covetous relationship with bioluminescence
Scientific American
Even in the digital age, reading on paper has its advantages
The pristine grass lawn is an ecological disaster. Time to move on
Reviving The American Chestnut
Genetic engineering can rescue chestnut trees from near extinction
For most Americans sugar is a source of excess calories, but not a poison
Can we justify elephant captivity given the immense evidence of their sentience?
Modern Farmer
Plant breeders rediscover the astonishing diversity of the humble spud
Ferris Jabr 