Jul 10 2025
Capybaras have become unlikely internet celebrities. With their enormous barrel-shaped bodies, calm expressions, tiny ears, and apparent talent for looking completely unbothered by whatever is happening around them, these South American mammals have inspired memes, videos, toys, and a very enthusiastic global fan base. But capybaras are much more interesting than their laid-back online reputation …
Jun 16 2025
A garden filled with flowers is beautiful to us, but to a bee, butterfly, hummingbird, or moth, it can also be a place to eat, rest, reproduce, and survive. That makes National Pollinator Week a perfect time to look at the yard a little differently. Instead of thinking only about what makes a landscape neat …
Jun 08 2025
From a blue whale large enough to dwarf almost every animal that has ever lived to a tiny seahorse clinging to a blade of seagrass, the ocean contains an astonishing variety of life. Some marine animals cross entire ocean basins. Others spend nearly their whole lives within a coral reef. Some breathe air, some filter …
Jun 01 2025
Few animals capture the imagination quite like dinosaurs. Tyrannosaurus rex still towers over museum halls and movie screens, Velociraptor has become a pop-culture celebrity, and enormous long-necked sauropods seem almost too large to have been real. But paleontology has changed dramatically since many of us first learned about dinosaurs. We now know that some dinosaurs …
May 31 2025
Parrots are easy to recognize but surprisingly difficult to summarize. Some are tiny enough to sit comfortably in your hand, while others are among the largest and heaviest birds capable of calling themselves parrots. Some live in enormous flocks, some form close pairs, some climb through trees almost as much as they fly, and one …
May 22 2025
A rainforest filled with thousands of species is biodiversity. So is a prairie buzzing with insects, a coral reef crowded with fish, a teaspoon of living soil, and an old orchard containing varieties of apples that have nearly disappeared from commercial farms. Biodiversity is the extraordinary variety of life on Earth—and the relationships that connect …
May 20 2025
A garden full of bees is a garden full of activity. Bumble bees disappear into tubular flowers, tiny native bees gather pollen from blossoms most of us barely notice, and honey bees move methodically from one flower to the next. Those visits aren’t just pleasant signs of summer. Bees are among the world’s most important …
May 08 2025
Donkeys rarely receive the attention given to horses, elephants, or other animals with a more glamorous reputation. Yet for thousands of years, these strong, sure-footed animals have carried people and goods, helped farmers work the land, transported water and food, and made life easier in places where roads and machinery were unavailable or impractical. World …
Apr 25 2025
Penguins may be famous for their tuxedo-like feathers and slightly awkward walks, but these remarkable seabirds are built for a life most birds could never manage. Their wings have become powerful underwater flippers, their feathers protect them from icy seas, and some species can dive hundreds of feet below the surface in pursuit of fish, …
Apr 25 2025
Elderberry season can be easy to miss. For weeks, clusters of small green fruits hang from the branches, and then seemingly overnight they deepen into glossy purple, black, or blue-black berries that bend the stems beneath their weight. Knowing when to pick them matters. Elderberries harvested too early may contain green or partly ripe fruit …
