George Balazs continues to study turtles and share news about them with others

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As Tern Island, a former military outpost, decays, its rusting seawalls and decaying buildings are trapping the threatened animals. But some help is on the way.

As Tern Island, a former military outpost, decays, its rusting seawalls and decaying buildings are trapping the threatened animals. But some help is on the way.

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In the past half century, nesting around Hawaii’s populated islands has gone from nearly nonexistent to surging

How locals and conservationists are helping the honu resurgence

His new book, Inside the Box, is packed with compelling stories of people and companies that benefited by having boundaries

The invasive rodents are eating nesting albatross alive on the atoll. Did a recent eradication attempt fail because the mammals are resistant to rodenticides?

Leaf-roller moths colonized the archipelago before evolving into a dizzying array of species

An international team working in Morocco produced findings that could have implications for public health

My favorite films on climbing, basketball, soccer, surfing, and more

New research suggests a seasonal increase in adult female tiger sharks in the Main Hawaiian Islands—and the body condition of some new mothers—may lead to more bites on humans

New research suggests a seasonal increase in adult female tiger sharks in the Main Hawaiian Islands—and the body condition of some new mothers—may lead to more bites on humans

New research shows that seeds excreted by the venomous reptiles germinate at a higher rate

My favorite movies and limited series on creatures, climate change, geology, and more

In Hawaiki Rising, Sam Low tells the story of Polynesian navigator Nainoa Thompson and the oceangoing canoe Hōkūleʻa

How Donald Trump tried to ground NASA’s science missions

Smaller Galápagos and gray reef sharks change their behavior, likely to reduce competition or out of fear

What about for science?

In the Mad Men era of magazine journalism, Virginia Kraft was a globe-trotting writer and a deadly shot with a rifle. Why hasn't anyone heard of her?

The endangered species is the only pinniped known to string together vocalizations with no break

My favorite nonfictions books about surfing, exploration, running, and more

You can see the large white seabirds dancing, preening, feeding and raising young—though the live feed might show a dark side of island living, too, with potential predation from invasive mice

From “experimental archaeology” to the mysterious appeal of exploration, the wide-ranging subjects detailed in these titles captivated Smithsonian magazine’s science contributors this year

The 31-year-old director, cinematographer, and producer talks about her moving documentary on the Florida grasshopper sparrow

Scientists have changed the classifications of white terns, elegant seabirds that inspire awe and amusement

Every year, The Open Notebook offers a paid, part-time fellowship program for early-career science journalists. This ten-month program offers fellows the opportunity to explore their career interests ...

By working to save America’s most endangered songbird, a dedicated team is helping to protect Florida’s dry prairie

Check out The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2025 - <p>&#8220;The best science and nature writing&#8212;which these stories represent&#8212;reminds us of the wide world and our connection to...

Scientists and community members in Altadena are testing ways that California species can assist efforts to rebuild

Discover the 2025 Best American Science & Nature Writing anthology, curated by Susan Orlean and featuring exceptional science writing that explores the wonders of our natural world.

It might be among the first mammals to go extinct in North America after colonization. But can scientists prove it was even a distinct species?

Researchers and student volunteers pick up what seabirds throw up, then examine it for clues about our impact on the environment

Dispatches on science, sports, adventure, and exploration. Click to read Field and Lab, by Joe Spring, a Substack publication with hundreds of subscribers.

The demand for data centers is growing faster than our ability to mitigate their skyrocketing economic and environmental costs

Sightings of the marine mammal captivate the public and baffle scientists

The Ohio Wildlife Center’s hospital sends critters to five facilities for care before eventual release

A coronal mass ejection could knock out power and disrupt communication on Earth

In the new book, The Explorer’s Gene, author Alex Hutchinson expertly answers these questions

In the book “North to the Future,” Ben Weissenbach reports on a rapidly transforming environment

Changes to the world’s oceans and the rise of certain predators may have driven diversification

While that message has been spread on social media, researchers are just beginning to understand how the devices affect the mind

As human-caused sound gets louder around the world, some animals change their behavior and many creatures suffer health issues

Researchers have found fossil evidence of varied creatures wooing and mating, as they continue to search for the telltale signs of dinosaurs copulating

Descendants of the island’s former inhabitants struggle to balance environmental conservation with sustaining their community’s livelihoods

Descendants of the island’s former inhabitants struggle to balance environmental conservation with sustaining their community’s livelihoods

The creatures, which ranged in size from that of a fox to more than 50 feet long, divided their time between the coast and the water