Elements
The Peculiar Delights of the Enormous Cicada Emergence
As loud as leaf blowers, as miraculous as math, the insects are set to overtake the landscape.
The Highest Tree House in the Amazon
In 2023, conservationists and carpenters converged on Peru to build luxury accommodations in the rain-forest canopy.
A Guide to the Total Solar Eclipse
Eclipses dazzled the ancient world. Now that we understand them better, they may be even more miraculous.
Black Holes Are Even Weirder Than You Imagined
It’s now thought that they could illuminate fundamental questions in physics, settle questions about Einstein’s theories, and even help explain the universe.
Thinking About A.I. with Stanisław Lem
The science-fiction writer didn’t live to see ChatGPT, but he foresaw so much of its promise and peril.
Will Plants Ever Fertilize Themselves?
Biologists aim to engineer crops that can eat nitrogen straight from the air.
Inside the Illegal Cactus Trade
As the craze for succulents continues, sometimes the smuggler and the conservationist are the same person.
The Mystery of Florida’s Flamingos
After Hurricane Idalia, Floridians reported more sightings of flamingos than they did in the entire twentieth century.
How NASA Brought an Asteroid to Earth
By sampling some of the oldest rock in the solar system, the OSIRIS-REx mission could revise the story of the origins of life.