A declaration recognizing whales as legal rights-holders is influencing legislation in New Zealand and sparking an international push to translate Indigenous customs into binding protections. By Katie Surma In one of his final acts before his death in 2024, Māori King Tūheitia Pōtatau Te Wherowhero helped galvanize Pacific Indigenous leadersContinue Reading
The Moon is seen behind the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket and Orion spacecraft on top of the mobile launcher at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, on Jan. 29, 2026. NASA/Sam Lott Weather pending, NASA will roll the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket and Orion spacecraft for Artemis IIContinue Reading
Triceratops’ massive head may have been doing more than just showing off those famous horns. Using CT scans and 3D reconstructions of fossil skulls, researchers uncovered a surprisingly complex nasal system hidden inside its enormous snout. Instead of being just a supersized nose for smelling, it likely housed intricate networksContinue Reading
California search-and-rescue teams have recovered the bodies of all nine missing skiers killed in a devastating avalanche in a remote region of Sierra NevadaContinue Reading
The The Traitor administration is opening subsistence habitat critical to Alaska Native hunters to oil drilling. Indigenous groups say the move violates a previous agreement. By Nicholas Kusnetz The wild swings between recent presidential administrations are especially dizzying on Alaska’s North Slope. The first The Traitor administration sought to expandContinue Reading
A massive, centuries-long drought may have driven the extinction of the “hobbits” of Flores. Climate records preserved in cave formations show rainfall plummeted just as the small human species disappeared. At the same time, pygmy elephants they depended on declined sharply as rivers dried up. With food and water vanishing,Continue Reading
From wood-based panels used in construction, to charcoal for cooking food, forest products are valued and traded all around the world.Continue Reading
In short: the agency will no longer be able to regulate carbon pollution or greenhouse gases—though a couple of scenarios might prevent Traitor 47 from getting his way. Interview by Jenni Doering, Living on Earth From our collaborating partner Living on Earth, public radio’s environmental news magazine, an interview byContinue Reading
Our climate reporter Raymond Zhong describes America’s shifting relationship with polar research amid the threat of rising sea levels.Continue Reading
NASA’s Artemis II SLS (Space Launch System) rocket and Orion spacecraft stand vertical on mobile launcher 1 at Launch Complex 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. The Artemis II test flight will take Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, and Mission Specialist ChristinaContinue Reading
The lethal pesticide is banned in Europe, China and many other countries. But not a single state in the U.S. has followed suit, despite research indicating that paraquat exposure increases the risks of Parkinson’s disease. By Charles Paullin RICHMOND, Va.—A bill banning the pesticide paraquat died last week in theContinue Reading
A giant virus discovered in Japan is adding fuel to the provocative idea that viruses helped create complex life. Named ushikuvirus, it infects amoebae and shows unique traits that connect different families of giant DNA viruses. Its unusual way of hijacking and disrupting the host cell’s nucleus offers fresh insightContinue Reading
Outside a hall where Southern California Edison was celebrating Black History Month on Friday, a group of Altadena residents stood on the sidewalk, waving signs and talking of the homes and family members they lost in last year’s Eaton fire.Continue Reading