Are You Giving Flowers with a Side of Plastic?

A flower arrangement delivers all sorts of messages, but it can also deliver plastic waste to our environment, especially when it includes floral foam.

Feb 13, 2023 | 2,600 words, about 13 minutes

Lord of the ’Rhynchs

There and back again: a taxonomist’s quest to reveal the world’s tiniest realms.

Feb 27, 2018 | 3,700 words, about 19 minutes

Spineless Beauty

These tiny marine creatures are enormously photogenic.

Aug 21, 2017 | 850 words, 18 photos

The Foragin’ of Species

An unprecedented three-week scavenger hunt sets a baseline for marine biodiversity.

Aug 21, 2017 | 1,500 words, about 7 minutes

Life Interstitial

What does it take to live between the grains of sand?

Apr 28, 2017 | Interactive infographic

Here Be Tiny Dragons (and Other Micro Beasts)

Researchers reveal the microscopic life in between the grains of sediment.

Apr 18, 2017 | 5 min

An Ocean in the Parlor

Home aquariums were the newest fad in the natural history-crazed Victorian era. Philip Henry Gosse wrote about it in the Atlantic Monthly.

Mar 24, 2017 | 4,100 words, about 20 minutes

The Japanese Art of Sharing News

A mélange of art, news, and propaganda, woodblock prints spread the word on everything from tsunamis to the latest fashion.

Oct 24, 2016 | 900 words, about 4 minutes

Art and Accounting in the Age of Whaling

Hand-carved stamps helped whalers keep track of their catches and assess the success of their voyages.

Aug 8, 2016 | 1,200 words, about 6 minutes

Where Dead Whales Go to Live

Take a peek behind the scenes at the Smithsonian Institution’s marine mammal warehouses.

May 2, 2016 | 3 min 30 sec

The Micro Monsters Beneath Your Beach Blanket

Little things live big lives between grains of sand.

Mar 21, 2016 | 1,700 words, 8 photos

Out of This World: the Minnesota Seaside Station

More than a century ago, a group of students traveled from the American Midwest to Canada’s Pacific Coast to study seaweeds. Botanical Beach has been a unique outdoor classroom ever since.

Jan 25, 2016 | 3 min 15 sec

How Ecosystems Got a Keystone

One day in 1963, ecologist Bob Paine started plucking sea stars off rocks and tossing them into the sea. His study helped show how a species may be small in number but significant in its impact.

Nov 6, 2015 | 3 min 45 sec

Book Review: Rain

Since the first water fell and began to cool a fiery planet, rain has shaped our world. Writer Cynthia Barnett explores our relationship with rain.

Jul 17, 2015 | 500 words, about 2 minutes

No Sea Stars = Mussel Beach

Researcher Monica Moritsch tracks changes in an intertidal neighborhood when its main predator is gone.

May 20, 2015 | 3 min 15 sec

The Subterranean Cartographers

An intrepid team of scientists explores and maps the lava tubes of the Galapagos Islands.

May 4, 2015 | 500 words, about 2 minutes

The Pirate Naturalist

Talented navigator, diligent observer, and bad-boy buccaneer, William Dampier may be the most accomplished travel writer and naturalist you’ve never heard of.

Apr 22, 2015 | 500 words, about 2 minutes