TRACKING WILDLIFE IN CHERNOBYL: THE EMOTIONAL LANDSCAPE OF A DISASTER ZONE

Mammals are thriving among the vestiges of nuclear disaster. It’s fraught work for the researchers who study them.

THE SEAT OF DREAMS

Researchers discover a new circuit controlling REM sleep in our brains

TINY HARVEST

Think your apartment is too small for a garden? Guess again. This teeny DIY edible garden will tickle your tastebuds (and your inner interior decorator). Great for any sunny sill.

CRYPTIC CRICKETS

The Asian 'Greenhouse' camel cricket is now more common in cellars and basements than any native camel cricket species. This Q&A with ecologist Mary Jane Epps asks how this happened, and why we didn't notice sooner.

HOME SWEET MICROBIAL HOME

Germs are in us and on us. They affect our health, and may even shape our evolution.

CAN FISH FEEL PAIN?

The science of fish pain raises greater questions about the philosophy of consciousness and animal welfare. 

MEDITATING WITH A DINOSAUR

On life and death: Amy McDermott leads morning meditation with Sue the T.rex, at the Field Museum in Chicago, Illinois. 

NOT QUITE WILD: THE ANIMALS WE'VE MET ALONG THE WAY

Cats at the research station, dogs on the farm– these are the domestic animals we've met in the field.  

THE SUNFLOWER WARS

Sunflowers are a timeless sign of late summer, bringing a breath of countryside calm to windowsills in even the most bustling metropolis. But how were these sunburst-orange beauties domesticated? We trace the controversial story of sunflowers from wild to cultivar.