Conservation(Page 3)

Protecting natural resources—from sea to sky—is about much more than planting a few trees.

Latest in Conservation

a rattlesnake with brown and white scales is coiled on the ground of a forest

Michigan’s only rattlesnake is inbreeding

By Laura Baisas

Cacao Beans in seed pods next to chocolate chunks in cacao seed pod

How to make perfect chocolate, according to science

A large white mushroom cloud explodes into the upper atmosphere in a vintage photograph of a hydrogen bomb.

When the U.S. almost nuked Alaska—on purpose

By Shoshi Parks

Wild pig walking in grass

Wild pigs’ guts are turning blue in California

a close up of a groundhog on the grass

Three orphaned groundhogs released back into the wild

By Margherita Bassi

an injured owl with wide eyes

Throwing food out of your car can kill owls

By Margherita Bassi

waves crash by a giant lighthouse

Enormous rogue waves don’t come out of nowhere

By Laura Baisas

Bow of the USS Preston shipwreck sunk in WWII

13 World War II shipwrecks captured in stunning detail

a man kneels down by a tranquilized rhino and applies a substance to its horn

How to stop rhino poaching: make their horns radioactive

By Margherita Bassi

Two researchers excavating dig site in Norwegian cave, seen from above

Remote Norwegian cave is an ice age animal jackpot

a hammerhead shark swimming in blue water

Hammerhead sharks eat other sharks—and it’s worth the risk

By Margherita Bassi

a purple crab stands on green moss in thailand

Rare purple crabs spotted in Thailand

By Margherita Bassi

Drone_on_the_ground_clsoe_up

These drones drop burning balls in the forest to control wildfires

By Mack DeGeurin

a scientist holds a large, reddish-purple sea star with 24 legs

Meet the 24-armed sea star, a kelp forest’s bodyguard

By Laura Baisas

Hawaiian petroglyphs on sandstone beach with tidal wave

500-year-old petroglyphs resurface on Hawai’i beach

Missionaries accused of illegally giving gadgets to isolated Amazon tribe

several fireflies blinking at once in a forest

Why fireflies are everywhere this summer

By Laura Baisas

a beaver swimming in water. its eyes, nose, ears, and back are exposed

Beavers put to work saving two Utah rivers

By Margherita Bassi

a penguin looks directly at the camera. it has black and white feathers with some red around the eyes

The clever way Magellanic penguins ride—and adjust to—ocean currents

By Laura Baisas

A harbor seal (Phoca vitulina) on the beach during the summer premoult stage.

When wily sea lions and determined wildlife officials sparred in Seattle

Shipwreck bow covered in sea life underwater

Shipwreck fragment linked to one of WWII’s strangest rescue tales

Masked boobies on Johnston Atoll

Pacific island wildlife refuge spared from SpaceX rocket project

a yellowtail parrotfish swims by a coral reef

Real Coral Reefs of Miami: A Q&A with the marine biologist behind a popular livestream

By Laura Baisas

Orca whale on beach

Wild orcas will sometimes offer food to humans

two sea turtles released into the ocean wearing transponders

17 rehabilitated sea turtles released off Cape Cod

By Laura Baisas

several baby turtles all crowded together

3,427 trafficked baby turtles rescued in Mexico

By Margherita Bassi

eight chipmunk specimens with tags on them in a museum collection

City living is changing rodent skulls in Chicago

By Laura Baisas

small fish in a net being rescued

After a devastating wildfire, rescued fish make a triumphant return to Malibu

By Margherita Bassi

a plastic bag and other garbage on a shoreline

Plastic bag bans work, new study shows

By Lauren Leffer

Huge wave breaking. Ocean spray is thrown into the air. World famous surf break named Jaws on the Northshore of Maui, Hawaii.

What’s the formula for the ‘perfect wave’?

By Avery Schluyer Nunn

A great hammerhead shark swimming close to the surface in Bimini, Bahamas, Caribbean Sea.

Young hammerhead sharks love Biscayne Bay. Leave them alone, humans.

By Laura Baisas

an anaconda coiled sitting on straw

Q&A: How anacondas, chickens, and locals may be able to coexist in the Amazon

a leopad seal with its mouth wide open

15 riveting images from the 2025 UN World Oceans Day Photo Competition

By Popular Science Team

Gonatus Antarcticus squid seen underwater

Watch the mesmerizing first-ever footage of a rare Antarctic squid

a blue fish with a pointy face in a california kelp forest

Q&A with the team behind ‘Ocean with David Attenborough’

By Laura Baisas

Dead coral sit on the ocean bed in the Straits of Florida near Key Largo, Florida, on September 23, 2021. The coral is very gray and white

Probiotics can help heal ravaged coral reefs

By Laura Baisas

a small frog on a road, with a person's bright sneakers in the background

Wildlife underpass reduces squished amphibians by 80%

By Laura Baisas

a large American bullfrog in water with vegetation

This invasive frog can fit baby turtles inside its mouth

By Margherita Bassi

Adélie penguins walking along the Antarctic coastline.

How pungent poop could help Antarctica’s penguins

By Laura Baisas

Man holding woolly rat out for camera

Elusive woolly rat photographed for the first time

a humpback whale calf swims in front of its mother

Humpback whales can give birth while migrating thousands of miles

By Laura Baisas

a bird sits in several paper towels forming a circular donut-shaped nest

Why a ‘donut’ can help injured birds

By Margherita Bassi

four puffins with white and black plumage and bright orange bills stand on a rock overlooking the north sea

Puffin-counting season begins with two new livestreams

By Laura Baisas

a tiger peers through a rib cage of dead animal

17 unforgettable images from the Environmental Photography Awards

By Popular Science Team

Open dishwasher with clean dishes in the white kitchen

The science of why you should use your dishwasher

Close up of deep sea squid

Humans have only seen 0.001 percent of the ocean floor

Close up of aoudad ram

Texas aims to legalize hunting invasive sheep from helicopters

Urban farming sustainability concept, captured in Milan, Lombardy, Italy

Surviving global catastrophe is a matter of community, not commerce

a papier mache bird sits in a field

Grand Teton deploys papier-mâché birds

By Popular Science Team

A Yangtze finless porpoise hunting in China’s Poyang Lake. Fish are jumping all around the porpoise as it leaps out of the water.

Poems spanning 1,400 years tell the tale of a revered porpoise

By Laura Baisas

a brown building against mountain backdrop

Visit one of the world’s most prolific research stations in Colorado mountains

By Alisha McDarris

Mule deer scratching itself

Good luck guessing Yosemite’s most dangerous animal

An axolotl crawling up to the aquarium pane at the Hamburg animal shelter.

Axolotls raised in captivity can survive in the wild

By Laura Baisas

Bald eaglets in canoe with caps over eyes

Rescuers borrow canoe to save baby bald eagles in river

two baby gorillas play in a tree

20 unforgettable images of Earth’s animal kingdom

By Popular Science Team

Side by side of uncooked and cooked 3D printed vegan calamari rings

3D-printed calamari is back on the menu

a small marsupial with white spots stands on the ground

Watch endangered marsupials return to Australian bushland after 62 years

By Laura Baisas

Coiled rattlesnake near flowering bush

Rattlesnakes may evolve specialized venoms

World War II jeep found at site of underwater shipwreck

NOAA needs help identifying car found in WWII shipwreck

Skelleftea, Sweden A moose warning sign on a country road in summer.

It’s time to tune in to the Great Moose Migration livestream

Spotted dolphin with head above water

Google made an AI model to talk to dolphins

Close up of cane toad tadpole eating toad eggs underwater

Cannibal tadpoles help Australia fight invasive species

Gooseneck kettle pouring water into pour-over coffee carafe on table next to coffee beans and mugs

How to brew the best pour-over coffee, according to science

Gold mining operation on banks of river in Amazon rainforest

Trees can snitch on illegal gold miners in the Amazon