Land (Page 2)

The science—and practice—of safeguarding wildlands and helping developed areas return to nature.

Latest in Land

A fluffy beavers sits in front of a fallen tree branch with yellow leaves.

Idaho once dropped 76 beavers from airplanes—on purpose

By Jennifer Byrne

a cave painting of two warty pigs

Pigs have been island hopping for 50,000 years

By Laura Baisas

a yellow flag with a coiled rattle snake and the words "dont tread on me"Gadsden Flag, Vikkram, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0.

How the timber rattlesnake became a symbol of American independence

By Laura Baisas

‘Mr. Fezziwig's Ball,’ an 1843 illustration by John Leech for ‘A Christmas Carol’ by Charles Dickens. This novella was the earliest and most popular of Dickens' Christmas stories. The kissing under mistletoe (left) and evergreen decoration hanging from the ceiling are vestiges of pre-Christian winter rites.

A history of mistletoe: The parasitic ‘dung on a twig’

A cross sectional image of an actively growing microbialite from South Africa.

‘Living rocks’ suck up a lot of carbon

By Laura Baisas

several red and beige mushroom-like plants growing at the base of a tree

Asexual parasitic plants break biology’s rules

By Laura Baisas

a close up of evergreen branches

How the evergreen shaped America

By Trent Preszler

Awa Guajá couple, family of Takarentia, only contacted 5 days before this picture was taken, 1992.

Half of all uncontacted Indigenous tribes may disappear by 2036

Big bison in the National Park on the shore of a lake or river

This national park uses helicopters for bison round-up duty

a toilet in the woods, covered by wooden panels

World’s first mushroom-powered toilet could replace stinky porta-potties

By Margherita Bassi

a small, brown prairie dog popping out of a hole

Tiny prairie dogs’ poop play a mighty role in grasslands

By Margherita Bassi

a red panda in a tree

11 adorable photos of red pandas to celebrate International Red Panda Day

By Popular Science Team

Mountains, river, and forest in Alberta, Canada

A $1 million treasure hunt is underway in Canadian wilderness

Two images of Bootanomyia dorsalis with 1 mm size comparison

Invasive parasitic wasp spotted in the US for the first time

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

Wild pig walking in grass

Wild pigs’ guts are turning blue in California

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

Remote Norwegian cave is an ice age animal jackpot

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

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

Masked boobies on Johnston Atoll

Pacific island wildlife refuge spared from SpaceX rocket project

eight chipmunk specimens with tags on them in a museum collection

City living is changing rodent skulls in Chicago

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

Man holding woolly rat out for camera

Elusive woolly rat photographed for the first time

a papier mache bird sits in a field

Grand Teton deploys papier-mâché birds

By Popular Science Team

a brown building against mountain backdrop

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

By Alisha McDarris

Coiled rattlesnake near flowering bush

Rattlesnakes may evolve specialized venoms

Gold mining operation on banks of river in Amazon rainforest

Trees can snitch on illegal gold miners in the Amazon

Man swimming in river seen from POV of GoPro camera

YouTuber arrested for approaching uncontacted tribe in India

a small bird with yellow plumage stands on a branch with its mouth wide open

Traffic noise is making these Galápagos birds more aggressive

By Laura Baisas

Cougar kitten next to car tire in the snow

Cougar cubs spotted in Michigan for first time in over a century

two baby eagles tended to by their parent

The famous bald eagle nest live cam is back and we have 3 baby eaglets

By Laura Baisas

a large hornet dismembers a honey bee

1,400 different bug species found in the guts of Asian hornets

By Laura Baisas

An argentine ant is farming aphids on a young leaf.

Vicious invasive ants form gigantic supercolonies

Nutria looking at camera against plant background

US Fish and Wildlife is begging you to eat more invasive marsh rodents

a newly discovered species of plant. it has fuzzy white wool on its green leaves, a yellow center, and two small red flowers

New species of fuzzy sunflower found by national park volunteer

By Laura Baisas

lush green tropical rainforest in Brazil. Mata Atlantica

Man from uncontacted tribe emerges from rainforest, signals to villagers

a long python snake coiled in the grass with its head poking up

Hunting for Burmese pythons is best done in the dark

By Laura Baisas

a brown dog ups up onto a tree and sniffs it, while its human handler points to what it is sniffing

Sniffing dogs join the fight against invasive spotted lanternflies

By Laura Baisas

a strange fish with a blob on its head sits on a rock

27 new, exciting, and blobby species discovered in the Peruvian rainforest

By Laura Baisas

A Sombrero ground lizard (Pholidoscelis corvinus) photographed on Sombrero Island in June 2021. This species is endemic to the Carribbean island.

Population of nearly extinct lizard grows 16X in only six years

By Laura Baisas

An Andean bear at the nature reserve Bioparque Wakata, in Briceno municipality near Bogota, Colombia, on June 21, 2023.

Shy ‘Paddington’ bears need more plants to survive

By Laura Baisas

a hand touching grass

What happens to our bodies when we touch grass

By Kathy Willis

a female mountain lion walks at night with some kittens behind her

Mountain lions in Los Angeles become night owls to avoid humans

By Laura Baisas

Pocket gopher emerging from burrow

How a crew of gophers helped Mount St. Helens bounce back

a lone coyote in a forest looks into a camera lense

Coyotes appear to be thriving under pressure

By Laura Baisas

a bat with brown, black, and white fur and open eyes

Robert Battinson, Batlor Swift, and more face off in Bat Beauty Contest

By Laura Baisas

Alex Honnold and Tommy Caldwell scaling Devil's Climb in Alaska

Rock climbing legend Alex Honnold talks his Devil’s Climb, Google Maps, and biking with wild horses

a small frog with light green coloring and dark spots sits on a green leaf

Seven new frog species named for their ‘Star Trek’-esque calls

By Laura Baisas

a condor, a large bird with black plumage, stands near a creek

4 endangered California condors will be released into the wild

By Laura Baisas

three species of crane stand in tall grass. the first has grey, black and white plumage and is the tallest. the second has mostly white plumage. the last one is small with gray plumage.

Cranes can migrate 4,000 miles, but that’s not the hard part

By Laura Baisas

a small baby pygmy hippopotamus sits on the ground

Humans likely wiped out Cyprus’ tiny hippos and elephants in record time

By Laura Baisas

a bunch of yellow bananas

Bananas are at risk of extinction, but scientists have a plan

By Laura Baisas

a group of earthworms in rich, dark soil

Hear the ‘rave’-like sounds of a healthy soil

By Laura Baisas

a spotted cat walks through a mountain region at night

Rare, endangered ocelot caught on camera

By Laura Baisas

Two black morels in spring are well camouflaged on the forest floor

How to start forest farming: Grow delicious food in the woods

By Alisha McDarris

an orange, black, and white monarch butterfly on a pink milkweed flower

How everyone can help monarch butterflies

By Laura Baisas

a firefly with its bottom half illuminated

A new theory on why fireflies glow—and why they need help

By Laura Baisas

Solar farm panels in meadow

There’s a right and a wrong way to build a solar farm

a baby crocodile hatches from an egg, surrounded by other eggs.

106 critically endangered Siamese crocodile eggs spotted in Cambodia

By Laura Baisas