The Lost River Of Paris

Victor Hugo wrote about the Bièvre. Now conservation efforts are bringing parts of the historic waterway back.

100 Wonders Of Archaeology

Our understanding of Human History has increased dramatically during the past two centuries, as EXCAVATIONS on six continentsaided by breakthroughs in technology, have unlocked the STORIES of OUR ANCESTORS.

An Icy World In Meltdown

Marine life off the Antarctic Peninsula needs protection as sea ice declines and fishing boats move in to take more krill.

A JOURNEY'S LESSONS

What does a walk across the world teach about navigating our troubled century? TREAD LIGHTLY upon the Earth. SHARE what you can. But most of all, REMEMBER.

A War on Itself

ETHIOPIA'S CIVIL WAR HAS BECOME A HUMANITARIAN CRISIS, WITH MILLIONS DISPLACED, THOUSANDS DEAD, AND THE NATION'S EXISTENCE IN JEOPARDY.

THE BACKSTORY

A PHOTOGRAPHER'S TAKE ON THE LITTLE PRINCE POSES BIG QUESTIONS ABOUT CULTURE AND IDENTITY.

Dr. Fauci: His Life and Work

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC INTERVIEWED ANTHONY FAUCI ABOUT HIS PERSONAL HISTORY, HIS CAREER, AND HIS ROLE IN HEALTH CRISES FROM HIV/AIDS TO COVID-19. THE RESULTS: A BOOK (EXCERPTED HERE), WITH PROCEEDS TO BENEFIT CONSERVATION, AND A DOCUMENTARY.

FORENSICS ON THE WING

FOR MORE THAN 20 YEARS Carla dove has run the feather identification lab at the Smithsonian's national Museum of natural history in Washington, d.c. her team of forensic ornithologists receives more than 10,000 avian remains a year from aircraft collisions—bird strikes—and matches them to specimens in the museum’s collections, using morphology and DNA analysis. an example: after the “Miracle on the Hudson” emergency landing in 2009, dove’s lab ID’d the birds involved as Canada geese. by knowing what species are struck most, airfield staff can deter birds and reduce the number of damaging strikes.

TUNNEL VISION

Slot canyons and rock cliffs define the water-whittled landscape of southwestern Utah’s Zion National Park.

THESE CREATURES COME WITH SPECIALIZED STORAGE

ENGLISH BIOLOGICAL anthropologist Alice Roberts had so often ridiculed the human form’s shortcomings that in 2018 a colleague gave her this challenge: Redesign the body by improving upon its parts. Finding inspiration in nonhuman species, Roberts speculated that we might be better off with some of their features, including the marsupial’s pouch. No human mother will be pocketing her little Joey like a joey anytime soon, but many animals—and not just marsupials—have vital uses for their built-in storage containers. Here are five.

THE LURE OF TRIESTE

Northern Italy’s elegant and vibrant border city has long been an overlooked cultural gem. Now renewed interest in its port could bring a new era of prosperity.

PLANET POSSIBLE

Want cleaner water? Two ways to help. Want to cut waste? Three more ideas. Now it’s in your hands.

GENERATIONS LOST

A century ago, a white mob massacred as many as 300 people in the prosperous Black district of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Today the city is finally coming to terms with the devastation.

KARINE AIGNER

Every day in the Ecuadorian Amazon can be magic.

DISPATCHES FROM THE FRONT LINES OF SCIENCE AND INNOVATION

AQUACULTURISTS IN OREGON are developing a specialty food industry centered on a marine alga that’s been called “the most productive protein source on Earth,” “the superfood of the future,” and—intriguing to many people—“bacon of the sea.” Dulse (rhymes with “pulse”) is a seaweed found in the northern Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

Difficult Conversations

RECKONING WITH THE PAST

Dear Fermi: A Fan Letter

MY FAVORITE SPACECRAFT? THE FERMI GAMMA-RAY SPACE TELESCOPE, WHICH CAPTURES A COSMOS SO DIFFERENT FROM WHAT OUR EYES SEE.

BAKING IN POMPEII

In A.D. 79 the eruption of Mount Vesuvius buried the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum in ash and pumice, and carbonized many of their organic contents—including the bread in Pompeii’s bakeries. Farrell Monaco, a culinary archaeologist, researched one popular bread’s history and has re-created the recipe.

ANCIENT ROME'S FIGHT CLUB

REAL GLADIATORS WEREN’T QUITE LIKE THOSE IN MOVIES. THEIR BATTLES WERE MORE ABOUT PUTTING ON A GOOD SHOW THAN KILLING ONE ANOTHER.

A GLASS SEA MENAGERIE

The detailed models a father and son made in the 19th century as research tools are now in museums.

A YEAR ON THE EDGE

A DEADLY VIRUS. LIVES IN LOCKDOWN. PASSIONATE CALLS FOR JUSTICE. THE IMAGES OF 2020 CAPTURED THE HUMANITY OF A TURBULENT TIME.

Celebrating in the Pandemic

WE’RE MISSING HOLIDAY CLOSENESS JUST WHEN WE NEED IT MOST. BUT EVEN GRIM, UNCERTAIN TIMES HOLD SPARKS OF LOVE AND LIGHT.

The Celebrity At The Zoo

Almost everybody loves Pandas. After a year documenting a newborn cub, a photographer remembers when she did too.

The Cost Of Harming Nature

The pandemic proves it: By damaging the planet, we have sapped nature’s power to protect us from diseases.

Meet The Machines In Our Future

Humankind has a complicated relationship with robots. On one hand, we appreciate how they can do dangerous, repetitive work so we don’t have to.

THE BACKSTORY

PUTTING ARTIFICIAL LIGHT IN A NATURAL ENVIRONMENT ADDS AN ILLUMINATING KIND OF AWE.

ERIKA CUÉLLAR SOTO

She helps Indigenous people protect the ‘magic’ of their lands. When Bolivian conservation biologist Erika Cuéllar Soto saw the sunrise over the Gran Chaco for the first time, in 1997, she knew she was somewhere special.

When Virtual Life Turns Into Quarantine

MY GENERATION THRIVES IN THE VIRTUAL WORLD. BUT WHEN COVID-19 CUT US OFF FROM THE PHYSICAL WORLD, SOMETHING WAS LOST

What We Don't Learn From History

IT’S APPARENTLY humankind’s fate never to stop writing the history of pandemics. No matter how often they occur—and they do occur with great frequency—we collectively refuse to think about them until circumstances demand it.

WATER EVERYWHERE AND NOWHERE

A 2,400-MILE TREK ACROSS INDIA REVEALS THE MYSTICAL LURE OF ITS SACRED RIVERS—ANDA CRISIS THAT THREATENS A WAY OF LIFE.