Natural History
Articles are sorted by date with the most recently published first.
Gray Thunder: Listening to Elephants
by Cyril Christo
Photographs by Cyril Christo and Marie Wilkinson
Elephants are speaking to us. Is anyone listening?
The Failure of Names
Art and text by James Prosek
Beyond the limits of Linnaeus lies a world teeming with infinite colors, shapes, and sizes.
Celestial Spheres
by William L. Fox
Lita Albuquerque went to the Antarctic to make art that conjures the sky. With web-exclusive extra images.
Managing the Trees of Arlington Cemetery
by Elizabeth Redden
A fine collection of old trees poses some interesting issues for those managing them.
Magpie Song
by Robert Michael Pyle
Beauty and wonder are always in the eye of the beholder—but the beholder has to choose to behold
The Headbonker’s Ball
by Matt Jenkins
Scores of native bees inhabit California's cities, and one scientist is on a crusade to help them thrive.
Kana
by Chris Dombrowski
Photographs: Randy Beacham
A lyrical exploration of the wonders of nature, and a father's quest to express those to his children
The Fall of a Sparrow
by Sandra Steingraber
Notes on a ubiquitous avian neighbor and sometime friend.
Disappearing Animal Migrations
by David S. Wilcove
The world's greatest migrations are fading before our unseeing eyes.
Weeder
Photos and text by Jon Edwards
A decades-long working relationship with the slippery rocks of the Maine coast.
Serenading Belugas in the White Sea
by David Rothenberg
Photographs by Anna Koivisto
A clarinetist ventures forth to make music with the white whales of the White Sea
Pulling the Plug
by Robert Michael Pyle
Can a successful TV-totaler make the ultimate sacrifice of electrons?
Stalking the Wild Groundnut
by Tamara Dean
Photo by Jason Houston
Once a staple and the subject of much interest, the groundnut, a forgotten food, whets a contemporary curiosity.
Seeing Deer
by Craig Childs
They come down into the valleys in autumn, where chance meetings will seal their fates.
Don Berto’s Garden
by David G. Campbell
Illustrations by Molly Bang
The plants of the ancient Maya whisper their secrets to those who speak a shared language.
License to Kill
by Robert Michael Pyle
Killing other creatures, whether direct or by proxy, are an inevitable part of being among the living.
Structural Poetry
Paintings and text by Zsuzsanna Szegedi
Seen from a propitious angle, the bare bones of trees reveal the beauty of aging.
What’s the Use of Pets?
by Ginger Strand
In a bazaar that offers everything imaginable (and then some) for pets, you could forget why we domesticated them in the first place.
The Tumult of Vision
Photographs by Matthew Chase-Daniel
Text by David Abram
Multiple moments from the same landscape compel our participation in the montage we call nature.
Window of Possibility
by Anthony Doerr
Why one particular photograph should be in every classroom in the world.
Polymers Are Forever
by Alan Weisman
There was hardly any prior to 1945, but it may now be the most ubiquitous man-made substance on Earth.
The Consolations of Extinction
by Christopher Cokinos
Feeling responsible for saving the entire biosphere can be a real drag, but one can take comfort in those who've come and gone before.
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