A Major Climate Force Has Been Ignored for Decades
Small mammals play an outsize role in shaping the world around them.
Civilization Owes Its Existence to the Moon
Our silver satellite inspired religion, gave rise to science, and made us human.
The Most Mysterious Cells in Our Bodies Don’t Belong to Us
You carry literal pieces of your mom—and maybe your grandma, and your siblings, and your aunts and uncles.
When Did Humans First Start Wearing Clothes?
No one can know exactly, but archaeologists have found a few unexpected clues.
First Comes the Hurricane, Then the Evictions
How storms are squeezing America’s renters
An Incurable Disease Is Coming for Deer
It rots their brains, weakens their muscles, and can linger in the environment for years.
81 Things That Blew Our Minds in 2023
Where The Atlantic’s Science, Technology, and Health reporters found wonder this year
America Lost Its One Perfect Tree
Lumber, shelter, delicious nuts—there was nothing the American chestnut couldn’t provide.
Future-Proofing Your Town Sounds Great, Until You Try It
After a wildfire razed a Canadian town, its leaders pushed for climate-friendly rebuilding. Residents just wanted to come home.
If Not Vegan, or Vegetarian, How About Chickentarian?
Chicken can be part of a climate-friendly diet; we’re just eating way too much of it.
Winter Illness This Year Is a Different Kind of Ugly
Facing down simultaneous surges of flu, COVID, and RSV, most Americans still aren’t getting the vaccines that could temper the worst effects.
The Number Five Is Nothing Like the Number Four
Our brains process them in completely different ways.
A Big Misconception About the World’s Greatest Infectious Killer
The dogma that tuberculosis is lying dormant in the bodies of 2 billion people might be wrong.
The World Has a New Floor for Climate Ambition
This COP agreement is the least we can do on climate change.
The Fossil-Fuel Industry Has a Rosy Idea of Its Future
As Canada congratulated itself in Dubai on climate leadership, its oil executives milled about the climate conference.
A Radical Idea to Break the Logic of Oil Drilling
An unofficial proposal for a fossil-fuel-nonproliferation treaty is gaining popularity at the UN’s annual climate meeting.
Science Is Becoming Less Human
AI is accelerating the pace of discovery—but at what cost?
Wood That Is See-Through Like Glass and Stronger Than Plastic
Transparent wood could soon make its way into touch screens, skyscraper windows, and car dashboards.
What Is Anyone Really Doing at COP?
The UN climate summit is the one place the countries suffering most from climate change can face down the countries causing it.
The Grim Ironies of Climate Change
War and deforestation have a complicated relationship.
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