Scotland’s Seaweed Showdown

It’s locals versus industry in the country’s kelp wars.

Mar 17, 2020 | 3,200 words, about 16 minutes

When Litter Becomes Habitat

In a busy and polluted Italian port, living things thrive on anthropogenic debris.

Mar 9, 2020 | 700 words, about 3 minutes

Plastic Pollution May Be Spreading Antibiotic Resistance

Two great worries of the modern era, together at last.

Mar 4, 2020 | 450 words, about 2 minutes

Stone Age Diets Were Far From Healthy

Even in the Neolithic, Norwegians were overloaded with heavy metals.

Feb 27, 2020 | 400 words, about 2 minutes

France’s Deadly Seaweed

Fueled by agricultural runoff, rotting seaweed on Brittany’s beaches is becoming an environmental and public health emergency.

Feb 11, 2020 | 2,400 words, about 12 minutes

From Healthy to Extinct in 350 Years

New genetic research shows that the great auk population was large and diverse—until hunters swiftly drove it to extinction.

Jan 6, 2020 | 1,100 words, about 5 minutes

The Fight Over a Shitty Rock

A tiny, uninhabitable islet in the North Atlantic has become an unlikely battleground in the fight for fishing rights.

Oct 29, 2019 | 2,200 words, about 11 minutes

Baby Haddock Show a Sense of Direction

Haddock larvae in the North Sea defy expectations by orienting northwest.

Oct 16, 2019 | 650 words, about 3 minutes