What it’s like to be a bee November 21, 2023 Alien minds are right here, all around you. Indeed, the perceptual world of bees is so distinct from ours, governed by completely different sense organs, and their lives are ruled by such different priorities, that they might be accurately regarded as aliens from inner space. Read More
Julie A. Phillips on The Lives of Seaweeds November 17, 2023 Our understanding of the evolution of seaweeds and other algae is undergoing a revolution. Over the last five decades, numerous scientific studies have generated a wealth of new data and a new classification scheme that assigns various algal species to four of the six kingdoms of life on Earth—an unprecedented phenomenon in the living world! Read More
Insect intelligence September 13, 2023 You don’t need spaceships or psychoactive drugs for journeys into alien worlds. I invite you to come into the cockpit of an insect, and view the world through its strange senses. You will discover that inside their exquisitely miniaturized brains, there are surprising levels of sentience and intelligence. Read More
Insect apocalypse August 14, 2023 Insects underpin almost all terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems. But in the last few decades, populations all over the world have collapsed with terrifying speed. Read More
How I fell in love with natural history, with Robert Still July 12, 2023 To celebrate the arrival of summer and the gifts of nature that come with it, we asked several of our naturalist writers and scholars to respond to the following question: How did you fall in love with natural history? This week, we hear from Dr. Robert Still, publishing director of WILDGuides and co-author of British and Irish Wild Flowers and Plants. Read More
Shark books to sink your teeth into June 27, 2023 We publish the world’s leading shark books, created by a team of international experts and covering in gorgeous detail the world’s full range of shark species, providing everything a shark-lover needs to identify and celebrate these magnificent creatures. Read More
How I fell in love with natural history, with Heather Campbell June 23, 2023 To celebrate the coming of summer, we asked several of our naturalist writers and scholars to respond to the following question: How did you fall in love with natural history? This week, we hear from Dr. Heather Campbell. Read More
How I fell in love with natural history, with Craig Packer June 12, 2023 To celebrate the coming of summer, we asked several of our naturalist writers and scholars to respond to the following question: How did you fall in love with natural history? This week, we hear from Dr. Craig Packer. Read More
How I fell in love with natural history, with Olivia Messinger Carril June 07, 2023 To celebrate the arrival of summer, we asked several of our naturalist writers and scholars to respond to the following question: How did you fall in love with natural history? This week, we hear from Dr. Olivia Messinger Carril. Read More
Arthur V. Evans on The Lives of Beetles March 20, 2023 With some 400,000 species, beetles are among the largest and most successful groups of organisms on earth, making up one-fifth of all plant and animal species. Read More
On spiny ants and the rising tide March 11, 2023 In the mangrove forest mudflats Down Under, a worker ant cautiously extends her antennae. What is the expansive substance before her? Tap, tap, tap. Water! Read More
Laurence Packer on Bees of the World March 09, 2023 The archetypal bee is the western domesticated honey bee (Apis mellifera)—which is just one among over 20,500 different species of bees. Few realize there are so many species or that our honey bee is such an unusual one. Read More
James B. Nardi on The Hidden Company That Trees Keep February 15, 2023 You can tell a lot about a tree from the company it keeps. James Nardi guides you through the innermost unseen world that trees share with a wondrous array of creatures. Read More
The long past of seaweeds January 27, 2023 Algae are one of life’s most diverse and least appreciated groups, and their rise—and the story of how seaweeds evolved within them—offer a key with which to unlock some of life’s most intricate secrets. Read More
Galápagos birds: A lot more than meets the eye December 12, 2022 As a child growing up in the then-remote Galapagos Islands, the birds that surrounded my island home—unafraid as they were—fascinated me. Read More
