Fetid Adder's Tongue: A Spellbinding Plant for February Flowers

Bigelow’s fetid adder’s tongue sounds like an ingredient in a spell in a Harry Potter story. It is certainly magical and appears each year as if from nowhere. One day you look and there isn’t anything there; the next, there is a clump of the most exquisite deep purple and cream-striped flowers surrounded by vivid green leaves spotted with maroon.

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Drones Sacrificed for Spectacular Volcano Video

Video technology and science converge on an active volcano in Vanuatu, where explorer Sam Cossman operated camera-mounted drones to capture high-definition images of the spectacular yet dangerous Marum Crater. Cossman and his team piloted the drones over the 7.5-mile-wide (12-kilometer) caldera while confronting toxic gases and boiling lava.

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Grizzly bear battles 4 wolves

When a bear is hungry, he gets his way.

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Is Kim Jong Un the Last Bad Bond Guy?

The morning of July 1 last summer began like any other for Peter Hahn, a 74-year-old who had come to do extraordinary things in a place that he would never call godforsaken but which, nonetheless, is. Tumen, China, sits on the border with North Korea; it’s a gritty city of 140,000, more than half of which is ethnically Korean.

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The remote Alaskan village that needs to be relocated due to climate change

This is a project that has been in the works for a while now, but funding is an issue (most of Alaska's income is from oil, which is down right now). Another issue is the fact that this is relatively unprecedented. There is no 'Depertment of Relocating Villages' to take charge of this project.

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Dom'Up Treehouse

Dom'Up is an innovative treehouse that draws inspiration from tree camping and traditional treehouse structure. Dutch arboriculturist Bruno de Grunne and architect Nicolas d'Ursel from Trees and People invented this new suspension style cabin. The end result is a tree shelter that's reported easy to install and leaves no trace or impact on its surrounding environment and trees.

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Why Alaska Is Warmer Than the Continental U.S.

Over the past week or so, I've posted several comments and links talking about how warm it is in Alaska relative to the East Coast. Here's a decent explanation for why that's happening.

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Lockheed Martin's new fusion reactor might change humanity forever

This is an invention that might change civilization as we know it: A compact fusion reactor developed by Skunk Works, the stealth experimental technology division of Lockheed Martin. It's the size of a jet engine and it can power airplanes, spaceships, and cities. Skunk Works claims it will be operative in 10 years.

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The Eiffel Tower now generates its own power with new wind turbines

France's most recognisable landmark, the iron Eiffel Tower erected in 1889, has seen its iconic frame festooned with many different decorations and objects over the years for various celebrations. Its latest addition is a little more subtle -- and maybe a little more in keeping with the tower's original purpose as a monument to human ingenuity and artistry. As part of a major renovation and upgrade to the tower's first floor, the Société d'Exploitation de la Tour Eiffel will be adding...

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How Oregon's Second Largest City Vanished in a Day

The mere utterance of Vanport was known to send shivers down the spines of "well-bred" Portlanders. Not because of any ghost story, or any calamitous disaster—that would come later—but because of raw, unabashed racism. Built in 110 days in 1942, Vanport was always meant to be a temporary housing project, a superficial solution to Portland’s wartime housing shortage. At its height, Vanport housed 40,000 residents...

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NASA's Global Rainfall and Snowfall Map

NASA's Global Precipitation Measurement mission has produced its first global map of rainfall and snowfall. The map covers more of the globe than any previous precipitation data set and is updated every half hour, allowing scientists to see how rain and snow storms move around nearly the entire planet.

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Freezing Temperatures Cause Amazing and Rare Phenomenon at Nantucket

New England's record freezing temperatures have caused a semi-frozen wave phenomenon captured by a local photographer.

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Alaska Farmer Turns Icy Patch Of Tundra Into A Breadbasket

Warmer temperatures in Alaska are giving farmers flexibility to plant a wider range of crops over a longer growing season. One farmer says the secret to his bounty is soil enriched by flooding rivers.

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Stone Age Britons Were Eating Wheat 2,000 Years Before They Farmed It

Scientists have recovered cultivated wheat DNA from an 8,000-year-old submerged site off the British coast. The finding suggests hunter-gatherers were trading for the grain long before they grew it.

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The Hardest Video Game? Playing a Mom

In 'Shelter,' you play a mother lynx on the Russian tundra.

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Meet 2 New Spider Species: 'Skeletorus' and 'Sparklemuffin'

A graduate student studying peacock spiders in Australia discovered two new species of the colorful eight-legged beasts.

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Dartmouth Scientists Show New Evidence That Comet Killed Dinosaurs, Not Asteroid

Some 66 million years ago, a giant hurtling mass killed off almost all the dinosaurs and around 70 percent of all other species living on Earth. Most scientists think that the extinction event was an asteroid. Professors Jason Moore and Mukul Sharma of the Department of Earth Sciences at Dartmouth in New Hampshire say that a high-velocity comet killed off the dinosaurs.

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A Winter's Morning

East of Yorkton, Saskatchewan. A Winter's Morning. © Ian D. McGregor

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It’s So Cold You Could Walk Across Lake Erie

Let's make this clear right away: In no way is it a good idea to trek from United States to Canada via Lake Erie, which is currently a frozen wasteland of ice, wind, and snow. But perils aside, is it possible? Especially considering that, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 95 percent of Lake Erie is now covered by ice.

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River Island

By Jean-Pierre Braganza

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Shy female kangaroos have fewer 'friends' but gather in larger groups than bolder individuals

Making friends and acquaintances is not a random act for kangaroos, instead they actively choose who they mix with and how often. Female eastern grey kangaroos have been shown to spend time with some other females while avoiding others altogether. Kangaroos live in a fission-fusion society, characterised by frequent changes of group membership, with individuals moving between temporary feeding groups and switching groups many times a day.

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Ross River Fever confirmed in Queensland

Ross River fever is expected to afflict thousands of Queenslanders in coming weeks after an outbreak was confirmed in the state's south.

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The Girl Who Gets Gifts from Birds

Lots of people love the birds in their garden, but it's rare for that affection to be reciprocated. One young girl in Seattle is luckier than most. She feeds the crows in her garden - and they bring her gifts in return.

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How do dogs "see" with their noses? - Alexandra Horowitz

Let’s Begin… You may have heard the expression that dogs ‘see with their noses.’ But these creature’s amazing nasal architecture actually reveals a whole world beyond what we can see. Alexandra Horowitz illustrates how the dog’s nose can smell the past, the future and even things that can’t be seen at all.

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Tsuga heterophylla

Tsuga heterophylla, the western hemlock, is one of the most common trees in North American western rainforests. It can be quickly identified by its drooping leader and feathery foliage.

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NASA Satellite Tracks Saharan Dust to Amazon in 3-D

Amazing video shows how dust moves from the Sahara Desert to Brazil.

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Afghanistan Avalanches, Winter Storm Leave 108 People Feared Dead

An emergency official in Afghanistan says at least 108 people are feared killed in avalanches amid a massive winter storm. Slides buried homes Wednesday across four provinces.

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A Plan to Save the Earth That Might Kill Us All

All it requires is billions of sunlight-reflecting particles, a time commitment of centuries, and not taking the phrase 'moral hazard' too seriously.

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Two Lands - Greenland | Iceland

"Two Lands - Greenland | Iceland" is the result of a very brief 10 day shoot I did. The video is a compilation of some of the footage I shot while there. Some of the other shots are in lockdown by the client so I used what I could to create this video. I spent 4 days shooting in Iceland and 6 days shooting in Greenland.

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World's Tiniest Rodeo: Photographer Captures Frog Riding A Beetle

Check out the world's tiniest rodeo! Photographer captured rare footage of a frog riding a beetle.

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W.I.N.D. House

Ben van Berkel / UNStudio design The W.I.N.D. House, an expansion of the smart home in Holland that incorporates both integrated sustainable solutions and home automation.

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Waiting for the sea

It took just 40 years for the Aral Sea to dry up. Fishing ports suddenly found themselves in a desert. But in one small part of the sea, water is returning.

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Apple spending $2 billion on two European data centers running on 100 percent renewable energy

Apple has announced plans worth €1.7 billion ($1.93 billion) to construct two new data centers in Europe. Each facility will be run using 100 percent renewable energy and will provide online services such as iTunes, iMessages, and Siri for Apple customers in Europe. The data centers are being built in Athenry in western Ireland and in Viborg in central Denmark, with both sites expected to be operational by 2017.

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Deeper Ties to Corporate Cash for Doubtful Climate Researcher

Newly released documents show the extent of the links between corporate interests and the published work of Wei-Hock Soon, a Smithsonian-affiliated scientist who has tried to debunk the consensus about global warming.

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New cruise ship to ply the Great Lakes

This summer, you can take a cruise from Montreal to Chicago.

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'Weird' Fern Shows The Power Of Interspecies Sex

Two species of fern that diverged 60 million years ago are as evolutionarily distant as, say, elephants and manatees. Nonetheless, the two species recently produced a hybrid, say astounded botanists.

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Sweden Renames a Bunch of Birds to Make Sure No One Thinks They're Racist

Sweden’s Ornithological Society has changed the names of a bunch of birds because they were concerned that the old names sounded racist.

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CLOUDS

Gallery of cloud photos

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Karson, Wilmington, Ohio K-9 cop found safe

Almost two months to the day after he escaped his kennel, a Wilmington K-9 officer has been found safe. A Wilmington Police Department dispatcher confirmed the 3-year-old Belgian Malinois who went missing Dec. 23 was located Sunday. Karson's human handler, Wilmington Patrol K-9 Officer Jerry Popp said Karson was found between Interstate 71 and Starbuck and Sabina roads. The location was about seven miles away from the Wilmington Police Department's downtown headquarters.

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Mysterious, Wavelike Cloud Hugs Grand Teton Mountains

A bizarre sheet of clouds embraced the highest peak in the Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming last week, enchanting even the park's most seasoned visitors.

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Yearly glacial flood into Gulf of Alaska exceeds freshwater output of Mississippi River

Satellite data has confirmed that the amount of freshwater released into the Gulf of Alaska from streams and rivers in Alaska and northern Canada is about 1.5 times what the Mississippi River dumps into the Gulf of Mexico each year. That astounding flow of water is from rainfalls that soak Southeast Alaska and the south side of the Alaska Range. The other half comes from the melting of snow and ice from glaciers.

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Volkswagen van and a big tree

Taken at Sequoia National Park.

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Wisdom tooth stem cells could point to cure for corneal blindness

The cornea, the transparent screen that sits at the front of the eyeball, is one of the most important yet fragile organs in the human body. Damage to the cornea renders millions of people worldwide blind, and treatment for it is both uncommon and risky. Yet research published today in medical journal Stem Cells Translational Medicine suggests that one day it may be possible for doctors to repair scarring to the cornea or even grow replacement tissue by using stem cells drawn from a...

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Freezing rain creates hazardous conditions in Interior Alaska

While you guys in the Lower 48 are experiencing all sorts of cold weather and lots of snow. Here's what we are dealing with in Interior Alaska!

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Sideways

Again an older image. This one I re-edited so it is shown sideways in order to better appreciate and make more focus on the little common blue butterfly. It is one of my favorite butterflies.

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Five Best Friends Build “Icehenge” In The Middle Of A Frozen Lake

This ice sculpture may look like a fancy thing carved from crystal, located on an alien planet, but it’s not. The beautiful sculpture actually sits in the middle of a lake in Wisconsin, and was built by 5 everyday American dudes.

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A Wet And Wild Look Inside The 'Mushroom Houses' of a Fungi Farm

Foraging for wild, edible fungi may be a growing trend. But most of the mushrooms we eat come from farms — and a behind-the-scenes look at one of them turns out to be pretty exciting on its own.

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How to Make the Most of House Plants

House plants breathe life into interiors, while cleaning the air as they grow. The trick is to re-create their natural environment.

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The Wildflower Center

The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in Austin is more than just a place to see wildflowers. It’s also a research and resource center for information on native plants, landscape restoration, and water conservation.

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Arabia was Once a Lush Paradise of Grass and Woodlands

Nowadays Arabia is a fierce desert, but it was once densely vegetated, and could have been a home to the first humans that left Africa.

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