Floods and fires have always been with us, but now we’re crossing over into a new stage of permacrisis. What survival strategies do we need for this age of disaster?
Intelligent. Optimistic. Curious.
Nature
Writer Annalee Newitz has spent a lot of time walking around ancient lost cities and imagining future human civilizations on other planets. Newitz is a hard-headed, realistic optimist who believes the one technology that can save us is stories.
The nocturnal songs of nightingales have captivated artists, poets and musicians for generations. Folk singer Sam Lee celebrates their annual return through intimate nighttime duets—performed in total darkness—that blend human voice and nightingale song.
The longest nights of the year are here. How many of us will see them? When light pollution is making it harder to experience natural darkness, learning how to reconnect with the planet’s ancient nocturnal rhythms can be profoundly restorative.
Witnessing the beauty of synchronous fireflies in the Great Smoky Mountains inspired author Leigh Ann Henion to turn off her porch light and discover the vast natural world that thrives in the darkness.
Journalist Zoë Schlanger has been tracking the new science of plant intelligence. Plants can exhibit some of the same behaviors as animals with nervous systems, including decision-making and elaborate defenses against predators.
Have you ever wondered how plants find enough light and water? How they ward off attacks from predators? It turns out they’re a lot smarter than you realize. Plants can send out distress signals. They have memories. They may even be able to see.
Suzanne Simard transformed our understanding of forest ecology by uncovering the fungal networks that trees use to communicate with each other. Anne Strainchamps went walking with Simard to see firsthand how a forest is like a kinship network.
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