This article was supported by Rolex, which is partnering with the National Geographic Society to shine a light on the challenges facing the Earth’s critical life-support systems through science, exploration, and storytelling. High in the Himalaya, near the base of the Gangotri glacier, water burbles along a narrow river. Pebbles, carried in the small river’s…
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The orca is one of only a handful of mammals known to go through menopause. The reason has remained murky, but now, new research suggests why: Grandmothers boost the survival of their grandcalves. Scientists who analyzed decades of orca populations in the Pacific Northwest found that young orcas with grandmothers were more likely to stay…
Travel generates moments you know you’ll remember forever: spotting an elusive blue whale, reveling in a colorful street festival, reaching the summit of that windy peak. Sometimes the experience is so transformative you want to share some of that magic with family and friends. As the photo engineer for National Geographic, I design and build…
PUBLISHED November 23, 2019 It’s difficult to imagine prides of lions roaming Egypt today, but as late as 1000 B.C. the big cats idled on the banks of the Nile—and some even lounged in palaces as domesticated pets for the royals. The lion (Panthera leo) was associated with the sun and the pharaoh, the most…
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On this wintry day along the shores of Canada’s Hudson Bay, five of us are rumbling over the tundra in a purpose-built vehicle, searching for polar bears. Outside, a snowstorm has created near-whiteout conditions; it is, observes one of our number, as if we are driving inside a Ping-Pong ball. Then the heat goes out…
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When sea otters in Alaska were diagnosed with phocine distemper virus (PDV) in 2004, scientists were confused. The pathogen in the Morbillivirus genus that contains viruses like measles had then only been found in Europe and on the eastern coast of North America. “We didn’t understand how a virus from the Atlantic ended up in…
That iPhone in your pocket? Your simple Ikea bookshelf? The glass box architecture of your local office park? You can thank a century-old design movement for their sleek lines and emphasis on utility. Founded as an art school in 1919, Germany’s Bauhaus sparked a revolution in architecture and design. A hundred years later, its “less…
Humpback whales are well known for their sophisticated hunting strategies, such as blowing bubbles to form wide nets, then swimming in a clockwise motion to swiftly encircle their prey. This ingenuity, coupled with the marine mammals’ advanced social behavior and communication, led scientists to suspect they were missing something. It turns out they were right.…
The marmot looks paralyzed by fear, its fingers splayed and mouth agape. The fox is poised to pounce. It’s a freeze-frame of chaos, impulse, and terror—nature at its essence. For his remarkable memorialization of the moment before attack, Chinese photographer Yongqing Bao has won Wildlife Photographer of the Year, awarded today by London’s Natural History…