Every day, people protect what matters. These are their stories.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art s Costume Institute is putting form back into fashion—and placing fashion at the forefront of New York’s busiest institution. On Monday, the museum revealed that its spring 2026 blockbuster fashion exhibition will be “Costume Art,” which examines the bond between the d...
Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa, is expected to be officially announced on Nov. 18 as the host city of the 2027 U.N. climate conference, or COP32. Backed by the African Group of Negotiators on Climate Change, the expected decision would mark the international climate summit’s return to the African c...
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM Scotland took its next step toward reaching net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2045, releasing a sweeping draft climate action plan that outlines how the country intends to reduce emissions across transportation, energy, agriculture, and land use over the next ...
What would it take to make car-free living possible across the United States? The question has critical implications for the climate: Transportation is the nation’s top source of emissions, and everyday vehicles are the largest contributor within this category.Today, cars are an inescapable fact of ...
As a kid, we want fun stuff for Christmas — and we can't fathom a day where we'll grow up and starting asking for boring things like vacuums and new dish towels. But the day inevitably comes that your wish list changes. It might be video games, make up or skincare, clothes, or whatever water bottle ...
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In the foothills of the western Alps in southeastern France, horned alpine ibex roam the limestone cliffs of a smaller mountain range known as the Dauphiné Alps, a region once home to thriving populations of wild horses, bison, roe deer, gray wolves, Eurasian lynx, and four species of vultures. In J...
An investigation into organic apple orchards in Australia has made a surprising discovery: their soils are remarkably similar to those of conventional orchards, where organic farming techniques aren’t used. This suggests that organic food labels don’t always indicate ecological conditions that are s...
Artist Alona Rodeh’s “Nightcaps” is a public art project featuring 15 sculptural additions placed directly on top of existing street lamps in Berlin’s Brunnenviertel (Wedding). In the 1960s, when the neighborhood was rebuilt by the social housing company degewo, large spherical street lamps were ins...
The Metropolitan Museum of Art has returned an 18th-century painting to a Korean temple that once housed a vast depiction of hell. The painting, titled The Tenth King of Hell, dates to 1798 and was made during the Joseon Dynasty. It s one panel of a 10-part piece known as Siwangdo formerly sited at ...
Suckerfish—also known as remoras—are harmless, but the whales didn't seem to be fans of their hitchhiking...
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Have you ever spent time in a backyard that felt like a natural oasis? An outdoor space that combines the wild beauty of the natural world with the aesthetic touch of human design? What if that space wasn't just beautiful, but also easy to maintain and helpful to the environment? In Southern Califor...
In 2019, researcher Kit Prendergast was surveying the insects visiting an incredibly rare plant in the Bremer Ranges of Western Australia when a bee grabbed her attention. Prendergast and her colleague dug deeper and found that the native bee, now named Megachile lucifer, is a new-to-science species...
Founder s Briefs: An occasional series where Mongabay founder Rhett Ayers Butler shares analysis, perspectives and story summaries. Before dawn breaks over Surabaya, Indonesia’s “City of Heroes,” Akhyari Hananto is already at work. After morning prayers, he opens Google Analytics to watch the night’...
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM Building new foundations Welcome to the third installment of The Optimist Daily’s Annual Local Changemakers series. Over five weeks, we’re celebrating ten extraordinary individuals and organizations transforming their communities through heart-led innovation. Thi...
Showing kindness doesn't cost a thing, but it's impact is always worth its weight in gold. We typically experience kindness from other humans, but all living creatures are capable making a kindness connection—even across species. A sweet squirrel is certainly proof of that. Originally shared in a si...
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Bidding starts at $10 million for a painting of Conan the Barbarian that Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett bought from artist Frank Frazetta for $1 million in 2009. The work, titled Conan the Berserker (1967), served as cover art for a paperback edition of Robert E. Howard’s novel Conan the Conqueror...
This is a transcript of an episode of Untold Earth, a series from Atlas Obscura in partnership with Nature and PBS Digital Studios, which explores the seeming impossibilities behind our planet’s strangest, most unique natural wonders. From fragile, untouched ecosystems to familiar but unexplained oc...
Lead pipes are ubiquitous. At this point, no state has gotten rid of all of its toxic lead service lines, which pipe drinking water to homes and businesses. But some cities like Chicago, New York City, and Detroit, have more lead plumbing than others, and replacing it can cost tens of thousands of d...
For Hawaii’s short-finned pilot whales (Globicephala macrorhynchus), it’s all about squid. The black marine mammals with bulbous heads primarily feed on the cephalopods and some small amounts of fish. But just how much squid do they eat? New estimates suggest that individual Hawaiian short-finned pi...
Twenty brilliantly colored red-browed amazons took flight over a reserve holding one of the few remaining intact swaths of Atlantic Forest in Brazil. The green-and-red parrots had been missing from Alagoas state for generations. In January 2025, the birds returned home. Researchers say releasing the...
