Obama's Environmental Legacy, in Two Buttes

The Bears Ears National Monument captures much of what made President Obama inspiring to his supporters—and frustrating to his critics.

• Robinson Meyer
• Dec 30, 2016

The CDC’s New Quarantine Rule Could Violate Civil Liberties

The proposed regulation could be used to detain people without due process, or examine them without informed consent.

• Ed Yong
• Dec 30, 2016

Will the Alt-Right Promote a New Kind of Racist Genetics?

The genomic revolution has led to easy sequencing and cheap “ancestry" tests. White nationalists are paying attention.

• Sarah Zhang
• Dec 29, 2016

How Trump Could Slow Medical Progress

Several of Trump’s cabinet nominees have been outspoken critics of using embryonic stem cells and fetal tissue in research, and now some scientists fear the worst.

• Olga Khazan
• Dec 28, 2016

Cheetahs Never Prosper

A new study suggests that half the world's fastest cats will be gone in 15 years—and that's being optimistic.

• Ed Yong
• Dec 27, 2016

Are Climate Scientists Ready for Trump?

Maybe not.

• Robinson Meyer
• Dec 27, 2016

Explorers Find Passage to Earth's Dark Age

Geochemical signals from near the planet’s core are beginning to shed light on its first 50 million years, a period long viewed as inaccessible to science.

• Natalie Wolchover
• Dec 27, 2016

Second Helpings: 2016's Underappreciated Science, Tech, and Health Stories

Staff picks from the past year of coverage at The Atlantic

• The Editors
• Dec 22, 2016

Can Trump Reverse Obama's Arctic-Drilling Ban?

Probably not, at least without Congress’s help.

• Robinson Meyer
• Dec 21, 2016

President Trump and the Unnatural World

David Biello, author of The Unnatural World, talks about the paradox of climate change in the Trumpocene.

• Robinson Meyer
• Dec 21, 2016

A Brainless Slime That Shares Memories by Fusing

The oozing yellow organism has no neurons, but it can solve mazes, make decisions, and learn by merging together.

• Ed Yong
• Dec 21, 2016

The Deadly Explosion Behind America's Whipped-Cream Shortage

Just in time for the holidays

• Sarah Zhang
• Dec 20, 2016

How the Drunken Monkey Hypothesis Explains Our Taste for Liquor

Early apes’ ability to metabolize alcohol increased about 20-fold due to a single-point mutation in their genes.

• Robert Dudley
• Dec 19, 2016

The Biological Clock Hidden in Animals' Teeth

Stripes laid down by tooth enamel could reveal why big mammals grow slower—and live longer—than small ones.

• Andreas von Bubnoff
• Dec 19, 2016

The Unexpected Adaptability of Chimps to the Human World

As conservationists scramble to protect decimated ape populations, chimps are adjusting to new surroundings in surprising ways.

• Douglas Foster
• Dec 16, 2016

Busy Times at the World’s Largest Polar Bear Prison

Arctic warming means more conflict between people and the giant predators.

• Ed Yong and Robinson Meyer
• Dec 16, 2016

The Icy Secrets of Ceres

New research suggests water ice lurks under the surface of the dwarf planet.

• Marina Koren
• Dec 15, 2016

When an Animal's Sex Is Set by a Microbe

DNA from a bacterium called Wolbachia seems to control whether pillbugs are male or female.

• Ed Yong
• Dec 15, 2016

Solving the Mystery of Uncombable Hair

Scientists are looking at the genetic profiles of families with a history of a rare syndrome that affects follicle structure.

• Veronique Greenwood
• Dec 15, 2016

The National Park Service Has a Big Sexual Harassment Problem

The agency tasked with safeguarding America’s greatest public lands has neglected to protect its female employees.

• Lyndsey Gilpin
• Dec 15, 2016