2021 is going to be a back-to-school year like no other. Since March 2020, most students have been attending classes either 100 percent remotely or through some kind of hybrid model. But after ...

In 2019, at age nine, ShubVardaan Rastogi was one of two kids chosen to be “mayor for a day.” During his brief tenure, he called for a playground that would encourage adults to play more.

China plans to overtake the United States by building the world’s largest national park system, a network of wilderness bigger than Texas. Although China only created its first national park ...

In true feline form, cats took their time deciding whether to jump into humans’ laps. In a new comprehensive study of the spread of domesticated cats, DNA analysis suggests that cats lived for ...

In some situations, they can be helpful. In others, they can lead to dangerous nutrient deficiencies or imbalances. Experts weigh in on how to make an informed decision.

Cravings may feel impulsive, but new research suggests they’re often rooted in memory. Scientists have found that the brain encodes high-calorie foods in a way that can quietly influence what we ...

Scientists just confirmed a 30-foot void first detected inside the monument years ago. Here’s the technology that helped scientists find it—and what it may have been used for.

Like other bacterial bioluminescence, milky seas have a steady, even gleam “like the glow-in-the-dark plastic stars you can buy your kids,” according to a 1980 U.S. Navy sighting.

Bumblebees, among the most important pollinators, are in trouble. Fuzzy and buzzy, they excel at spreading pollen and fertilizing many types of wild flora, as well as crucial agricultural crops ...

In Limitless With Chris Hemsworth, a six-part National Geographic documentary streaming on Disney+, the actor doesn’t just rely on a physique honed during a decade of playing Thor in movies.

There's little more relaxing than spending time at the beach—but what's going on in your brain during a day spent playing in the waves? Scientists are discovering more of the benefits of "blue ...

A version of this story appears in the June 2025 issue of National Geographic magazine. Based in Woodbridge, England, Tristan McConnell reported from Morocco for this story.