2026

​Representative Image of flea beetles feeding on leafy spurge roots as a form of biological pest control (AI-generated image) In 1988, researchers working with the United States Department of Agriculture released a small population of European flea beetles onto infested rangeland near Valley City, North Dakota, hoping the insects might help control a plant that…

Sometimes the smallest acts of kindness create the biggest ripples. For Abigail Mwaungulu, a Florida homeowner, it began with a simple “yes” to a stranger’s unusual lunch request. For Dara, a Wendy’s employee having a difficult day, it began with a doorbell ring and a hopeful question. What followed was a friendship neither expected, a…

In the heart of Yosemite National Park, where granite cliffs rise above ancient forests and waterfalls cascade into deep valleys, lies a quieter kind of wonder: Ackerson Meadow. One of the largest mid-elevation meadows in the Sierra Nevada, and the largest in Yosemite, it is a place of stillness, wildlife and ecological importance. But for…