Scientists demonstrate that a "gene drive" can rapidly spread a genetic mutation through a species, perhaps providing a potent new weapon against malaria. But there are plenty of skeptics.

A fresh perspective on the fragility and resilience of our world.

As Hurricane Florence took hold of the Carolinas in mid-September, partisan talk swirled like the winds. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi blamed the Trump administration for listening to “naysayers” who didn't want to switch to clean energy. Fossil fuels, she told reporters, absolutely contributed to the severity of the hurricane: “This is something that we have to look at in a big way, and it’s not served by denial of the facts.”

Glyphosate – the most used pesticide ever – damages the good bacteria in honeybee guts, making them more prone to deadly infections

Britain is to call for a third of the world's oceans to be protected from damaging activity by 2030. The ambitious target, announced at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, would ensure the marine environment has a "buffer" against the effects of climate change, plastic pollution and human exploitation. It's a significant victory for Sky Ocean Rescue which has campaigned for tighter marine protection.

Ahmet Hergune was killed during the conflict between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots in 1974

Indonesian President Joko Widodo has signed a moratorium on new licenses for oil palm plantations. The presidential instruction, signed on Sept. 19, will remain in place for no more than three years, according to the policy document, seen by Mongabay. Environmentalists previously called on Jokowi to impose no limit on the duration of the moratorium, arguing it should remain in place until it achieves its goals.

The seafloor is one of the last unexplored regions of our watery planet. On a recent expedition dubbed Deep Search 2018, a group of ocean researchers discovered 85 miles of deep-sea coral reef off the coast of the southeastern US. "Good news is too rare these days, and this is a victory that we can all share. We have found a pristine coral reef in our own backyard," Erik Cordes, the chief scientist on the expedition and a deep-sea ecologist at Temple University, wrote in a mission summary.

As Hurricane Florence barreled toward the Carolina coast, Tammie Hedges took action to protect pets that might have otherwise been caught in the storm – a decision that led to her arrest. Hedges, a resident of Waynes County, North Carolina, was taken into custody Friday after providing care to more than two dozen animals – 17 cats and 10 dogs – for owners who had to evacuate before the storm hit. "The owners got to evacuate. They got to save themselves. But who’s going to save those animals? That’s what we did," Hedges said. "We saved them."

While calling it an assassin's cabinet may be a bit exaggerated, the dramatically titled curio is a hollowed out book from the 16th century. In the pages' place are eleven drawers of varying sizes with meticulous labels, each spelling out which plant each drawer contained.

Crabs and lobsters have a tough time at the hands of humans. In most countries, they are excluded from the scope of animal welfare legislation, so nothing you do to them is illegal. The result is that they are treated in ways that would clearly be cruel if inflicted on a vertebrate. This might in part be because they are so alien to us. It is hard to begin to imagine the inner life of a 10-legged, faceless creature with a nervous system distributed throughout its body. Worse still, crustaceans lack the headline-grabbing intelligence of the octopus.

Southern California went 87 days without a clean air day, the longest stretch of consecutive ozone pollution violations in at least 20 years. Regulators blame the persistence in pollution on hot, stagnant weather and are studying whether climate change is driving it.

We’re thrilled to report that the herds of wild horses that roam North Carolina’s Outer Banks have emerged from Hurricane Florence unscathed. Cape Hatteras National Seashore and Corolla Wild Horse Fund both confirmed on social media over the weekend that their equine populations are safe and sound following Hurricane Florence’s lashing last week. Corolla Wild Horse Fund herd manager Meg Puckett told The News & Observer that the wild herd found higher ground and grouped together against the wind and rain. People on the island also kept an eye on them.

A pear seedling selection named Bradford was cloned by the gazillion to become the ubiquitous street tree of America’s postwar suburban expansion. Then it turned invasive. By Adrian Higgins.

When Reuters photographer Lucas Jackson headed to Greenland in June, he traveled with a heavy, oversized rolling bag containing a crucial piece of equipment to document climate change. Jackson, one of a handful of Reuters photographers licensed to operate a drone, spent seven rainy days camped alongside Greenland's Helheim glacier, near the small seaside village of Tasiilaq. Using an Inspire 1 Pro drone, Jackson captured more than 700 gigabytes of footage and images in Greenland.

If you aren't fond of spiders, this scene will sound like a nightmare. A 300-metre-long (1,000-foot) field of spiderweb has sprung up in western Greece in the town of Aitoliko.

Switzerland is going to the polls on Sunday, in not one but two votes which campaigners say will promote ethical and sustainable food. The votes follow scandals in the last few years over horse meat in lasagne and the destruction of rain forests to make way for palm oil and cattle ranching. And they reflect growing consumer interest - not just in Switzerland but across Europe - in where food comes from and how it is produced.

Did the octopus evolve its unique intelligence by playing fast and free with the genetic code? Elizabeth Finkel investigates.

The country is using oil and gas riches to engineer emission-free vessels

Protected forests in Brazil and Peru hold some of the world’s last remote indigenous groups, increasingly threatened by resource-hungry outsiders.