This salty soda lake literally turns dead animals into calcified statues. Why do lesser flamingos love it so much?

Award-winning photographer Tim Laman explores the imperiled lives and lost culture of orangutans in Borneo and Sumatra.

It's a bird! It's a plane! It's a flying dog!

Thanks to advances in wetsuit technology, surfing is becoming increasingly popular in frigid destinations like Norway and Alaska.

Old newspapers gain new life as evocative sculptures that tell a story about the relationship between humans and animals.

Photographer Seth Casteel casts his lens on the priceless expressions of rescue cats and kittens bounding and jumping through the air.

Following years of misuse, gorgeous canyon gains new life as one of Puerto Rico's most important ecological attractions.

While not practical for everyday wear, these 'fat plant' manicures from Roz Borg of Arozona Living are sure to spark a conversation.

From the unbearably cute to the utterly absurd, these pet and animal vines are bound to crack you up.

Visiting Puerto Rico? Don't forget to plan a visit to the island of Vieques, where you can take a starlit kayak trip on the world's brightest bio bay.

Mountain bikers wind through the misty temperate rain forest of Whistler, British Columbia, leaving stunning long-exposure light trails in their wake.

Dutch photographer Loes Heerink highlights the colorful diversity of Vietnam's bicycle-riding fruit sellers.

Artist and scientist Jill Pelto hopes to inspire people to take action by imbuing her dreamy paintings with hard scientific data and field research.

Bleached corals are akin to dead canaries in a coal mine — a warning of what's to come if we don't address the threat of climate change.

From Venus flytraps to pitcher plants and bladderworts, explore the wonderfully weird world of carnivorous plants.

When you set out on a mission to document all 12,000 species of captive animals, it's bound to get a little silly.

The beleaguered rusty patched bumblebee is the first bee species in the Lower 48 states to be listed as endangered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Salamanders and newts in Europe are under siege by an invasive and deadly mycological disease. How can we stop it from reaching North America?

Learn more about the ancient agricultural legacy of rice paddy farming.

In honor of his birthday, let's take a look at some of the amazing people the revered spiritual leader has met over the years.

Henry David Thoreau's beloved slice of nature still exists today in the form of a Walden Pond State Reservation.

Many people don't see arachnids as 'cute,' but maybe they've never laid eyes on a peacock jumping spider.

These bioluminescent gnat larvae fool their prey by beautifully imitating the night sky inside of caves.

These endangered World Heritage Sites, both natural and cultural, could use a helping hand in restoring and preserving their integrity.

Wild animals and beloved pets take the subtle art of photobombing to the next level.

Here's a glance at the variation of landscape and geography found within just a few of Canada's most amazing national parks.

While a few of these natural wonders formed as a result of meteors raining down, many more were crafted by the hands of our own Mother Earth.

'The Land of the Strays' is a dog's paradise.

Due to their seemingly ever-smiling demeanor, these small marsupials are the perfect selfie buddies.

Our planet has quite a knack for creating surreal natural landscapes. Case in point: Basalt rock columns.

Composed of loose sediment and averaging about 6 feet in height, the puzzling natural mounds are a surreal sight.

A new study brings up an old argument about that weird definition of a planet.

Panorama gives viewers a glimpse of the geological landmarks in Curiosity's vicinity, including the Gale Crater Rim, Upper Mount Sharp and the Murray Buttes.

With the Earth's axis now tilting at 23.5 degrees, the northern hemisphere is at its farthest point from the sun.

Every June, the Elkmont Ghost Town in Great Smoky Mountains National Park lights up with the world's largest gathering of synchronous fireflies.

These leafy figures may be fascinating, but their comical appearance belies a sobering ecological reality.

Manhattanhenge is an urban phenomenon in which the sun sets perfectly along New York City's east-west street grid.

Native to East Asia, these frequently misrepresented animals are gentle creatures that serve as major icons in Japanese culture.

At first glance, you might assume this image is the result of some elaborate Photoshop trick, but trust us, it's 100 percent real!

Fireworks displays are nothing compared to the cosmic explosions and implosions that occur every moment across our universe.

Even celebrities need a non-human best friend. Here are a few glimpses of pets with their famous humans.

Some people see them as pests, but bats are among the most fascinating and ecologically indispensable animals on Earth.

A spooky face emerges from the sun's corona in this image captured by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory.

These intricate, one-of-a-kind ice crystals form when precipitation falls through varying levels of humidity and temperatures in the air.

Bust out your ugly Christmas sweater, cast off your inhibitions, and swallow your pride. It's tacky holiday sweater season.

Here's your crash course on the wonderful world of iguanas.

Unusually high winds and low demand lead to a significant excess in wind power. What happened to all that electricity?

Installing solar panels isn't the only way to support clean energy. Investing is a powerful tool too.

Many green activists have railed against money in politics. But in order to win, they may need to play the game.

From taller towers to turbines that operate at lower wind speeds, wind energy just keeps on getting better.