A couple of weeks ago, the North Pole/Barneo ice camp season fizzled out, leaving disappointed skiers, marathon runners, and champagne tourists. Environmentalists have pointed out that the whole idea of Barneo is out of date. Because while tractors and huts are parachuted onto the sea ice, they are not removed afterward. They are just left to drift, eventually breaking through the ice over summer and littering the bottom of the Arctic Ocean. But not always. Before the climate started warming and when the Arctic Ocean ice was a lot thicker, ice near the North Pole drifted toward Greenland. And ..read more

Medium take: Seb Bouin is the world’s best sport climber not named Adam Ondra. Hot take: Bouin has been the world’s best sport climber, period, for the past two years. The Frenchman just tagged yet another ninth-grade climb, tossing Les Rois du Lithium (9b/5.15b) onto his growing pile. The route on the sparse limestone of Pic Saint Loup, France, explodes out of an 8b start into 20 meters of the business — a razor-straight line with holds that clearly inspired Bouin, the first ascensionist. “When I bolted it, I couldn’t imagine there will be so much perfect holds. And when I first tried it, I ..read more

We know a lot about the origins of the universe and how biology works in our little corner of it. But one thing we still don’t know for sure is how life originated on good old Terra Firma in the first place. Solid theories abound, but one that resurfaces time and again is panspermia — the idea that life hitched a ride here via space rocks from somewhere else entirely. Panspermia isn’t universally embraced by the people who study such things, but it’s also not entirely discounted. The latest foray into the world of how, exactly, Earth went from a barren rock to the planet that produced Beyonc ..read more

BY RACHELLE SCHRUTE   Few things get foragers excited like morel mushroom season. Few mushrooms get culinary mycophiles more giddy, and for good reason. Morels are delicious. Because this nearly-impossible-to-grow mushroom isn’t available at your local market, it makes the allure of the morel even more enticing. As a lay mycologist myself, I get absolutely elated when the leaves start to bud on the cottonwood trees. It’s the sign that spring is here. For me, it’s the sign to head for the hills and start giving in to my fungi-gathering habit. I’ve compiled some info, tips, and tricks, to ..read more

The international team that discovered George Mallory’s body on the North Side of Everest in 1999 also found three letters with it, wrapped in a handkerchief and tucked into his pocket. He had written them by candlelight in Camp 1, before his final summit push. The British gentleman mountaineer candidly admitted their chances of success were “50 to 1 against.” As part of the centenary of that epic 1924 expedition, those letters are now online, courtesy of the University of Cambridge. Before Everest, Mallory was a student at Cambridge, and the letters he exchanged with his wife Ruth reside in ..read more

Spring 2024 was possibly the shortest ever season on Annapurna. When the first weather window opened, after ropes were set to Camp 3, everyone on the mountain had to choose: summit or go home. After that first wave of summiters descended, all the outfitters on the mountain packed and left. But in fact, some summiters didn’t even bother to have their well-deserved post-climb cake in Base Camp. They were airlifted from Camp 3 straight back to Kathmandu. Annapurna in two weeks The earliest climbers reached Base Camp at the end of March and had time for one rotation to Camps 1 and 2. Then the wea ..read more

Suffice it to say it’s not easy to kill a crocodile. Ninety-five million years of evolution haven’t done it, and most animals can’t do it either. But a few jungle predators can, and tourists caught one riveting encounter on video in an Indian national park. T-124, aka Riddhi, is a six-year-old Bengal tigress living in Ranthambore National Park in Rajasthan, India. In 2023, she mothered three cubs — and recently, the family garnered internet fame with a crocodile dinner. Photo: Screenshot   Shared to the park’s official account, the clip shows the cats tearing at a large crocodile corpse ..read more

Apart from another failed attempt to open the Barneo ice station for the first time since 2018, various small arctic expeditions have unfolded. Here’s the latest update from the far north. North Pole canceled For the sixth year in a row, the Barneo ice camp season has been canceled, this time due to an untimely break-up of the ice. The last-minute abort blew a hole in the plans of a number of marathon runners as well as veteran guide Eric Larsen. Larsen was leading five clients on a North Pole last-degree trip. French adventurer Matthieu Tordeur had planned a solo 200km journey to the Pole fr ..read more

There’s a long tradition of science fiction gizmos pre-dating — if not outright influencing — the technology that follows. The latest example is the Lunar Cruiser, a joint venture between Japan’s Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), automotive juggernaut Toyota, and NASA. Fans of The Martian and other near-future works of speculative fiction will recognize the general concept right away. This hydrogen-cell-powered, solar-assisted, six-wheeled, pressurized all-terrain vehicle has enough room for astronauts to live and work without the hindrance of bulky space suits. An artist’s rendering of th ..read more

In an experiment out of The Terminator, scientists released a hoard of 20 cyborg cockroaches into a sandy artificial desert. Each live insect wore a tiny computer backpack that could control and steer them across the terrain. Each backpack consisted of a battery, mini-computer, and an antenna. The antenna allowed the scientists to communicate with the Madagascar hissing roaches and prompted them to move as a swarm. The high-tech backpacks attached to the cerci (sensory organs) of the insects. The electrodes applied a current to the left or right cercus. The cockroach then turned in that direc ..read more