Many cities plant trees to absorb CO₂ and stop temperatures from rising to dangerous levels. But a new study shows city trees grow faster and die younger than forest trees. That means city trees will absorb less CO₂.

When most people think about life on Earth, they imagine animals. But animals are only a small part of the planet’s life, at least as measured by mass. Overall, green plants dominate.

Steve Perlman rappels down a cliff in the Wailau Valley on the Hawaiian island of Molokai. He is a botanist who has spent the last 45 years searching for, and protecting, rare plants

The leaves of the Venus flytrap are snapping shut, jailing its prey through a process called snap-buckling. The outer leaf surface expands until it’s too much for the inner surface of the leaf to bear.