Wilderness Week: cool trees, tiny lizards, big parks, and more! – The Verge

The sounds in your backyard are unique, go record them

2016-08-28T16:12:45-04:00

Pristine soundscapes are so important that the National Park Service works to preserve wilderness sounds in many natural parks. There's even federal legislation in the US, like the 1987 National Park Overflights Act, that aims to keep noise from airplanes out of the lands below. Of course, it's impossible to escape noise where I live in New York City, but recently I've been inspired to look for quieter pastures.

After reading Bernie Krause's The Great Animal Orchestra, I took the first chance I had to get out of the city for the weekend and head up to my hometown in Connecticut to listen and record soundscapes from a less industrialized envi …

Read the full story at The Verge.

The Verge Review of Animals: Champagne Lady, a wild mustang

2016-08-28T11:00:06-04:00

Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary" data-has-syndication-rights="1" src="https://platform.theverge.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/chorus/uploads/chorus_asset/file/15891648/Screen_Shot_2016-08-26_at_12.10.34_PM.0.0.1472227910.png?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0,0,100,100" />

This column is part of a series where Verge staffers post highly subjective reviews of animals. Up until now, we've written about animals without telling you whether they suck or rule. We are now rectifying this oversight.

As an adult who survived public schooling, I am aware that science generally demands objectivity of its practitioners. As a girl who "adopted" a mustang out of an overwhelming sense of duty and fate, I am here to tell you that there is nothing more beautiful in this world than Champagne Lady, the wild mustang.

The National Park System is turning 100, and The Verge is celebrating with Wilderness Week: a look at the natur …

Read the full story at The Verge.

How camping technology made us feel at home in nature

2016-08-27T09:13:02-04:00

The National Park System is turning 100, and The Verge is celebrating with Wilderness Week: a look at the natural world, its freaky critters, and its future.

I used to think of camping trips as a time to disconnect from society. That is, until I started covering camping gadgets and discovered that a lot of modern campers are gadget mongers, with a serious thirst for battery life. So for Wilderness Week, I talked with Martin Hogue, a professor who teaches landscape architecture at SUNY in Syracuse, to find out how camping has evolved with and for technology. Hogue is currently working on a book called Thirtyfour Campgrounds about campsites …

Read the full story at The Verge.

President Obama just quadrupled the size of a protected marine reserve off Hawaii

2016-08-26T11:37:49-04:00

Claire Fackler, CINMS, NOAA" data-portal-copyright="Claire Fackler, CINMS, NOAA" data-has-syndication-rights="1" src="https://platform.theverge.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/chorus/uploads/chorus_asset/file/6999119/5078519266_ea4f11c468_o.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0,0,100,100" />

A school of chub (Kyphosus sp.). Hawaii, Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument | Claire Fackler, CINMS, NOAA

President Barack Obama will expand the size of the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument in the Pacific Ocean to over 580,000 square miles from 140,000 square miles. The sanctuary, which contains thousands of marine species, stretches across the Midway Atoll and Hawaii, and will become the world's largest protected marine area, The New York Times reports.

Obama will travel to Midway Atoll next week to mark the vast expansion. First, he will address the Pacific Island Conference of Leaders and the IUCN World Conservation Congress in Hawaii, and then later in the week he will fly to Papahānaumokuākea to mark the designation and "highligh …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Meet the Facebook group calling out fake nature photography

2016-08-25T13:48:41-04:00

Hendy Lie" data-has-syndication-rights="1" src="https://platform.theverge.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/chorus/uploads/chorus_asset/file/15895970/slack-imgs.com_.0.0.1472145726.jpeg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0,0,100,100" />

A weasel using a woodpecker as its own private convertible; a wolf stuffing its snout in another wolf's mouth; a reindeer comically failing to camouflage itself with some leaves. The internet has an insatiable appetite for bizarre wildlife pictures. But, like anything that brings us joy on the internet, these photos always came with the condition that they might not be entirely real. Truths Behind Fake Nature Photography, a Facebook page created by concerned nature enthusiasts, is trying to educate the public by calling out fakes when they spot them.

The National Park System is turning 100, and The Verge is celebrating with Wilderness W …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Google Doodle celebrates the diverse beauty of US National Parks

2016-08-25T10:30:55-04:00

The National Park System is turning 100, and The Verge is celebrating with Wilderness Week: a look at the natural world, its freaky critters, and its future.

Today's Google Doodle celebrates the 100th anniversary of US National Parks through a video that beautifully illustrates the wonders of nature. The animation highlights all the ways our national parks inspire awe, from the breathtaking landscape of the Grand Canyon to their role as vibrant ecosystems.

Designated in 1916 by President Woodrow Wilson, the US National Park Service has provided 84 million acres of protected land for the free-spirited to explore.

"The coolest thing abo …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Tour Yosemite in virtual reality with Barack Obama

2016-08-25T10:00:07-04:00

The National Park System is turning 100, and The Verge is celebrating with Wilderness Week: a look at the natural world, its freaky critters, and its future.

If you want to celebrate the 100th anniversary of America's National Parks Service, there are definitely worse ways than with a virtual reality trip through Yosemite narrated by President Barack Obama.

Through the Ages is a roughly 10-minute video shot by virtual reality filmmakers Felix & Paul, in collaboration with the White House, Oculus, and National Geographic. The video was created earlier this summer, when the Obamas visited Yosemite National Park. It's been teased since June, …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Google will take you on a 360-degree tour of the Kenai Fjords, Bryce Canyon, and other National Parks

2016-08-25T00:00:03-04:00

Google is celebrating the National Parks Service's 100th anniversary with a new 360-degree "interactive documentary."The company sent film crews out to various National Parks to capture the natural wonders around them along with commentary from park rangers. Five parks are featured: Kenai Fjords National Park, Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park, Carlsbad Caverns National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, and Dry Tortugas National Park.

Viewers can kayak through fjords, get up close with lava, deep sea dive around coral reefs, and explore dank caves. If you can't make it to Alaska, New Mexico, Hawaii, Utah, or Florida this year, this might be y …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Climate Hackers: One man’s plan to stop global warming by shooting particles into the atmosphere

2016-08-24T08:00:03-04:00

The National Park System is turning 100, and The Verge is celebrating with Wilderness Week: a look at the natural world, its freaky critters, and its future.

This year is already on pace to be the warmest on record, setting off another season of heatwaves, droughts, and wildfires around the world. But it would only be the latest record to fall, as 15 of the 16 hottest years have occurred since 2001. In turn, the ice sheets are melting, oceans are rising, hurricanes are increasing in number and intensity, and climate refugees are pouring over borders.

Climate change is real, so what do we do about it?

So despite what you may have heard abou …

Read the full story at The Verge.

First Click: Augmenting nature one plug at a time

2016-08-24T07:30:03-04:00

It's Wilderness Week at The Verge as we celebrate the centennial anniversary of the US National Park Service. It's a good time to reflect upon your own relationship with nature, the mother of all inventions.

Being outdoors has always been an escape for me, a respite from the aggressive pace and mind-numbing din of the big international cities I've called home. When I was younger, I'd get away to the mountains, spending weekends backpacking or bombing the asphalt switchbacks on a motorbike. Now the surf is my getaway. But never have my escapes been a protest against progress like Ted Kaczynski's, or an attempt to Simplify! Simplify! like the …

Read the full story at The Verge.