Birdman tabletThis circa A.D. 1300 sandstone tablet was found on the east side of Monks Mound at Cahokia. Ira Block/National Geographic Image Collection From the flat top of the colossal Monks ...

Sartore is a National Geographic Explorer, wildlife photographer, and conservationist. In 2006, Sartore founded the Photo Ark project to show the world the beauty of biodiversity and inspire ...

To honor Koko's memory, National Geographic is republishing "Conversations With a Gorilla," our October 1978 cover story written by Francine Patterson, the psychologist who taught Koko how to sign.

“We don't know how long they live or how fast they grow in the wild,” says Tierney Thys, a marine biologist with the California Academy of Sciences and a National Geographic Explorer.

“You’ve got to think big.” (see a video on APR by the National Geographic Society.) In the 19 years since, the group has raised $160 million in private donations, much of it from high-tech ...

And they’re likely to live better. Lack of mobility is one of the top reasons that seniors lose independence, according to the National Institute on Aging, and it’s also closely linked to ...

As spring begins, so does a fresh song at daybreak, unique to the season. Just before the sun rises, birds start singing their melodies, creating a chirpy symphony. “It's the epitome of spring ...

National Geographic photographer Keith Ladzinski focused on the positive when it came to forest fires: the solutions people are working on.

Lake Titicaca was a sacred space to the ancient Andean empire of the Inca, which at its height in the early 16th century controlled territory from modern-day Colombia to Chile. The Inca built more ...

“Everybody’s got a story to tell.” Sharon Guynup is a National Geographic explorer and a global fellow at the Wilson Center. She focuses on wildlife and trafficking. Editor's note: This ...

A version of this story appears in the June 2025 issue of National Geographic magazine. The nonprofit National Geographic Society, committed to illuminating and protecting the wonder of our world ...

The mask can be seen today at the National Museum, Quito, Ecuador. When Christopher Columbus returned to Spain from his first voyage to the Americas, he brought news of a people adorned with gold.