Science & Nature
The Chicago Park District has announced that for the first time since 2020, all of the district's 50 outdoor pools will be open seven days a week, beginning Saturday, just as temperatures are expected to soar into the 90s.
According to the Great Lakes Piping Plover Recovery Effort, 2025 has been a year for the record books, with 82 breeding pairs counted.
Just days after Brookfield Zoo issued the exciting announcement of the first bottlenose dolphin born at the zoo in more than a decade, staff is mourning the sudden death of the calf on Wednesday night.
A space rock the color of coal and no larger than a pebble you’d shake from a shoe just arrived at the Field Museum, where scientists will spend the next two months probing this extraordinary specimen for clues to the origin of life on Earth.
The EPA also proposed weakening a regulation that requires power plants to reduce emissions of mercury and other toxic pollutants that can harm brain development of young children and contribute to heart attacks and other health problems in adults.
If private landowners don’t remove invasives alongside natural areas, species like buckthorn will persist in forest preserves and parks, regardless of habitat restoration efforts.
Dino Derby, a foot race featuring competitors wearing inflatable T. Rex costumes, will be the main event during Saturday's Dinopalooza festival at the Field Museum.
Illinois environmental officials are warning residents about air quality concerns as wildfire smoke from Canada persists in Chicago through Friday.
Graceland Cemetery's newest residents — a litter of coyote pups — are causing a stir.
Smoke from Canadian wildfires carried another day of poor air quality south of the border to the Midwest, where conditions in parts of Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan were rated “very unhealthy” Tuesday.
Spring Ended on a Chilly and Dry Note, With Drought Expected to Persist as Chicago Heads Into Summer
Meteorological summer in Chicago is kicking off with a mini heatwave, following a chilly and dry end to spring.
The explosives had been deployed earlier in May, and failed to activate, during a joint military exercise conducted by the Coast Guard and U.S. Air Force off the shore of Milwaukee.
Wildfires are burning out of control in central Canada, and the smoke is drifting toward Chicago.
The U.S. Coast Guard is warning the public about potential explosive devices that could wash up on Chicago-area beaches.
As the Trump administration cut billions of dollars in federal funding to scientific research, thousands of scientists in the U.S. lost their jobs or grants — and governments and universities around the world spotted an opportunity.
The Illinois Department of Natural Resources said it is monitoring a bear that’s been spotted hanging out all week in St. Clair County, just east of St. Louis.