That transformation will be both physical, encompassing major interior renovations to create immersive exhibits, but will also entail a transformation of mission with more educational programming for Chicago school students.

The radio antenna, positioned at Big Marsh Park on the Southeast Side, helps fill a Chicago-sized gap in a growing network of receivers that's tracking the movement of migratory birds and other animals.   

Most of Brookfield Zoo’s 700 Christmas trees were shredded for mulch. But some were used by keepers’ to shake up animals’ routines. The results were entertaining. 

By Friday, the fast-moving storm had already dropped heavy snow across a large swath of the Midwest, where travel conditions deteriorated and scores of schools closed or moved to online instruction. Iowa was hit the hardest.

In honor of Monday’s Martin Luther King Day of Service, Cook County Forest Preserves is hosting volunteer activities at a number of sites across the forest preserve district, from habitat restoration to litter cleanups.

The agave’s stalk — which it shoots up before the plant’s once-in-a-lifetime bloom — has already blown away predictions of its top height, and it's still growing. Where it will stop, nobody knows.

Earth simmered to the sixth hottest year on record in 2021, according to several newly released temperature measurements.

A man receives the first pig heart transplant. Astronomers witness a star go supernova. Researchers identify a biomarker of depression. And a goldfish goes for a drive. 

Eagles don't eat rat poison, but they do eat the critters that take the bait. The powerful toxins keep blood from clotting, and a recently rescued eagle would have bled to death from a tiny cut, said the veterinarian caring for the bird. 

Studies show temperatures of -30°F will kill 98% of ash borer beetle larvae. Guess when Chicago was last that cold.

According to a federal report released Monday, the U.S. experienced 20 billion-dollar weather and climate disasters in 2021, including hurricanes, wildfires and out-of-season December tornadoes.

It can be hard to tell one tree from another in winter, but there's a simple trick to identifying invasive buckthorn. 

Skokie Lagoons may look like an oasis of green but a lot of that lush vegetation is actually an invasive species called European buckthorn. WTTW News tagged along as a group of volunteers charged into the thicket and tackled this enemy. 

In response to concerns about putting a see-through glass tower in the path of migrating birds, Carvana revised its plan to incorporate bird-friendly components. Critics called the proposed mitigations “woefully inadequate.” 

Chicagoans woke up Friday to sub-zero temperatures, the first time in nearly a year the mercury has dipped into the negatives. In anticipation of the cold snap, officials issued reminders and tips.

Chicago’s Christmas tree recycling event kicks off Saturday and runs through Jan. 22 at 26 parks. The program keeps hundreds of thousands of pounds of trees out of landfills.