Giving Sanctuary to Former Circus Cats - Eduardo Serio

Mexico City's 9-month old ban on circus animals has left Mexican officials with another issue: the glut of big cats, elephants and even bears that need to find new homes. Enter Black Jaguar White Tiger Foundation's Eduardo Serio. The big cat sanctuary opened in September 2013, but already is home to 45 big cats and two grizzly bears. Serio took his first few cats into his home, but quickly realized that his garden was unfit to save these rambunctious young cats. He purchased 32 acres just outside of Mexico City and has built a large infrastructure of animal pens to quarantine new arrivals and house the cats in large areas with pools and toys to enrich them. But the only place to see Serio's big cat sanctuary is on Instagram, as they don't allow visitors in person.

Ebola is Wiping Out West Africa's Apes - Ken Cameron

The recent West African Ebola outbreak killed approximately 10,000 people, but it killed five to ten times that number of non-human apes. Ken Cameron, a Wildlife Conservation Society field veterinarian based in Congo, says that the virus that doctors and government have scrambled to contain has been running rampant in the region's forests, killing half of the apes in one national park, and bringing the western lowland gorilla to the brink of extinction. Cameron and his team have been looking for areas where bats, long considered to be an Ebola reservoir between outbreaks, apes and hogs all overlap. He says that certain fruit trees have multiple species feeding at them, which could be way to transmit the disease between species.

Documenting Life in the Endangered Coral Triangle - David Doubilet

A lifetime of being a professional diver and photographer in the world's oceans has left David Doubilet with a unique understanding of their reefs and animals that depend on these reefs. This in-depth understanding also has Doubilet worried. Ocean acidification and coral bleaching endanger the South Pacific's "Coral Triangle," surrounding the island nations of Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia. Doubilet explains that if the coral dies, the "city of great complexity beneath the sea," full of everything from bacteria to sharks and whales will go with it.

Eating Vietnam - Graham Holliday

Eating street food on the other side of the world can be intimidating, but author and longtime resident of Vietnam Graham Holliday insists it's the only way, in that country. The foods might be foreign to us, like pig intestines and uterus, which are "popular drinking foods," but Holliday insists that the Vietnamese are notoriously fastidious and clean when it comes to food prep. Eating from carts and huts on the side of the road, the sickest he got in his 10 years in the country was after he had eaten at a well-known French restaurant. But Holliday does recommend skipping alcohols made from fermented snakes: they taste pretty bad. His new book, Eating Viet Nam is available now.

The Science Behind El Niño - Tom DiLiberto

2015 is officially an El Niño year, as declared by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association. The Western United States had been hoping for the weather phenomenon to bring storms and water to the parched areas of California, but that might not happen this time. NOAA's Tom DiLiberto says that the El Niño weather phenomenon is caused by weakening trade winds blowing away from the Americas, toward Asia. The weaker winds allow water that is usually "piled up" in the western Pacific to flow back east, warming up the ocean off the coast of South America. These warmer ocean temperatures also warm up the atmosphere, disrupting more typical weather patterns.

Finding The Truth Behind Atlantis - Mark Adams

The myth of "The Lost City of Atlantis" stems from a Plato story. Plato was one of the founders of Western philosophy and did use parables to illustrate points, but every time he discussed Atlantis, he clearly stated "This is not a parable." So Mark Adams went on a hunt for a plausible location of the city, based on clues from Plato and historical events in antiquity. Even if Adams never finds Atlantis, he offers a moral from Atlantis' myth: a technologically advanced society loses its bearings, and is punished for its hubris with natural disasters. Adams' new book, Meet Me in Atlantis is available now.

Why Don't People Believe in Science? - Joel Achenbach

"Most people really do like science." Reporter Joel Achenbach researched the pervasive disbelief in some of science's findings, like climate change, the moon landing and autism's disproven connection to vaccines, to find that people tend to think of themselves as rationalists. But, when scientists discover something that conflicts with our worldview, the public wants the findings to be completely infallible before they'll accommodate the findings. But science, by its nature, is fallible: "By definition it's rarely truly settled, because if it was settled, it wouldn't be a scientific question at that moment. Scientists do their work with a certain level of uncertainty in the results, and they're comfortable with that." Achenbach recommends that the public take a less absolute approach. Just because there is some degree of uncertainty, doesn't mean that we don't know anything about the topic.

Coyotes Thriving in New York City - Christopher Nagy

Coyotes are some of the most adaptable animals in the canine world. The opportunistic feeders have recently been spotted in New York City, of all places, but an aggressive encounter isn't likely, says the Gotham Coyote Project's Christopher Nagy. He explains that in most cases, the coyote knows we're coming well before we see them, and they stay hidden. In most cases, the only chance of aggression is if the coyote mothers are protecting pups. With as much as 19% of New York City listed as park space, there are plenty of places for coyotes to hide inside the concrete jungle.

This Weekend in History - Istanbul, Not Constantinople

In our This Weekend in History segment, Nat Geo Library research manager Maggie Turqman shares some important events in history whose anniversaries fall this weekend, including: the 1998 FDA approval of Viagra; the 1806 authorization of the U.S.'s first national highway; and the 1930 enforcement of Istanbul no longer being named Constantinople.

Wild Chronicles - Best Worst Trip Ever

Any time a vacation has an "aftermath," you know it was bad. In this week's Wild Chronicles segment, Boyd shares the story of his "best worst vacation ever."

This Is What You Just Put In Your Mouth? - Patrick Di Justo

This Is What You Just Put In Your Mouth? The challenge from Patrick Di Justo's book title was birthed in the author's fascination in finding what actually are the ingredients that are listed on the labels of processed foods. His research was never intended to gross out readers, but to explain the aisles of the grocery store with their mysterious packaged offerings. For example, Di Justo reveals that ham, bacon and spam all originate in pig, but they differ in the types of processes that happen afterwards. He explain that coffee includes a cockroach pheromone, and vodka is essentially ethanol mixed with water.

Forest Fires Caused By Weather, Not Climate - Mark Finney

Climate change is to blame for many destructive natural phenomena. But Mark Finney, a research forester with the US Forest Service, says that climate change isn't the cause for a seeming increase of fires around the western United States. Finney says that weather, even a dry week or two, can set the stage for a fire. And while controlled burns, or "prescribed fires," are the most effective treatment against wildfires, Finney suggests that people leave them to professionals, even around their yards.

Cooking The World From Scratch - Sasha Martin

Sasha Martin's best childhood memories of her family revolved around food. To help her find her place in the world, Martin took up the endeavor of cooking a meal every week that comes from a different country until she had "cooked the world". The result is her memoir, Life From Scratch, that variously describes her poor childhood with her mother's creative abilities to manifest cultural meals from around the world, to being taken in by a family that enabled her to attend school in Europe, to wanting to share her love of cooking with her own daughter. Martin said that in choosing meals, bigger countries were hard because there is a lot of diversity in cuisine from countries like the United States. To represent her upbringing she chose barbecue ribs and apple pie as her American meal.

Through Hiking the Pacific Crest Trail In Winter - Justin Lichter & Shawn Forry

Hiking the length of the 2,663 mile Pacific Crest Trail in summer is challenging. But Shawn Forry estimated that he and partner Justin Lichterhad a 17% chance of success before they began their attempt to hike the train this winter. Despite California's droughts, they spent much of the hike through Oregon and Washington soaked and battling high wind, but they report they had good weather through the High Sierras, which was the key to their 132 day journey. Lichter says that they were never lost, but they did get "temporarily misplaced" on a few occasions.

Greenland's Pristine Seas: Freezing A Moment In Time - Enric Sala

Last week, the British government announced their intention to establish the world's largest marine reserve around the Pitcairn Island's pristine seas. National Geographic Explorer in Residence Enric Sala's Pristine Seas team helped the UK's decision makers understand just how perfect the ocean life around the islands are. And now, Sala and his team have turned their focus to colder waters off Greenland's coast to establish an environmental baseline for what will be the last region in which the water will remain frozen throughout the year.

An Optimistic Tiger Census? - Belinda Wright

India is home to 70 percent of the world's tiger population. At 2,226 the country's tiger population is 30 percent larger than recent estimates thought. Tiger conservationist Belinda Wright says that the increase in tigers doesn't necessarily represent an actual numbers increase, it's simply the result of a more accurate census. India's tigers compete for space with the country's 1.25 billion people, but Wright says that the cat's future will only be secured when China's demand for tiger parts ends.

Sleep Is Good For Your Brain - Jeff Iliff

Brains, like other muscles and biological processes, create waste when they work all day. And sleep is the key to cleaning up that waste. Neuroscientist Jeffrey Iliff explains that brains are almost as active at night as they are in the day, but they're doing different things. Iliff explains how during sleep our brains clean out the waste plaque that can prevent it from running smoothly and could potentially contribute to the development of Alzheimer's disease.

Hitch-Hiking From Tasmania to London - Jamie Maslin

Hitchhiking is an art that once flourished in the United States and many other places around the world, but because of perceived dangers, it has become discouraged. But Jamie Maslin doesn't see it that way. He hitched over 800 rides in cars and yachts to travel from Tasmania to London, and he said that generally speaking, people are trustworthy. "You really get to see a country thtrough the eyes of a local," Maslin explains. But he does have a trick: "I ask where they're going first," so you have the opportunity to turn down a sketchy ride offer. Maslin's new book The Long Hitch Home is out now.

Avalanche Survivor Thanks Her Gear - Elyse Saugstad

Professional skier Elyse Saugstad was leading a tour in the backcountry at Stevens Pass, WA when disaster struck. One of the members of her group triggered a slide. Elyse and four other skiers were below. And for a few horrifying seconds, she tumbled 2600 feet without knowing which end was up. Fortunately, Saugstad had a inflatable backpack that helped float her to the top. She tells Boyd about the experience.

The Fish That Don't Get Away - Lee Crockett

Lee Crockett, director of Federal Fisheries Policy at the Pew Environment Group, discusses the plight of the fish that do not get away. Crockett explains that the bluefin tuna population and other rare species of fish are killed as bycatch because of surface longline fishing in the Gulf of Mexico—a serious problem for the already endangered species.

Lighting Up Tanzania - Jamie Yang

Ever since the light bulb’s invention, electricity has become one of life’s essentials. Unfortunately, many people on the planet still do not have access to a reliable source of electricity. National Geographic Energy Challenge grantee Jamie Yang decided to help change that by providing recyclable batteries to customers in Tanzania. He speaks to Boyd about how these small, portable sources of energy have made a big difference in Tanzanians’ lives.

Hunting Tuna and Unsustainable Sushi - Ken Brower

Elephants and tigers have faced a well-documented downfall in the face of high demand for their parts. But bluefin tuna has been declining more quietly from the oceans than their land mammal counterparts. Ken Brower has followed the largely legal but unsustainable extraction of the fish that can grow as large as 700 pounds as the global demand for sushi has boomed in recent years. His story "Quicksilver Tuna" appeared in the March, 2014 issue of National Geographic magazine.

Wild Chronicles - Breaking Up With Winter

It snowed in Washington, D.C. today, on the first day of spring. Boyd has had it with cold weather and so, in this week's Wild Chronicles segment, he's breaking up with winter.

This Weekend in History: Roosevelt Shooting African Animals and the Birth of the 4-Minute Miler

National Geographic Library Manager of Research Maggie Turqman returns with some timely milestones plucked from history. This weekend, New Orleans, which has been no stranger to disaster, had 80% of its buildings burn down on March 21, 1788; post-presidential Thedore Roosevelt left for an expedition to British East Africa to "collect," (aka shoot) big game animals in 1909; and Roger Bannister, the first sub-4 minute mile runner, was born on this weekend in 1929.

Pitcairn Islands: 322,000 Square Miles of Newly Protected Ocean - Paul Rose

Today, the Pitcairn Islands became home to the world's largest marine protected area. Last summer, National Geographic Weekend spoke with Pristine Seas' Paul Rose, who long petitioned for the area. Rose explains the need for more marine protected areas and specifically, why this reserve is so important to the survival of animals and coral that call the South Pacific home.

Investigating the Myth of Clean Coal - Sara Bernard

The United States has been starving for a cheap, domestic and relatively clean fuel source. And, in a throwback, some companies are turning to coal. This is the case in Kemper County, Mississippi, where Southern Company built a plant built by "cheap, clean" coal burning processes. After a months-long investigation, Sara Bernard is less optimistic than the power company seems to be. The $6.17 billion plant is among the most expensive ever built in the United States, but to help cover costs, it has been trapping carbon dioxide emissions, which would seems good. But the Southern Company is, in turn, selling those emissions to oil companies which are pumping them into the earth to extract more fossil fuels. Bernard's thorough investigation of Mississippi's clean coal plant can be found at Grist.

This Weekend In History: Civil Rights, Aspirin, Reality Television

In our This Weekend in History segment, Maggie Turqman highlights the 116th birthday Aspirin's patent, with the drug's roots back in antiquity, the 50th anniversary of the police assault on Selma, Alabama's civil rights protesters, and the 27th return of the Writer's Guild of America strike that led to the rise of "reality television."

The Sugarcane Epidemic - Ed Kashi

Sugarcane is one of the biggest crops in Central America, but harvesting the cane is killing people by the thousand. Filmmaker Ed Kashi, whose recent short documentary focuses on Chichigalpa, Nicaragua, says that 33% of men in that town die young from end stage renal failure related to working in the fields. The real tragedy is that these deaths are potentially avoidable; there is evidence that more water and rest could prevent many of these cases.

The Science Behind Sunset's Colors - Stephen Corfidi

After a recent spell of beautiful sunrises and sunsets, National Geographic Weekend reached out to NOAA meteorologist Stephen Corfidi to find out why. As it turns out, the two times of the day are similar in the angle that the sun's light cuts through the Earth's atmosphere. The light's angle interacts with air molecules in the lower atmosphere that change how we perceive the sky's color. Corfidi says that winter tends to get better sun rises than summer because there is less haze in the atmosphere and weather systems move faster, causing cleaner air to be cycled closer to the Earth's surface, where we get to enjoy the show.

Blood of the Tiger: China's Cat Farms - J.A. Mills

China is well known for its import of wild elephant ivory that fuels Africa's poaching crisis, but there is a quieter crisis caused by the tiger's extremely endangered status. Since there are so few of the cats left in the wild, the Chinese government has sanctioned them to be farm-raised in the country. Wildlife investigator and author J.A. Mills says that today's tiger farms are buoyed by wealthy Chinese consuming them as luxury items. Mills is optimistic that China's younger generations will reject the trade, as they don't want to be blamed for the extinction of tigers, elephants and rhinos. But she says that the United States has a captive tiger problem as well, which Chinese officials often cite when Americans demand that they control their market for animal parts.

Digging Up Guatemala's Mayan Past - Mariela Mayen

Tikal was a stronghold of the Mayan civilization, which ruled throughout Central America. The current National Park and UNESCO World Heritage Site protects over 4,000 buildings, including temples and pyramids and served as a city for 1600 years. On a recent trip to Tikal, Boyd spoke with guide Mariela Mayen about the people who once thrived there. Mayan achievements on display at Tikal are their ability to build temples that were bathed in the sun's direct rays during the winter and summer solstices, displaying a developed calendar and understanding of the cosmos.

Native Bees Buzz Through Honeybee Collapse - Clay Bolt

Photographer Clay Bolt has been studying bees for years. The bee educator wants the public to know that the honeybee is considered an invasive species, and that despite their colony collapse, there are plenty of native North American bees who are just as effective as honeybees at pollenating. Bolt spends much of his work time around bees, but says he has only been stung twice, including once at a National Geographic event, when the bee flew down his shirt.

Dogsled Victory Despite Moose Encounter - Brent Sass

Freezing temperatures and exhaustion are two of the more mundane threats that face long distance dog sled racers, but Brent Sass had a less common encounter during this year's Yukon Quest race. Sass and his team surprised a moose on a road. The moose stomped his hooves right in front of the team, and passed by Sass so close, he "could have given him a high-5". After the moose encounter, Sass slept late, turning a 10-hour lead into a nap. His well rested team were able to pull Sass to an hour and 12 minute victory after trailing heading into the race's last leg.

Wild Chronicles - The World's Greatest Animal Migrations

In this week's Wild Chronicles segment, Boyd shares his encounters with some of the world's greatest migratory animals: arctic terns, humpback whales and wildebeest.

Bears Eating Moths In Wyoming's High Country - Joe Riis

Last summer, National Geographic photographer Joe Riis got wild and lived outside in the Wyoming wilderness for 8 months. The photographer who prefers to sleep on the ground, studied the migrations of all of the wild animals that lived around him. Riis specializes in photographing migrations and how they interact with each other, and with humans. He tells about how bears and moths have a migration collision. The grizzlies feed on moths during the late summer as they fatten up for winter. Riis explained that the greatest threats to pronghorn and other animals that migrate throughout the year are housing developments, roads, fences and energy projects.

Wild Chronicles - Igloo Under Construction

In this week's Wild Chronicles segment, Boyd shares the story of sleeping in an igloo on Baffin Island, and the merits of learning how to say "Stop!" in the languages that your dogsled teams speak.

Florida's Soggy Future - Laura Parker

Sea level rise will impact millions of low-lying cities around the world. Florida is one of the places that will be the most impacted by higher water. Laura Parker visited the state last fall during their "King Tide," which is the highest high tide of the year. Despite the high waters, the state has its share of climate change deniers, including local politicians. Parker explains that because of the Ameriacn political system, elected officials are encouraged to have a shorter-term view, but there is growing support for action in South Florida. Parker's article, "Treading Water," appears in the February 2015 issue of National Geographic magazine.

Saint Lucia's Economy is Bananas - Caela O'Connell

Hurricane Tomas hit Saint Lucia on October 29, 2010, flooding the small island nation and crushing its banana crop. This storm helped pave the way for more banana troubles on the island, allowing the fungal banana disease black sigatoka to take hold and further injure St. Lucia's banana prospects. National Geographic grantee Caela O'Connell has been studying the methods and economic systems of banana farmers on St. Lucia and says that a large threat to St. Lucia's banana crop also comes from the large corporate farms in other parts of Latin America and the Caribbean being able to undercut the island's small crop producers. O'Connell also explains the different ways St. Lucians like to consume bananas as part of their national dish.

Revisiting a Lost Cuban Childhood - Juan Valdes

National Geographic Geographer Juan Valdes was just a child when Fidel Castro's revolution changed the course of Cuba. But like any seven year old, Valdes wasn't concerned about Castro, as he was about his family and his favorite toy train. When his parents put him on a flight to Miami as part of "Operation Peter Pan," he lost track of the train. In an audio memoir, inspired by National Geographic's new book Journeys Home, Valdes shares thoughts on his Cuban childhood, his transition to American life, and what it meant for him to return to his home country 40 years after his "Indefinite Voluntary Departure."

Swollen Fluorescent Sharks - David Gruber

Even when scientists know about a particular species, they might know all of its secrets. David Gruber explains that the swell shark, know for its ability to bloat in self-defense, is also fluorescent. Gruber, an expert on fluorescent and bioluminescent marine creatures, or, as he explains, "I like glowy things." Gruber is working to develop a "shark-eye" camera, to better understand what the world looks to a fluorescent shark as it navigates its blue-green world, 130 feet below the ocean's surface.

The World's Most Important Fish - Tyson Roberts

Eels have an important job in China's rice paddy fields. Ichthyologist Dr. Tyson Roberts has studied the eels and their impact on the fields and he says that they are "stirrers", that mixes the soil and, by simple virtue of living and dying in the fields, they add important nutrients as well. Roberts says that these are some of the most important fish in the history of humanity for their ability to increase the yield of China's rice paddies.

Photographing Egypt's Revolution - Matt Moyer

National Gegoraphic's photographers focus on getting the perfect shot. But in uncertain situations, like Egypt's protests during the revolution that unseated Hosni Mubarak, photographers have to ensure their own safety. That's why Matt Moyer recommends hiring a local to read the crowd and watch his back. Moyer explains that, even in more peaceful settings, shooting photos in Egypt is difficult, because locals are protective of their country's image abroad. Moyer plans to return to Egypt, despite the current government cracking down on foreign journalists and their ability to roam the country freely.

The World's Best Surf Towns - Ted Endo

With winter dragging on in parts of the United States, the surfers among us might be looking for a warm getaway. Ted Endo suggests some of the world's best surfing towns, but not necessarily just for the waves. His surf destinations offer a mix of city, culture and, of course, surf. Biarritz, France meets those qualifications, as the birthplace of European surf culture; Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina, offers Southern charm with long, uncrowded waves; Raglan, New Zealand offers world class waves, but not an overcrowded surf scene; and Taghazout, Morocco offers more culture than the average beach town.

NYC Subway Bacteria: Shake 10,000 Hands or Touch One Railling - Chris Mason

New York City subways: smelly, crowded but integral to the city's ability to move over 4 million people everyday. They're also covered in microbes. Cornell University biophysicist Chris Mason enlisted an army of willing students to swab the city's subway stations and gained some interesting perspective on the city's microbiome: 48% of the DNA isn't associated with any known bacteria; only 12% of the DNA they collected is associated with human disease; and the South Ferry station that flooded during Hurricane Sandy still shows echoes of ocean DNA that isn't found anywhere else in the city's subway system.

Skiing Alaska's Glaciers For Science - Kit Deslauriers & Andy Bardon

The United States has been mapped, graphed and generally analyzed in every way imaginable. But on deep in Alaska's interior, the exact height of several peaks in the Brooks Range remain a mystery. Glaciologist Matt Nolan hopes to estimate rates of glacier change in the range, so to establish a baselline measurement, ski mountaineers Kit Deslauriers and Andy Bardon carried a GPS sensor to the summit of two peaks in the range. Nolan hasn't revealed the findings just yet, but Deslauriers and Bardon were less secretive about their ski adventure through the "No Fall Zone."