Geography Of The World
How Lake Tanganyika Holds Almost As Much Water As All Five Great Lakes
See how Lake Tanganyika holds nearly as much water as all five Great Lakes in North America while learning about its geology, wildlife, and role in Africa.
The Longest Great Lakes Freighter Ever Built
The longest Great Lakes freighter ever built is the 1,013-ft Paul R. Tregurtha, "Queen of the Lakes," a giant too big to ever leave the lakes for the ocean.
How Much Colorado River Water Evaporates Before Anyone Uses It
The Colorado River loses ~1.9 million acre-feet a year to evaporation before anyone uses it, more than 3x Nevada's entire share, and the Lower Basin never counts it.
How Lake Malawi Compares To The Great Lakes
How does Lake Malawi compare to the Great Lakes? It's smaller in area but far deeper, holds more water than any but Superior, and has the most fish of any lake.
The Lakes Where Largemouth Bass Grow Largest
The largemouth record has stood since 1932, when a Georgia farmer caught a 22-pounder and ate it. The lakes where largemouth bass grow largest, and why the mark still holds.
The Parts Of The American Seafloor Nobody Has Mapped
The unmapped US seafloor stretches from the Great Lakes to Alaska to the Pacific, where 44% of American waters still lack modern sonar coverage.
The Saltiest Sea In The World
The Red Sea, between Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, is the world's saltiest sea at 40 parts per thousand. Discover the reasons why the water is so salty.
The American Borders Drawn By A River That Moved
There is a town in Iowa you cannot reach from Iowa without leaving Iowa. The American borders drawn by rivers that moved, and the rule that decides who keeps what.
The Deep-Sea Creatures We Only Discovered Recently
Few regions of the world are more terrifying than our deep oceans, places we have hardly mapped full of creatures undiscovered.
What Happens If The Chicago Locks Are Opened
Chicago has opened its locks about 50 times since 1985, each time deliberately contaminating its own drinking water to avoid flooding the Loop. What actually happens. (158, would trim)
The Great Lakes Wrecks Discovered In The Last Ten Years
Great Lakes shipwrecks found from 2017 to 2025, from the James Carruthers in Lake Huron to Barge 129 off Lake Superior, mapped by sonar and ROVs.
The Biggest Waves Ever Recorded At Sea
See how the biggest waves ever recorded at sea compare, from a 112-foot visual estimate to rogue waves and modern satellite records.
Why Certain Sharks Never Enter Warm Water
Greenland sharks and other cold-water species stay cold not by latitude but through metabolism, body heat, prey, and the deep water beneath warm seas.
The Rivers Where Smallmouth Bass Grow Largest
Where do smallmouth bass grow biggest? From the goby-fueled St. Lawrence to the Columbia, Susquehanna, New, Snake, and upper Mississippi, the top trophy rivers.
The American Reservoirs That Have Never Been Full
A few American reservoirs have never once filled since their dams were built. From Oklahoma's Optima Lake to Texas and Colorado, the reservoirs still waiting.
The Reservoirs Supplying Power To The Most Homes
America's biggest reservoir powerhouses are concentrated in places where river volume and engineered head work together at enormous scale.
The Youngest Lakes In North America
From a lake that filled in weeks to one dammed 700 years ago, these are North America's youngest natural lakes and the disasters that made them.
The Rainiest Mountain In America
The Rainiest Mountain In America is Mount Waialeale on Kauai, where the summit averages about 450 inches of rain a year and once recorded 683 in 1982.
What Happens If Zebra Mussels Reach The Last Clean US Lakes
Clearer water is the warning sign. Smaller walleye, mercury-heavy fillets, and clogged intake pipes are what zebra mussels bring to a clean lake.
What Happens If The Welland Canal Closes To US Shipping
What happens if Canada's Welland Canal closes to US shipping? Great Lakes trade to the Atlantic would stall, but the iron-ore fleet feeding US steel rolls on.
Why Some Mountains Are Flat On Top
Grand Mesa, Table Mountain, Mount Roraima, and Herðubreið are all flat-topped, but four entirely different geologic processes made them that way.
The Deepest Dive Ever Made In American Waters
Sirena Deep is the deepest crewed dive in U.S. waters. In 2019, Vescovo and Jamieson reached 10,714 meters off Guam and spent 176 minutes on the floor.
The Highest Mountain You Can Reach Without Climbing Gear
The Highest Mountain You Can Reach Without Climbing Gear is Argentina's Aconcagua, whose Normal Route reaches the summit on foot, with no rope or ice axe.
The Last Working Ferries In America
Five men still pull a ferry across the Rio Grande by hand. A 1953 steamship still burns coal. The last working ferries in America, and why each one survived.
The Lakes That Beat Back An Invasive Species
An aquatic invader almost never leaves once it spreads through a lake. At these lakes, from Lake Davis to Lake Ngatu, crews proved the exception.
The Longest Rivers Flowing Out Of The Great Lakes
The Great Lakes drain to the Atlantic through just a handful of rivers, from the 744-mile St. Lawrence to the 28-mile Detroit River.
The US Ports That Would Stop A State's Economy
Some US ports are so vital their closure would halt a whole state's economy, from Alaska's Valdez oil terminal to Honolulu, LA/Long Beach, Houston, and Savannah.
The Creatures Waiting At The Bottom Of The Deep Sea
Goblin sharks, sea pigs, and dumbo octopuses live in the crushing dark of the deep ocean. Meet eight of the strangest creatures down there.
The Windiest Mountain In America
Mount Washington, New Hampshire, averages 34.9 mph winds a year. That long-term figure, not the 231-mph gust of 1934, is what earns the summit its title.
Where Phoenix Would Get Water If Lake Powell Failed
If Lake Powell failed, would Phoenix run dry? No. Only ~40% of its water is Colorado River. The Salt/Verde rivers, banked groundwater, and recycling fill the gap.
The Oldest Lighthouses on the Great Lakes
Discover the oldest surviving lighthouses on the Great Lakes, from Toronto’s 1808 Gibraltar Point Lighthouse to Michigan’s historic Beaver Head Light.
The US Lakes Where Bull Sharks Have Been Caught
From a 39-pound catch in Sabine Lake to years of Louisiana research, fishing records reveal the US lakes where bull sharks are more than just a rumor.
Why The East Has Almost No Big Reservoirs
All ten of America's largest reservoirs are west of the Mississippi. Why the East has almost none, and the 1902 law that drew the line down the middle.
The Most Dangerous Stretches Of US Coastline
From Point Reyes in California to Makapuu on Oahu, seven US coastlines where sneaker waves, rip currents, and cold water make the shore itself risky.
The Great Lakes Beaches With The Strongest Rip Currents
Calm water hides the pull. Documented deaths and measured currents show which Great Lakes beaches carry the strongest, most dangerous rip currents.
What Is The Oldest River In The World
The Finke in central Australia holds the strongest claim to the world's oldest river, though no method exists for dating any river directly.
How Much Water The Great Lakes Lose To Evaporation Every Year
The Great Lakes lose roughly 37 trillion gallons of water to evaporation each year, and most of it escapes in fall and winter rather than summer.
How Old Are The Great Lakes Compared To The World's Oldest Lakes?
Baikal, Tanganyika, and the Caspian have held water for millions of years, while the Great Lakes date to just the last 10,000. Here is how they compare.
The American Fish Nobody Has Caught In Decades
Eighteen Scioto madtoms were ever collected, mostly in one afternoon in 1957. The American fish nobody has caught in decades, including one that ignored its own obituary.
The Fastest River In The United States
Rapids and tidal channels run faster in short stretches, but the record for the fastest free-flowing navigable river goes to one wild Alaskan waterway.