Articles by Jessica Leigh Hester

You can now hold Mr. Darcy's dispatches in your hands.

Even a fleeting visit can leave an impression when conditions are right.

It involves Twitter, maps, dozer lines, and luck.

Researchers recently found evidence of some very, very old camouflage.

A slow, careful burn insulated Kule Loklo against a fearsome wildfire.

A new exhibit at the Newberry library touches on the history of guaiacum treatments.

They're roughly the size of a hyphen—which makes them extremely easy to lose.

Here's why it sometimes looks like red tentacles are dangling in the sky.

As part of our "50 States of Wonder" project, we want to know what is surprising, astonishing, or wonderfully weird about where you live.

The National Park Service has closed a portion of Dead Horse Bay.

Here's what it takes to transform a field of corn into a truly enormous tardigrade.

Mary Anning's correspondence helped kick off the study of coprolites.

Nothing adds prehistoric flair to a decorating scheme quite like a moving T. rex.

Trilobites slipped out of one exoskeleton and built another, over and over and over again.

Before the birds moved in together, they had to learn to "howdy."

You don’t want to look an old sea otter in the mouth—unless you want to tell how old it is.

This isn’t a good time for cross-country car rides. Good thing John Margolies took a camera on his many road trips.

Curiosity from coast to coast.

The creatures are ready for their close-ups—in the name of getting a better handle on biodiversity in the bustling city.

Natural landscapes are seeing huge amounts of microplastics tumbling from the sky.

When conditions are right, the waters of Congaree National Park can look like bright scoops pooling on a sidewalk.

An old dump beneath the airport on Michigan's Mackinac Island was brimming with stories from summers past.

When anxiety set boundaries on her life, this adventurer found solace and excitement in Google Street View.

The Red Lion is considered to be the oldest Elizabethan playhouse—and it may have recently seen the light of day.