Amazing brains. So different from ours

A windswept stretch of undeveloped Sonoma coast, privately owned for a century and containing a sandy beach that had been virtually inaccessible to the general public, has opened to visitors with new hiking trails and sensational views. www.sfchronicle.com/outdoors/art...

San Clemente Island looks like a long volcanic ridge from offshore, but it has been one of the most important and least visible military landscapes in California for almost a century. californiacurated.com/2025/11/14/s...

Every week we research and write one, sometimes two, in depth articles about California. Stories you’ve likely never read before. You should check us out. We’re free. californiacurated.substack.com

Some of the most primitive plants in the world can be found at two botanical gardens in Southern California. californiacurated.substack.com/p/ancient-an...

Cleveland-based Sonic Fire Tech has developed a fire-suppression system that extinguishes flames using focused acoustic sound waves, rather than water or chemicals. www.bizjournals.com/losangeles/n...

In 1962, Swiss physicist Hannes Keller attempted a historic 1,000-foot dive off Catalina Island using experimental gas mixtures to push the limits of human diving. open.substack.com/pub/californ...

Mola Mola mugs are cool. www.etsy.com/listing/4309...

Chevron looks like the biggest corporate beneficiary of President Trump’s Venezuelan gambit, largely because the California-born oil giant is now the only foreign petroleum company still operating in Venezuela. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/05/b...

The Pacific Coast Highway is a 650-mile coastal road that hugs California’s shoreline and has become an icon of the state’s landscape, engineering ambition, and classic road-trip culture. californiacurated.com/2024/05/21/t...

What have the recent storms done to help Los Angeles? www.instagram.com/reel/DS_JyQO...

Heavy rain and snow have battered California in recent weeks. At the same time, the storms have replenished reservoirs and boosted the Sierra Nevada snowpack, easing drought fears in a state perennially anxious about water supplies. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/04/u...

The recent atmospheric river has been fantastic for LA's water supply. Here's the Arroyo Seco, normally just a trickle, gushing.

California will ban non-medical cat declawing Jan. 1, 2026, meaning vets can only perform it if there’s a real health need. A big step for animal welfare and a win for cats everywhere. 🐱❤️ #California #AnimalWelfare www.cbs8.com/article/news...

Out in the California desert lies one of the country’s most important mines of a remarkably useful substance. californiacurated.com/2024/06/07/f...

Your must-read today about octopuses: open.substack.com/pub/californ...

Ditto. "I’m a US drone pilot. The foreign-made drone ban is a devastating blow to aerial artists"

Your must-read today about octopuses: open.substack.com/pub/californ...

Sometimes we help the ecology

Mount Wilson: The Mountain That Changed How We See the Universe: www.instagram.com/reel/DSnuJ5s...

With big atmospheric storms coming to LA, a good time to look back at a past disaster. californiacurated.com/2024/11/07/t...

Remember when a huge explosion rocked downtown LA? Probably not, that’s why we’re here. californiacurated.com/2023/11/03/u...

Octopuses are fascinating, intelligent, special animals. I do a deep dive on them and why the California two spot octopus has become a model organism in science. open.substack.com/pub/californ...

Octopuses are fascinating, intelligent, special animals. I do a deep dive on them and why the California two spot octopus has become a model organism in science. open.substack.com/pub/californ...

After being nearly wiped out by overfishing, the giant sea bass is making a comeback off California’s coast, especially around Catalina. These massive fish, some over 500 pounds, are cruising the kelp again. californiacurated.substack.com/p/the-remark...

Stunning. @mbarinews.bsky.social m.youtube.com/watch?si=hY-...

We've made a ton of products for people who are proud of California's stunning nature. One way we're trying to support ourselves as a publication. Consider picking up a mug for a bird or fish loving friend. www.etsy.com/shop/Califor...

The legendary California conference where biologists put guard rails on where we were going with genetics. Maybe we need this for AI? californiacurated.com/2023/06/21/g...

In California, cities routinely pay much higher prices for water than agricultural districts, some of which pay little or nothing at all, according to a new analysis. calmatters.org/environment/...

We've made a ton of products for people who are proud of California's stunning nature. One way we're trying to support ourselves as a publication. Consider picking up a mug for a bird or fish loving friend. www.etsy.com/shop/Califor...

Few people understand how deeply important Ocean upwelling is to maintaining the vibrancy of sea life off the California coast. open.substack.com/pub/californ... 🐟🌊

Descanso Gardens’ Ancient Forest features a major collection of rare cycads, prehistoric “living fossils” from the dinosaur era. A large 2014 donation helped build one of the nation’s most diverse cycad displays. californiacurated.com/2021/04/11/d...

66 million years ago, an asteroid obliterated much of life on earth. One of the most groundbreaking discoveries about what happened emerged from the University of California, Berkeley, thanks to a renowned father-and-son scientific duo. californiacurated.substack.com/p/the-plate-...

66 million years ago, an asteroid obliterated much of life on earth. One of the most groundbreaking discoveries about what happened emerged from the University of California, Berkeley, thanks to a renowned father-and-son scientific duo. californiacurated.substack.com/p/the-plate-...

Very cool new book out. Taylor is a herpetologist and biology professor at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo: amzn.to/44f3buH

UC Davis Professor Hugh Safford was hiking for pleasure in California's High Sierra when he stumbled upon a new elevation record for the Jeffrey pine, which may now be the state's highest-altitude tree. www.ucdavis.edu/climate/news...

The coastal town of Palos Verdes, part of it, is slowly slipping into the ocean. What's the geology behind it? californiacurated.com/2024/09/09/t...

What is your favorite California bird? Or fish? We made a bunch of attractive gifts for loved ones featuring California wildlife. www.etsy.com/shop/Califor...

Looking for a great holiday gift for your California loved ones that will enrich them and help them better understand the world around them? We've got you covered: californiacurated.com/2025/11/03/t... #books 📚

In the earliest 20th century, California was an oil powerhouse. Now, what do we do with all those offshore rigs? www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8UbJmv1/

What should we do when California oil platforms stop producing oil?

Darwin didn't think we could see natural selection in real time. Turns out you can, and they are doing so with Dark eyed Juncos at UCLA. californiacurated.com/2024/12/09/d...

I love to write stories about seemingly common and boring things that actually have magical qualities. All in California, of course californiacurated.com/2025/02/24/c...

A man in Altadena set up a camera to learn who kept tearing up the underside of his house. On November 25, he finally saw the culprit: a 550-pound black bear that had been sheltering beneath his home for more than a week. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/03/u...

Bar none, it’s one of the strangest fish in the ocean, and it’s right off the coast of California. californiacurated.com/2023/10/05/t... 🧪

Below California's oil rigs lie a biological bounty. www.tiktok.com/@californiac...

How Theodore Roosevelt’s 1903 trip to California gave birth to modern conservation californiacurated.com/2024/08/23/h...