PBS

These cacti are status symbols on social media. In the desert, they're endangered

A group of cacti species native to a remote Chilean desert has been poached to near extinction, thanks in part to social media crazes continents away. According to a new report from the International ...
NBC Washington

Rare Poached Cacti Found in Italy Sent Home to Native Chile

Armed with a search warrant, Italy’s police wildlife unit entered the house of a suspected cactus trafficker, finding over 1,000 rare cacti poached from Chile's Atacama Desert in a locked room. This ...
UPI

Atacama Desert bloom phenomenon to return in mid-September

Aug. 18 (UPI) --The desert bloom phenomenon is expected to return in the third week of September in Chile's Llanos de Challe National Park and surrounding areas, reaching its peak in October after ...
Quanta Magazine

In a Fierce Desert, Microbe ‘Crusts’ Show How Life Tamed the Land

In 2017, a team of scientists from Germany trekked to Chile to investigate how living organisms sculpt the face of the Earth. A local ranger guided them through Pan de Azúcar, a roughly ...
Wired

In a Fierce Desert, Microbe ‘Crusts’ Show How Life Tamed the Land

The original version of this story appeared in Quanta Magazine. In 2017, a team of scientists from Germany trekked to Chile to investigate how living organisms sculpt the face of the Earth. A local ...