France's minister of education, Jean-Michel Blanquer, talked with NPR about the gradual reopening of schools, which will be voluntary. Still, many parents and administrators are against the plan.

A map of confirmed COVID-19 cases and deaths around the world. The respiratory disease has spread rapidly across six continents and has killed thousands of people.

It was intended as an interim measure to protect people during the pandemic, but now that doctors across Canada have embraced virtual care, some clinicians and patients would like to see it continue.

The once mighty northern cod stocks' growth is stalled according to DFO science. Ecosystem conditions including a lack of food are contributing factors. Fish harvesters say in the bigger picture though, the numbers are moving in the right direction.

A small Alberta town’s attempt to discourage geese from too getting comfortable there took flight about six weeks ago, but it’s getting mixed reviews and ruffling some feathers.

A U of S researcher says there is no evidence that COVID-19 jumped to humans from bats.

A European coalition is forming around an approach to using smartphone technology to trace coronavirus infections that, its backers hope, could help to reopen borders without unleashing a second wave of the pandemic.

Alberta's use of a smartphone app to help slow the spread of the coronavirus may provide other provinces with insight on what to do — and what to avoid — as Canada begins easing restrictions, heightening the need for effective contact tracing.

A small flock of shorebirds contaminated with oil after touching down on a northern Alberta tailings pond is expected to be released back into the wild within a week.

WeChat is one of the world’s most popular apps, but researchers at the University of Toronto caution it is surveilling international users and using their information to broaden censorship on the app in China.

Health experts agree contact tracing is a key measure to contain a pandemic. But is the answer a contact tracing app?

Sidewalk Labs, a Google-affiliated company, is abandoning its plan to build a high-tech neighbourhood on Toronto’s waterfront, citing what it calls unprecedented economic uncertainty.

For the second year in a row, the Government of Canada is enacting restrictions to help protect the southern resident killer whale population.

As New Brunswick and other provincial governments contemplate launching COVID-19 contact-tracing apps, privacy watchdogs from across the country have issued joint guidelines on what they are describing as an "extraordinary" measure, urging transparency and accountability.

Whale and iceberg season has come early, but the local tourism industry has been forced to press pause.

A St. John’s genetics specialist has found DNA connections that link the long-vanished Beothuk people to contemporary people, almost two centuries after the last known Beothuk died. 

Quebec provincial police are investigating whether at least two cellphone tower fires north of Montreal could be linked to conspiracy theories that 5G wireless technology caused the coronavirus pandemic.

- With its season cut short by the coronavirus pandemic, one of Austria's most popular glacial ski resorts covered its glacier in protective fabric earlier than usual this year to help preserve it for a still uncertain reopening.

In this week's issue of our environment newsletter, we look at the sustainability of different types of face masks and how orphan oil and gas wells in Alberta could be converted into green energy projects.

Astronomers believe they have found the closest black hole to our solar system, lying just 1,000 light-years away, which in astronomical terms, is right in our neighbourhood.

You may be familiar with the medieval "Black Plague," but did you know that bouts of plague still break out today? Find out what causes an outbreak, why plague still exists and how the plague has influenced history.

Lettuce has key nutrients that give both astronauts and Earth-dwellers alike a physical and psychological boost. And the lettuce grown in space is no less nutritious than the Earth-bound variety.

The Hoover Dam holds back 10 trillion gallons of water. That's enough to cover the state of Connecticut 10 feet deep. How much damage would be done if the dam broke?

Are these just different names for the same beast or are there subtle differences? We talk with the owner of a Bigfoot museum who's had a close encounter.

You could be excused for thinking that, of course, all animals breathe oxygen to live. Because it wasn't until very recently that scientists discovered the only multicellular animal that doesn't. Meet Henneguya salminicola.

We make a big deal about modern humans being smarter than Neanderthals, but, really, are we?

Every April, the Lyrid meteor shower fills the sky with shooting stars. Here's how to see them.

A hospital stay can be a stressful experience for anybody, and especially for a child. But a smiling new robot named Robin plays games, tells stories and comforts children in need of a friend.

The Mushroom Burial Suit is designed to give our dead bodies new life by breaking them down and nourishing the soil.

Herd immunity means that after a certain percentage of a population is immune to a disease, the whole population is. This is usually achieved through vaccination but some are not convinced.

Satellite data shows just how much air quality has improved during the coronavirus crisis, from China, India, Italy and beyond.

It's been 50 years since the first Earth Day, and while progress has been made in some areas, humanity still has had a major impact on the planet.

A single-celled algae, barely visible to the eye, plankton contributes to some of the world's most important resources and is essential to the food chain that supports all life.

Many people think mushrooms have the potential to be environmental game-changers by replacing some plastics, meats and even eating through landfill waste. Could these fungi really help save the planet?

A startup is recycling tons of discarded fishing nets throughout Chile. Is this a template for tackling the global plastic waste problem?

If you think asphalt is what hot tar roads are made of, you'd be wrong. Asphalt is only one ingredient in the recipe that makes up our roads. And it has a very long, very interesting history.

The moon has seen a lot in its 4.5 million years of life, and a detailed new geologic map serves as testament.

A new kind of survival story: Scientists discovered a star that came near a black hole and lived to tell the tale – at least temporarily.

For the first time since 2011, NASA will launch astronauts into space from U.S. soil. It will also be the first time ever a private company will get them there.

Uranus is the seventh planet from the sun and sits on an axial plane tilted at a jaw-dropping 97.7-degree angle. And yes, Uranus does actually stink.

The millions of unemployed in Thailand due to the coronavirus include elephants dependent on tourists to feed their voracious appetites. With scant numbers of foreign visitors, commercial elephant camps and sanctuaries lack funds for their upkeep and have sent more than 100 of the animals trudging back to their natural habitats.

It's been years since Coyote Peterson was stung by a Japanese giant hornet -- a subspecies of the Asian giant hornet -- but the American wildlife educator vividly remembers how the sting immediately felt like a 'red hot fire poker' being shoved into his skin, followed by residual, almost unbearable pain that lasted for hours.

The Toronto Zoo announced on Wednesday it had successfully hatched a baby Madagascar spider tortoise, its first successful hatching of the critically endangered species.

As businesses in the United States slowly begin reopening, researchers in Pennsylvania are turning to dogs to help them fend off a second wave of COVID-19.

Scientists are cautioning that it’s still too early to know how the novel coronavirus mutates after a preliminary study in the U.S. claimed that a new strain of the virus has emerged that is more dominant and contagious than the original.

Insect experts say people should calm down about the big bug with the nickname "murder hornet" -- unless you are a beekeeper or a honeybee.

What may be the latest hope in the hunt to develop a treatment for COVID-19 comes from an unusual source – a furry, four-year-old llama named 'Winter' that is living on a farm in the Belgium countryside.

The European Space Agency said Friday that human urine could one day become a useful ingredient in making concrete to build on the moon.

Washington state has another bug to worry about in addition to Asian giant hornets -- gypsy moths, which the state's governor says could become an "infestation."

Hurricane season is fast approaching and it is likely to be active -- maybe even an extremely active -- season.