More than half the National Park Service’s unit remain open but local police and health officials are urging people to stay away

• Coronavirus – latest US updates
• Coronavirus – latest global updates
• See all our coronavirus coverage

As mild temperatures and spring blooms emerged in southern Utah this past weekend, so did the tourists. At Capitol Reef national park, the trailhead parking lot was full of cars bearing plates from states such as California, Washington, Colorado and Georgia, all Covid-19 hotspots. The hikers were either oblivious to or ignoring the plea from the local sheriff’s office that outsiders stay away.

“While we would normally welcome visitors to enjoy the beauty of Wayne county, we really don’t want visitors during the Covid-19 pandemic,” stated a 3 April post on the sheriff’s Facebook page. Wayne county, where Capitol Reef is located, has 2,600 residents and little in the way of healthcare services. “If you don’t live here, please don’t come here.”

Planned sale of land to fossil fuel, mining and and timber concerns mirrors rollback of Obama-era pollution regulations

The Trump administration has ratcheted up its efforts amid the coronavirus pandemic to overhaul and overturn Obama-era environmental regulations and increase industry access to public lands.

The secretary of the interior, David Bernhardt, has sped efforts to drill, mine and cut timber on fragile western landscapes. Meanwhile, the EPA, headed by the former coal lobbyist Andrew Wheeler, has weakened critical environmental laws and announced in March that it would cease oversight of the nation’s polluters during the Covid-19 crisis.

Crowds are coming to see the light show as beaches begin to reopen after an almost month-long closure due to coronavirus

Mother nature has provided a radical gift to nighttime beach-goers in southern California, in the form of bioluminescent waves that crash and froth with an otherworldly light.

Related: California surf shimmers with bioluminescence – in pictures

Canadian Football League Commissioner Randy Ambrosie said the most likely scenario is to cancel the season because of the coronavirus pandemic.

While NBA teams are slowly gearing up to return to training facilities this week, the league has reportedly issued a memo prohibiting those with elevated temperatures from participating.  

Super Bowl champion quarterback Joe Flacco underwent neck surgery last month and is expected to be out until September, according to multiple reports.

There were fans in the stands for baseball in Taiwan on Friday, albeit spaced far apart as a safeguard against the spread of the coronavirus.

Historically, recessions have hit men harder. This time it's different, economists say.

The search began after officers found a vehicle overturned in a ditch, partially submerged in knee-deep water.

It's the lowest reported increase in cases since April 6.

Over time, trash that has been floating in the ocean gets covered in algae and other micro-organisms

On a ship frozen in the Arctic, scientists have spent all winter to shed light on exactly how the world is changing

As the pachyderms increasingly clash with farmers and villagers over disappearing land, scientists study the way the animals' minds work

Deepen your understanding of the natural world with these free resources

The outbreak, and the travel bans and fears that come with it, have endangered long-running research projects

With the COVID-19 coronavirus causing a global pandemic, a look back at the scientists who figured out viruses and their relationship to disease

The curious set of numbers shows up in nature and also in human activities.

Researchers suggest that the Humboldt squid uses bioluminescent backlighting for visual cues in the dark deep sea

The pandemic has left many unable to leave harbor, creating a window for fishing grounds to recover from years of overfishing

A new study of ancient climate has a dire warning about today's dry conditions

Celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Smithsonian's "David H. Koch Hall of Human Origins" with some of the biggest discoveries in human evolution

A new title from Smithsonian Books highlights the diversity of Earth's 10 to 100 million insect species

Meet the hugely influential polymath, who foretold of climate change and inspired artists, writers and even the founder of the Smithsonian

The newfound 'invisible' object is only 1,000 light years from home

Computers, mobile phones and all other electronic devices contain thousands of transistors, linked together by thin films of metal. Scientists have developed a method that can use the electrons in a plasma to produce these films.

High-temperature superconductors have the potential to revolutionize today's technologies. 'Higgs spectroscopy' could bring about a watershed as it reveals the dynamics of paired electrons in superconductors. Remarkably, the dynamics also reveal typical precursors of superconductivity even above the critical temperature at which the materials investigated attain superconductivity.

Researchers find evidence of piezoelectricity in lab-grown, two-dimensional flakes of molybdenum dioxide.

Over the past quarter-century, changes in Antarctic sea-ice cover have had profound impacts on life on the ocean floor.

A manually constructed 3D atlas offers a cellular-level view of the entire mouse brain. This reference brain, called the Allen Mouse Brain Common Coordinate Framework (CCFv3), is derived from serial two-photon tomography images of 1,675 mice.

A new process to harness multiple disease models for outbreak management has been developed by an international team of researchers. The team will immediately implement the process to help inform policy decisions for the COVID-19 outbreak.

For the first time, researchers have succeeded in creating strong coupling between quantum systems over a greater distance. They accomplished this with a novel method in which a laser loop connects the systems, enabling nearly lossless exchange of information and strong interaction between them. The physicists reported that the new method opens up new possibilities in quantum networks and quantum sensor technology.

Researchers discover what is happening at the cellular level when Castleman patients experience a cytokine storm.

Olanzapine, a generic drug used to treat nervous, emotional and mental conditions, also may help patients with advanced cancer successfully manage nausea and vomiting unrelated to chemotherapy.

Thinning the Sierra Nevada forest by removing trees by hand or using heavy machinery is one of the few tools available to manage forests. However, finding the best way to thin forests by removing select trees to maximize the forest's benefits for water quantity, water quality, wildfire risk and wildlife habitat remains a challenge for resource managers.

Millions of people around the world use acid suppressants called proton pump inhibitors for conditions like heartburn, gastritis and stomach ulcers. Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden now report that how the long-term use of these drugs could increase the risk of developing dementia. Their results are published in the journal Alzheimer's & Dementia.

The brain has a powerful ability to remember and connect events separated in time. And now, in a new study in mice, scientists have shed light on how the brain can form such enduring links.

Hematopoietic stem cells from a healthy donor can help patients suffering from acute leukemia. However, the side effects of therapies are often severe. Researchers have now shown how human healthy and cancerous hematopoietic stem cells can be more selectively eliminated using immunotherapy instead of chemotherapy in mice. The aim is to test the new immunotherapy in humans as soon as possible.

A research team has good news for patients with copper-deficiency disorders, especially young children diagnosed with Menkes disease.

As interest in the application of plasma medicine -- the use of low-temperature plasma (LTP) created by an electrical discharge to address medical problems -- continues to grow, so does the need for research advancements proving its capabilities and potential impacts on the health care industry. Across the world, many research groups are investigating plasma medicine for applications including cancer treatment and the accelerated healing of chronic wounds, among others.

Inspired by the biomechanics of cheetahs, researchers have developed a new type of soft robot that is capable of moving more quickly on solid surfaces or in the water than previous generations of soft robots. The new soft robotics are also capable of grabbing objects delicately -- or with sufficient strength to lift heavy objects.

Researchers have found that flies sleep more when they can't fly, possibly because sleeping helps them adapt to a challenging new situation.

With a discovery that could rewrite the immunology textbooks, an international group of scientists have identified a new type of antigen-presenting immune cell.

The direction of ocean currents can determine the direction of gene flow in rafting species, but this depends on species traits that allow for rafting propensity. This is according to a study focusing on seahorse and pipefish species. And it could explain how high genetic diversity can contribute to extinction in small populations.

"For people that already have mental health concerns it might be more escalated and others who have not had mental health concerns are now experiencing (them) because of some of the anxiety and stress that's caused by COVID-19."

Rob Vanstone has a sporting suggestion as to how a scaled-down Canadian Football League could salvage a semblance of a season.

Here’s what notifications for iOS and Android COVID-19 tracing will look like.

Will a modern design and more cameras keep customers from the iPhone SE?

One person is now in charge of Google’s six messaging apps.

Sensors being developed by Airbus and a California-based startup might be able to sniff out COVID-19 in an effort to help prevent its spread.

Future Navy SEALs will conduct combat scenarios six-feet apart, emulate high-risk combat scenarios, study in smaller classrooms and be directed by megaphones at farther distances, because more candidates for the special operations unit are again competing, training and preparing for war following temporary delays caused by COVID 19.