A colony of ants formed their own life raft, seen in Hickory Creek Preserve in Will County. (Courtesy of Meagan Crandall)

If their nests become waterlogged, ants will evacuate and form a waterproof ball that floats on the surface until the waters recede.

Kinda, Brookfield Zoo’s new baby giraffe, with mom Arnieta. (Jim Schulz / CZS-Brookfield Zoo)

Brookfield Zoo has received a historic $40 million gift from a donor who wishes to remain anonymous, the largest single private contribution in the zoo's 89-year history, officials announced Tuesday.

Federal Emergency Management Agency had just opened a Disaster Recovery Center in Calumet City Sept. 14 to assist people with claims from flooding that happened in July. (Facebook / City of Calumet City)

Residents of Calumet City are recovering from a second round of flooding in less than three months after more than half a foot of rain fell on the area Sunday.

Celebración de los Árboles 2022. (Courtesy of Morton Arboretum)
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This month, the Morton Arboretum is inviting people to get back in touch with their roots with a variety of events and programs highlighting Latino cultures and communities, beginning with the Celebración de los Árboles on Sept. 16-17.

Illinois Beach State Park boasts some of the highest quality remnant habitat in the Midwest, but it’s being threatened by invasive plant species. (Patty Wetli / WTTW News)

A kick-off event Sept. 16 is aimed at recruiting more volunteer stewards, whose work helps safeguard the nature preserve’s endangered and threatened species.

An endangered Bowmouth Guitarfish, one of three 11-month-old pups that has arrived at Shedd Aquarium. (Brenna Hernandez / Shedd Aquarium)

Bowmouth Guitarfish, also called Shark Rays, are hunted for their fins and thorns. Three rescued pups have arrived at Shedd Aquarium.

Brookfield Zoo's three-week-old giraffe Kinda (rhymes with Linda) makes her public debut Sept. 8, 2023. (Jim Schulz / CZS-Brookfield Zoo)

The zoo’s three-week-old baby giraffe is making her debut Friday and can now be seen daily, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

A cyclist tops a hill on a hot day at sunset, Aug. 20, 2023, in San Antonio. (AP Photo / Eric Gay, File)

Last month was not only the hottest August scientists ever recorded by far with modern equipment, it was also the second hottest month measured, behind only July 2023, WMO and the European climate service Copernicus announced Wednesday.

A water rescue device is pictured in a file photo. (Michael Izquierdo / WTTW News)

A pair of water rescues on Chicago's lakefront over the holiday weekend resulted on one person dead and another in critical condition, according to the Chicago Police Department. Indiana officials report a teen drowned in East Chicago.

Bruno de Medeiros, assistant curator of insects, with just a handful of the beetles in the Field Museum’s collection. (Patty Wetli / WTTW News)

Beetles, and weevils in particular, are thought of as destructive pests. Bruno de Medeiros, assistant curator of insects at the Field Museum, is upending those preconceptions.

Members of the Tampa Fire Rescue Dept., remove a street pole after large awnings from an apartment building blew off from winds associated with Hurricane Idalia Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023, in Tampa, Fla. Idalia made landfall earlier this morning along the Big Bend of the state. (AP Photo / Chris O’Meara)

As the eye moved inland, high winds shredded signs, blew off roofs, sent sheet metal flying and snapped tall trees. One person was killed in Georgia. No hurricane-related deaths were officially confirmed in Florida, but the Florida Highway Patrol reported two people dying in separate weather-related crashes just hours before Idalia made landfall.

“Chicago Tonight” viewer J. Scott Sykora shared this photo of a harvest supermoon eclipse on Sept. 27, 2015.

The super blue moon also means unusually high tides, which could worsen the impact of Hurricane Idalia. 

FILE - A turtle pokes its nose out of the water in the wetlands inside Sugar Hollow Park in Bristol, Va., June 12, 2023. (Emily Ball / Bristol Herald Courier via AP, File)
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The Biden administration weakened regulations protecting millions of acres of wetlands, saying it had no choice after the Supreme Court sharply limited the federal government’s jurisdiction over them. It’s a policy shift that departs from a half-century of federal rules governing the nation’s waterways.

(WTTW News)

Chicago is one of 18 cities participating in the Heat Watch 2023 program with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, in which community volunteers collect temperature and humidity data to analyze for underlying reasons and potential mitigation efforts.

(Courtesy of Efrain Soriano / Borderless magazine)

After the July 2 storm that caused catastrophic flooding across Chicago’s West Side and some western suburbs, many residents are still dealing with the damage. Now, some of those communities are exploring green infrastructure solutions that can help prevent future flooding events.

Former Mayor Rahm Emanuel appears on “Chicago Tonight” on May 13, 2019. (WTTW News)
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Now U.S. ambassador to Japan, Rahm Emanuel plans to travel to Fukishima prefecture and eat some local catch of the day to quell concerns about the release of treated radioactive wastewater into the Pacific Ocean.