Undark Magazine is a nonprofit online publication exploring science as a "frequently wondrous, sometimes contentious, and occasionally troubling byproduct of human culture."[1] The name Undark is a deliberate reference[2] to a radium-based luminous paint product called Undark that ultimately proved toxic, if not deadly for those who handled it.[3][4]
The publication's tag line is "Truth, Beauty, Science."[5][6]
Undark publishes a mix of long-form journalism, shorter features, essays, op-eds, questions and answers, and book excerpts and reviews. All content is freely available to read, and most is available for republishing by other publications and websites.[8][9] Many large national and international publications, including Scientific American,[10]The Atlantic,[11]Smithsonian,[12]NPR,[13] and Outside[14] have republishing relationships with Undark.
Undark has earned numerous awards for its journalism, including being named a finalist for a 2022 National Magazine Award in the Reporting category.[16]
On February 19, 2019, Undark was awarded a George Polk Award for Environmental Reporting. The award honored photojournalist Larry C. Price and contributing reporters for the magazine's multinational, multipart exposé on global air pollution, called "Breathtaking".[17][18] The series also won the 2019 Al Neuharth Innovation in Investigative Journalism Award from the Online News Association.[19]
In 2017, Undark was a finalist for an Online Journalism Award in the Feature category for its series "Wear & Tear",[21] which explored the global impacts of the leather tanning and textile industries.[22] In 2018, three Undark contributors were named as finalists in the National Association of Science Writers' Science and Society Awards.[23]
