Articles

At the Mpala research facility in Kenya, scientists can use fences to exclude large animals, such as zebras, from ecosystems to study the effect of their absence.

New Research

How Will Wildlife Loss Affect Diseases That Jump From Animals to Humans?

In an east African case study, scientists found that taking large wildlife out of an ecosystem increases the number of disease-infested rodents

Margarita

No Limes? Not a Problem. Here’s How to Celebrate Cinco de Mayo Without Them

Rising prices for the citrus fruit have inspired bartenders to get their creative juices flowing

A cluster of variola viruses viewed under an electron microscope. Strains of the variola virus cause smallpox disease.

Should We Destroy Our Last Living Samples of the Virus That Causes Smallpox?

Later this month, the World Health Organization will decide whether or not to get rid of two live virus repositories in the United States and Russia

This is the face of deception.

New Research

This Bird Tricks Other Animals Into Handing Over Their Meals

The African drongo mimics warning calls of other animals to scare them away from food, but mixes true warnings with lies to keep those animals guessing

The Great Sphinx and the pyramids of Giza (Egypt). Ca. 1845. Lithography by David Roberts.

New Research

A Simple Trick May Have Helped the Egyptians Build the Pyramids

No ancient aliens needed: A little bit of water reduces friction when dragging a sled over sand

Etsy Product Design: Building the marketplace, global, ongoing.

Cooper-Hewitt Gets Crafty and Honors Etsy with a National Design Award

Other recipients of the National Design Museum's prestigious award include fashionista Narciso Rodriguez and writer Witold Rybcznski

Bayou crawfish boil

Why Crawfish Are Louisiana's Culinary Gift to the Nation

What makes the crustacean a springtime treat, whether its in gumbo or an etouffee

Superstorm Sandy's aftermath on the Jersey Shore. With climate change, extreme weather events, like Sandy, could become more common.

Why Doesn't Anyone Know How to Talk About Global Warming?

The gap between science and public understanding prevents action on climate change—but social scientists think they can fix that

Members of Coxey's Army, 1894

Washington, D.C.

How a Ragtag Band of Reformers Organized the First Protest March on Washington, D.C.

The first March on Washington was a madcap affair, but in May of 1894, some 10,000 citizens descended on D.C., asking for a jobs bill

Trash, such as this glass bottle, has been found deep in the ocean, far away from shore.

New Research

Your Garbage Is Polluting Even The Deep, Remote Reaches of the Ocean

Scientists have found plastic, glass and other trash littering the seafloor and collecting in canyons

Hans Hollein at his office in Vienna, Austria, 20 March 2009.

Remembering the "Eclectic Gusto" of Architect Hans Hollein

A look into what still excites us about the Viennese designer, who died last week at 80

Breast cancer cells dividing.

Could A Genome-Savvy Computer Help Change The Way We Treat Cancer?

The pilot is one of several doctors are using to target treatment to the way cells mutate instead of to the part of the body in which tumors grow

Several scenes in this month's box office smash Captain America: The Winter Soldier were filmed at the National Air and Space Museum.

How Captain America Made the Leap From the Museum to the Front Pages

Filmed at the Smithsonian, the smash hit prompts curator Amy Henderson to ponder the real world anxieties underlying our superhero fictions

A chef preparing sushi.

It’s Not a Health Hazard to Have Sushi Made With Bare Hands, It’s a Necessity

A misguided California law temporarily banned the use of gloveless hands to form sushi. Here’s why it’s being repealed

Hikers explore fields of California poppies near Antelope Valley in Lancaster, California, Sunday, April 26, 2014.

Photos: Southern California Bursts into Color as California Poppies Take Over Hillsides

This spring's bloom is one of the best in years

An overhead view of the 1964 World's Fair, showing the unisphere and surrounding pavilions.

The Story Behind the Failed Minstrel Show at the 1964 World's Fair

The integrated theatrical showcase had progressive ambitions but lasted only two performances

None

Decades of Political Strife Have Left Myanmar's Jungles Unexplored and Unchartered

Now as the country opens up, what will happen to its endangered species? A new three-part series on the Smithsonian Channel explores the issue

Take in the Sights and Sounds of the National Parks

Enjoy a nature break and listen to birds from America's greatest natural wonders

Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center will soon replace the blood of trauma patients with cold saline solution to slow down the cell's metabolism to where there's no signs of brain activity, nor pulse.

This Radical Treatment Pushes Victims to the Brink of Death in Order to Save Their Lives

Researchers are putting trauma patients in a state between life and death with a technique known in movies as "suspended animation"

Thorax and wings of a tree bug (Pentatoma rufipes) found in 1990 in Graubünden, Switzerland, part of the Chernobyl fallout area. Hesse-Honegger notes that the right wings are disturbed and the scutellum is bent.

Art Meets Science

Chernobyl’s Bugs: The Art And Science Of Life After Nuclear Fallout

In 1986, a Swiss artist set out to document insects from regions affected by the Chernobyl disaster, and science is starting to catch up with her

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