Articles

A forest grows in miniature at Metrotech Commons in Brooklyn for Spencer Finch’s “Lost Man Creek."

Art Meets Science

A Miniature Living Redwood Forest Springs Up In Brooklyn

Artist Spencer Finch explores landscape by building a tiny, scale replica of a California grove

In the sparse Reykjanes peninsula on Iceland’s southwest side, investigators aim to drill down 5,000 meters.

Future of Energy

Deep in the Heart of Iceland, There's a New Way to Tap the Earth’s Energy

The Iceland Deep Drilling Project has extended a borehole thousands of meters deep to produce geothermal power at a scale never before seen

Watch a Bombardier Beetle Mace a Praying Mantis

Praying mantises are adept at ambushing their prey with their specialized legs and swift reflexes

Produced by Wedgwood, the Theodore Roosevelt service was patented on June 16, 1903, to its designer Armand Léger of Fenton, England (Pat. No. D36,363).

The Innovative Spirit fy17

Did You Know That the Designs On Some White House China Are Patented?

Two, possibly three, of the 19 china services that have been made for 17 U.S. presidents are covered by design patents

Workers from the Kenya Wildlife Service carry elephant tusks from shipping containers full of ivory transported from around the country for a mass anti-poaching demonstration.

New Research

Most Ivory for Sale Comes From Recently Killed Elephants—Suggesting Poaching Is Taking Its Toll

Carbon dating finds that almost all trafficked ivory comes from animals killed less than three years before their tusks hit the market

Smithsonian Journeys Travel Quarterly: Cuba

A Photojournalist Captures Dramatic Portraits of Dancers in the Streets of Cuba

For Gabriel Davalos, photography is about storytelling

Smithsonian Journeys Travel Quarterly: Cuba

Lime Marinade, Cohiba Cigar Cases and Other Unique Gifts You Can Buy in Cuba

The three-spine stickleback usually forages and builds its nest near the lake bottom. But in Enos Lake, it appears to have merged with a related species that spends its time near the surface.

Extinction or Evolution? The Answer Isn't Always Clear

The same factors that kill off some species cause others to evolve at lightning speed

The Incredible Reptiles That Flew 200 Million Years Ago

A 200-million-year-old fossil reveals the amazing body structure of a reptilian creature known as the dimorphodon

That looks nutritious.

Everyone Poops. Some Animals Eat It. Why?

Consuming feces can benefit not only the health and microbiomes of some animals, but also their environments

SPS-ALPHA concept and visualization

Future of Energy

What's Next for Solar Energy? How About Space

Scientists are closer than ever to making the far-out concept of a space-based solar collection system a reality

Puerto Rico's #1 Crop Isn't Sugar, But It's Still Sweet

Puerto Rico's agricultural economy was once dominated by sugar plantations. Today, the same fields hold everything from corn to bananas

Smoking leaves permanent scars on cells, new research finds.

New Research

Smoking a Pack a Day for a Year Leaves 150 Mutations in Every Lung Cell

Researchers quantify just how bad smoking is for you, molecularly

Hank Aaron and Ernie Banks before a game at Wrigley Field, 1957

If Only Ernie Had Seen It. Here's Why "Mr. Cub" Is Part of the 2016 World Series Win

From Smithsonian Books, a treasure of baseball history for those who can’t wait for spring training

Korda captured this iconic image of the Cuban revolutionary by chance.

Smithsonian Journeys Travel Quarterly: Cuba

The Story Behind Che's Iconic Photo

Fashion photographer Alberto Korda took Che Guevara's pictures hundreds of times in the 1960s. One stuck

How does a lizard that looks like a rose stem mated with a cactus suck water out of the desert?

New Research

This Spike-Crested Lizard Drinks From Sand With Its Skin

The thirsty, thorny devils of Australia's deserts can’t quench their thirst with tongues alone

Ian Marcos Gutiérrez, a 23-year-old printer at the Taller Experimental de Gráfica, in Havana, helps the author prepare a block of lithographic limestone for printing.

Step Inside Cuba's Oldest Printmaking Studio

At the Taller Experimental de Gráfica in Havana, process is everything

The Sacramento Municipal Utility District is working with dairy farms to provide on-site digesters for manure.

Future of Energy

Why Anaerobic Digestion Is Becoming the Next Big Renewable Energy Source

A food-to-electricity plant in England is just one in a string of local efforts to make waste less wasteful

Gary Hart campaign (photo by Ken Regan), 1984

The Swag and Swagger Behind American Presidential Campaigns

From a coloring book to a painted axe, election ephemera remind us of the hard-fought elections of long ago

The Pagani Huayra Is Faster Than a Jumbo Jet at Takeoff

The optimum effects of the Pagani-designed dual aerodynamic system are embodied by the Huayra. In just 25.8 seconds, it crosses the 185 MPH mark

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