Articles

After the devastating 2011 tsunami, the Japanese government spent billions of zen to build this sea wall along the Sendai Coastline. It's almost 20 miles long.

In an Era of Superstorms, This Exhibit Captures Our Shifting Relationship with the Earth's Rising Seas

"Sink or Swim" shows how we're learning to be smarter and more resilient in our response to increasingly unpredictable oceans and rivers

Researchers found that human joint-bone density remained pretty high until recently in our evolutionary history, around the same time that humans began switching from hunting and gathering to farming.

Switching to Farming Made Human Joint Bones Lighter

A more fragile skeleton evolved about 12,000 years ago, probably driven by a shift from hunting to agriculture

New Research

A Bedbug Trap That Might Actually Work

Researchers are learning to use bed bugs pheromones against them

The way cancer cells process zinc might help scientists identify a new biomarker.

Using Zinc to Detect Breast Cancer Early

Researchers at Oxford have taken the first step towards finding a new biomarker for breast cancer

Windswept trees seem to loom over a beach on the remote island of Tarawa in Kiribati. Scientists have found that coral reefs near Tarawa record changes in Pacific trade winds.

Corals Show How Pacific Trade Winds Guide Global Temperatures

The world has been in a global warming hiatus, but that will change when the winds once again weaken

Olympian and airman Louis Zamperini crouches in his starting position on a B-18 bomber.

Document Deep Dive

"Unbroken"'s Louis Zamperini Crashed Into the Pacific on May 27, 1943. Here is the Missing Air Crew Report

The National Archives holds a record with details of the downing of the former Olympian's B-24 bomber that left him lost at sea for 47 days

Sandra, covered with a blanket, gestures inside its cage at Buenos Aires' Zoo, December 8, 2010.

Trending Today

Argentinian Orangutan Is "Non-Human Person," Says Court

Being in the zoo impinges on her freedom

Bound for Morotai Island, Private Bryan Carroll, Memphis, TN, relaxes on the deck of an LST with a book. He leans on a pile of his belongings, which include his helmet and mess kit.

How Books Became a Critical Part of the Fight to Win World War II

Author Molly Guptill Manning explains the importance of reading to the American victory

Just add water. The Zephyr has an electrolyzer on board that uses nine liters of water to produce hydrogen to inflate.

A Photovoltaic Balloon Could Bring Electricity to Disaster Zones

Moored to a base with batteries, the Zephyr collects enough solar energy to power 15 relief tents and a telecommunications network

Volunteers participate in the 2009 Audubon Christmas Bird Count. Now in its 115th year, Audubon touts the event as the largest and longest-running citizen science project in the world.

Top Three Results From a 115-Year-Old Citizen Science Project

The Audubon Christmas Bird Count is touted as the world's longest running citizen science project—so what has it taught us?

Science can help you avoid a holiday gift faux pas.

How to Give the Best Gifts, According to Science

Researchers are unwrapping the science behind gift giving, from the value of simplicity to the quality of the bow on top

Here's the Tolkien nerd’s guide to the third Hobbit movie.

The Tolkien Nerd’s Guide to "The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies"

The final chapter in Peter Jackson's trilogy strays furthest from the book, but there are still a few buried Easter eggs for die-hard fans to enjoy

Meet William Harvey, a Misunderstood Genius in Human Anatomy

A new video from the World Science Festival tells the story of this medical pioneer

Following the end of "The Colbert Report," the National Portrait Gallery will hang Stephen Colbert's portraits-within-a-portrait.

A Stephen Colbert Portrait Returns to the Smithsonian, With Even More Stephens

As the Comedy Central host's show ends, his likeness(es) head to the National Portrait Gallery

The Claudio Aqueduct was built in the 1st century along the Appian Way in Rome.

Anthropocene

Ancient Roman Water Networks Made the Empire Vulnerable

A model of ancient water movement shows how trade practices might affect today's urban centers as the climate changes

Eurasian lynx playing in the snow in Germany.

New Research

Europe Is a Great Place to Be a Large Meat-Eater

In a rare success story for wildlife, bears, lynx, wolverine and wolves are increasing in numbers across the continent

A still from Ben Sturgulewski's travel drone video "Solstice."

The Most Beautiful Drone Travel Videos of 2014

2014 was the year of the aerial drone travel video—here are some of the best of the best

An aerial view of the lower portion of the Colorado River shows the leading edge of the water pulse flow on May 12, before it connected with the sea.

Anthropocene

The Colorado River Delta Turned Green After a Historic Water Pulse

The experimental flow briefly restored the ancient waterway and may have created new habitat for birds

Why the Leatherback Turtle Has a Skylight in its Head

How do animals with poor vision see in dark locales?

Guadalupe Peak and El Capitan: a landscape “lonely as a dream,” wrote Edward Abbey.

Evotourism ®

When Texas Was at the Bottom of the Sea

A hike to the “top of Texas,” the world’s most famous fossil reef, leads to a new sense of the sublime

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