Articles

This hardware innovation will make it easier for conservationists to identify where illegal deforestation efforts are happening and stop them before the trees have been taken down.

Tech Watch

How Solar-Powered Recycled Smartphones Could Save the Rainforest

A Silicon Valley non-profit is ready to give the forests of Africa and the Amazon ears to listen for loggers—and the ability to phone the authorities

A mock-up of what GE's calorie-counting device might look like.

Tech Watch

A Device That Counts Calories for You

GE researchers are developing a system that calculates the exact calories in food using microwaves

A prairie dog group scans for predators in South Dakota.

New Research

Social Networking Prairie Dog Style

Prairie dog kisses might help spread the plague, and stopping the most promiscuous rodents could curb that disease’s reach

The maze is constructed out of glossy maple plywood.

Washington, D.C.

The Winding History of the Maze

Love the idea of getting lost in crooked pathways? Check out the National Building Museum's summer installation

Amanda Lawrence gently removes the specimens for their photo session.

Mission Not Impossible: Photographing 45,000 Bumblebees in 40 Days

The Natural History Museum's entomology department is making its bumblebee collection go viral

For "Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb," Larry and the gang travel to the British Museum in London.

Washington, D.C.

Here's the Trailer for the Final "Night at the Museum" Installment

Last time, "Night at the Museum" came to Smithsonian. Now Larry and company are headed to London.

Tropical regions are home to many unique species, such as this tiny frog belonging to the genus Dendrophryniscus that lives in the Atlantic Forest of Brazil. A new study finds that removing just a few trees can quickly cause biodiversity in these tropical forests to fall.

New Research

Removing Just a Few Trees Can Lower Tropical Animal Biodiversity

Selective logging can halve the number of species of mammals and amphibians in a forest

An African penguin (Spheniscus demersus) calls out near Table Mountain National Park, Cape Town, South Africa.

New Research

Scientists Decode African Penguin Calls

Researchers are trying to figure out how "jackass" penguins—nicknamed for their braying vocalizations—communicate

A variety of neomexicanus, a varietal of hops native to the American Southwest.

In Search of the Great American Beer

Once considered unfit for brewing, wild American hops are making their solo debut on the beer market. Will it change the way we think of American beer?

A wearable wireless radio replaces your PIN code.

Tech Watch

This Temporary Tattoo Can Unlock A Phone

Motorola and VivaLnk release an electronic sticker that replaces your passcode

Wile E. Coyote caught in his own trap

What's Up, Doc? Check Out the Work of Famed Animator Chuck Jones

As part of the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service, Jones' work will travel to 13 locations through 2019

Beautiful Drone Video Captures Rarely Visited Area of Arizona's Vermilion Cliffs

Filmmaker Tristan Greszko takes us on an aerial journey through the isolated White Pocket of Vermilion Cliffs National Monument

Chris Raschka's new children's book tells the true story of Sun Ra, an eccentric jazz musician.

There Once was a Jazz Musician Who Came Here from Saturn

Author and Illustrator Chris Raschka wants his new children's book to teach kids about the icons of jazz.

Joe McConaughy is trying to finish the Pacific Crest Trail faster than anyone ever has.

This Hiker Is Trying to Make It from Mexico to Canada in Just 59 Days

Hikers and runners are trying to cover the country's longest, most iconic trails, faster than anyone ever has before

No wonder unagi is so popular - this picture looks good enough to eat!

How Will Japan Celebrate Summer Without Unagi

The freshwater eel is now endangered, but who is to blame and what are the best substitutes?

A still from one of DPLA's new gifs, based on a NASA film.

Online Archive Creates Awesome GIFS From Historical Photos

In partnership with Imgur, the Digital Public Library of America is reimagining classic photos as modern .gifs

Teamwork Builds Ships, ca. 1918, William Dodge Stevens

World War I: 100 Years Later

The Posters That Sold World War I to the American Public

A vehemently isolationist nation needed enticement to join the European war effort. These advertisements were part of the campaign to do just that

In Hot Springs, North Carolina, residents of an alien internment camp active from 1917 to 1918 built an authentic German village. They used tobacco tins to construct the church at the end of the lane.

World War I: 100 Years Later

The U.S. Confiscated Half a Billion Dollars in Private Property During WWI

America's home front was the site of interment, deportation, and vast property seizure

The ecology of the meat-eaters like Allosaurus fragilis were likely threatened by the decline of the plant-eating dinosaurs, making the "perfect storm" for a mass extinction

Why the Dinosaurs Could Have Had a Chance of Surviving the Asteroid Strike

A new study suggests it wasn't just the asteroid that killed the dinos, but that other factors weakened their ability to survive it

The Verrückt, which opened this summer at the Kansas City Schlitterbahn Waterpark, is the tallest waterslide in the world.

How Do You Build the World's Tallest Water Slide?

From conceptualization to the first plunge, building the world's tallest water slide takes more trial-and-error than you might believe

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