Science

Kilauea at sunrise: A massive flow streams from a lava tube at the Kamokuna ocean entry.

Evotourism ®

Hawaii's Must-See Lava Flows Are Home to New, Startling Ecosystems

These stunning volcanoes are creating new islands of evolution

The heroes of the movie Kong: Skull Island prepare to encounter the 104-foot-tall ape King Kong.

Science in the Movies

How Big Can a Land Animal Get?

King Kong's biggest enemy isn’t humans—it’s the laws of physics

Most regular visitors of Chicago's Field Museum are on a first-name basis with Sue, the Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton that adorns the museum's front hall.

From “T. Rex” to “Pantydraco": How Dinosaurs Get Their Names

The best monikers are “a way to link science and imagination.” Others are just obvious

Andrew Altieri of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama conducts a survey where more than 90 percent of the coral reef has died due to hypoxia.

Coral Reefs Now Face Deep Water Dead Zones, As If Climate Change Were Not Enough

A Smithsonian scientist says there may be a greater prevalence of undocumented oxygen-starved deep coastal waters

Unmasking the Mad Bomber

When James A. Brussel used psychiatry to think like a criminal, he pioneered the science of profiling

The male mountain gorilla Limbo (left) and Green Lady, a female from the same species, are on view in the exhibition, "Objects of Wonder," at the Natural History Museum.

The Innovative Spirit fy17

Dian Fossey’s Gorilla Skulls Are Scientific Treasures and a Symbol of Her Fight

At a new Smithsonian exhibition, the skulls of “Limbo” and “Green Lady” have a story to tell

Shortly after the announcement of the TRAPPIST-1 system, NASA crowdsourced its Twitter followers for possible planet names. The actual process of naming new planets, however, is a bit more involved.

Ask Smithsonian 2017

How Do New Planets Get Their Names?

Sorry, Planet McPlanetface: Asteroids, moons and other celestial bodies go through a strict set of international naming guidelines

New research strengthens the theory that different climates influenced the shape of the human nose.

New Research

How Climate Helped Shape Your Nose

New research shows how the width of our nasal passages is literally shaped by the air we breathe

Ada Lovelace, “The world’s first computer programmer.” In the mid 1800s, she predicted that machines would compose music and forward scientific progress, based on her experiences programming Charles Babbage’s “Analytical Engine,” to calculate Bernoulli numbers.

Art Meets Science

These Bold Illustrations Celebrate the Incredible Contributions of Women in Science

A designer's touch brings the achievements and faces of female pioneers to a wider audience

ASMRtists, as they are called, type on keyboards, tap on brushes and whisper gently to induce "the tingles." But is there any whisper of scientific truth to the trend?

How Researchers Are Beginning to Gently Probe the Science Behind ASMR

Once a mysterious Internet phenomenon, "tingleheads" are starting to get real scientific attention

How the Desert Oryx Stops Its Brain From Frying

How does the desert-dwelling oryx survive a body temperature that would kill other mammals? The answer lies in a panting mechanism

Computer-simulated global view of Venus.

Think Big

The Case for Going to Venus

Sending a probe to Earth’s lifeless twin could help us understand how life rises—and falls—on faraway planets

The Beast must learn to love someone else and be loved before the last petal falls on the Enchanted Rose in the tale of the new Disney film, Beauty and the Beast

Ask Smithsonian 2017

The Beast's Enchanted Rose Lasted a Decade. How Long Can a Real One Last?

A Smithsonian expert says the film's was undoubtedly a hybrid tea rose

Marianne North's Obsession with the Carnivorous Pitcher Plant

Painter Marianne North's obsession with local Borneo vegetation led her to one of the most unusual and rare plants in the world

Ecologists tend to think of mobbing behavior as primarily a way that smaller birds protect their nests and chicks from larger predators. Shown here, a Willie wagtail attacking an Australian raven.

New Research

Why Do Male Birds Take on Larger Predators? Maybe Just to Impress the Ladies

Some mobbing behavior may be less about survival, and more about sexual selection

Planet launched 88 more satellites in February.

How Daily Images of the Entire Earth Will Change the Way We Look At It

With more satellites than any other company, Planet Labs gives environmental researchers daily data

"Numbers are a human invention, and they’re not something we get automatically from nature," says Caleb Everett.

The Innovative Spirit fy17

How Humans Invented Numbers—And How Numbers Reshaped Our World

Anthropologist Caleb Everett explores the subject in his new book, <em>Numbers and the Making Of Us</em>

Researchers scanned the brains of memorizers as they practiced tried-and-true memory techniques to see how their brains changed in response to their training.

New Research

Neuroscientists Unlock the Secrets of Memory Champions

Boosting your ability to remember lists, from facts to faces, is a matter of retraining your brain

What Lions Look for in the Perfect Prey

For lions hunting buffalo in the Manyeleti, calculation is always at play: An adult male buffalo may be harder to bring down

New "Don't mess with Texas" trash cans at the Texas capitol building in Austin.

The Trashy Beginnings of “Don’t Mess With Texas”

A true story of the defining phrase of the Lone Star state

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