Science

A Fertile Polar Bear's Hard Journey From Mating to Motherhood

After mating takes place, a female polar bear will prepare for her impending pregnancy by eating voraciously. In all, she will pack on more than 400 pounds

This year's science left us speechless and maybe a tiny bit more knowledgeable.

The Top 9 Baffling, Humbling, Mind-Blowing Science Stories of 2016

From gravity's song to the evolutionary secrets of dogs, this year unlocked a treasure trove of scientific discovery

Turns out, the Arctic squirrels (Urocitellus parryii) on Chirikof Island, long believed to be an invasive species, were native.

The Invasive Squirrel That Wasn't

Everyone thought that the Arctic ground squirrel was an invasive species on this remote Alaskan island. A pair of scientists beg to differ.

Patrons of the sciences once offered cash prizes, exotic pets and even islands for world-changing discoveries. Here, Louis XIV surveys the members of the Royal Academy of Sciences in 1667.

For Your Contributions to Science, I Humbly Bequeath You This Pet Moose

A history of motivating scientific endeavor through cash prizes, islands and exotic pets

Dyslexia affects up to 17 percent of American schoolchildren. Researchers now believe it may be caused by difficulty in the brain rewiring itself.

New Research

Dyslexia May Be the Brain Struggling to Adapt

The learning disorder may be less a problem with language processing, and more a problem with the brain rewiring itself

Why the U.S. Army Guarded the 23 Remaining American Buffalo

In 1882, General Philip Sheridan's expedition to the protected buffalo haven in Yellowstone National Park revealed a gruesome reality

There's more to H20 than meets the eye.

New Research

Scientists Find That Water Might Exist in a Whole New State

Think water comes in just liquid, ice and gas? Think again

Needle drop is one of the traits plant scientists at the Christmas Tree Research Center at Dalhousie University are hoping to improve.

Can Science Produce a Longer Lasting Christmas Tree?

LED Christmas lights make the needles hold on longer, and other discoveries from the world’s only Christmas tree research center

Iron-thiocyanate complex, droplet on surface

Art Meets Science

Time-Lapse Photos Reveal the Beauty of Metal Crystals Growing

Photographer Emanuele Fornasier spends hours capturing the intricacy of chemical reactions

New asteroids are detected every day surrounding Earth, most of which are harmless.

Think Big

Sure, Earth Could Get Hit by a Deadly Asteroid—But There’s an Upside

Con: Devastating outer space impacts. Pro: Global unity!

Hamblin's new book uses illustrations to help explain how the human body works—and sometimes doesn't work.

The Millennial’s Doctor Releases a Handbook on Bodies

Radiologist and <em>Atlantic</em> editor James Hamblin provides the answers we'd hear "If Our Bodies Could Talk"

Polar Bear Mom and Cub Accidentally Separated by a Car

A car horn outside Churchill, Manitoba, causes a curious polar bear mom and her cub to scurry in opposite directions

Your breath might be bad, but it's also amazing.

New Research

Your Breath Does More Than Repulse—It Can Also Tell Doctors Whether You Have Cancer

An artificial “nose” could be the next tool for diagnosing illnesses from cancer to Crohn's disease

Violence can spread like an epidemic among impressionable teenagers, according to new research.

New Research

Violence Among Teens Can Spread Like a Disease, Study Finds

Surveys of thousands of American teens add evidence to the theory that violence spreads in communities like a contagion

A Beloved Alpha Polar Bear Near the End of His Life

Saint Pete, as he's known by locals in nearby Churchill, Manitoba, is an elderly polar bear who's been visiting the town for decades

How do you know when urine too deep?

New Research

Once a Year, Scientific Journals Try to Be Funny. Not Everyone Gets the Joke

Holiday editions add a much-needed dose of humor to boring journal-ese. But is entertaining readers worth the risk of misleading them?

At the top of Dome A, an unmanned research station, is a smattering of antenna masts, small shipping containers, scientific equipment and a lot of footprints that take years for the snow and meager wind to cover up.

The Coldest, Driest, Most Remote Place on Earth Is the Best Place to Build a Radio Telescope

This remote Antarctic field station is an ice-covered arid desert, perfect for peering deep into space

An Angry Hippo Charges a Trespassing Lion

A lion ventures into an area of the river that's part of a hippo bull's territory. The enraged hippo wastes no time in asserting his dominance

A bonfire of elephant ivory burns in Kenya's Nairobi National Park in July 1989.

Ask Smithsonian 2017

Wondering What a Bonfire Does to Your Lungs? We Answer Your Burning Questions

Setting large piles of stuff aflame can have significant environmental and human health impacts

This year, the Great Barrier Reef was found to be hiding another reef beneath it.

Top Eight Ocean Stories That Made Waves in 2016

2016 wasn't all bad: Stubborn environmental problems were livened up thanks to new solutions, “gee whiz” discoveries and mysterious orbs

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