Science

The casein film can either be used as wrappers, like this, or it can be sprayed onto food.

Age of Humans

Here's a Food Wrapper You Can Eat

Made from milk protein, it not only keeps food from spoiling, but it also could keep a lot of plastic out of landfills

Ask Smithsonian

Ask Smithsonian: What Is a Dimple?

Michael Jordan, Vanessa Hudgens and all those celeb dimples to die for? Just a result of a double zygomaticus major muscle

The Cascadia Subduction Zone could unleash "the big one" soon, causing havoc in Seattle.

Journey to the Center of Earth

Slow Earthquakes Are a Thing

Slow earthquakes regularly move more earth than deadly fast quakes, but no one feels a thing

These glow-in-the-dark roaches have the goods.

I Am Officially in Love With Cockroaches

And after you read this, you will be too

Hutton, as painted by Sir Henry Raeburn in 1776.

Journey to the Center of Earth

The Blasphemous Geologist Who Rocked Our Understanding of Earth's Age

James Hutton was a leading light of his time, but is rarely talked about today

The Dog Aging Project Wants to Help Your Pet Live Longer

Biologists at the University of Washington are launching a long-term study that involves testing medications that could enhance dogs' life spans

Reconstruction of Lucy’s vertical deceleration event, by the authors of the new study.

Did Anthropologists Just Solve the 3-Million-Year-Old Mystery of Lucy’s Death?

Researchers think they've reconstructed the fatal plunge and last terrifying seconds of the hominin's life

What's in here? A new study aims to find out.

Age of Humans

Garbage Can Teach Us a Lot About Food Waste

A novel and slightly gross study aims to fill in gaps in our understanding of Americans' food waste

IBM’s Watson Takes On Yet Another Job, as a Weather Forecaster

The integration of the supercomputer and weather stations around the world could have a huge impact on global industry

Incredible: Five Lions Take Down a Giraffe

Free from their mother's care, five young lions must fend for, and feed, themselves. Their first challenge: a giant giraffe who refuses to be caught

In the past few weeks, thousands of fish have gone belly-up.

The Massive Yellowstone Fish Die-Off: A Glimpse Into Our Climate Future?

This unprecedented kill reveals why we need to keep rivers resilient

The Block Island Wind Farm should be operational before the end of this year.

Future of Energy

Getting Up Close and Personal With America’s First Offshore Wind Farm

The newly-erected turbines off of Block Island may signal the future of American wind power

How One Millionaire's Promise Led to a National Park

When millionaire John D. Rockefeller Jr. first visited Jackson Hole, Wyoming in 1926, he vowed to preserve the awe-inspiring land

Visitors cast shadows on the Grand Prismatic Spring in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, at sunrise.

From Our Photo Contest: Soak Up the Beauty of America's National Parks

2016 marks the 100th anniversary of the National Parks Service. Enjoy these standout images submitted by our photo community

West acropolis at the Maya site of Yaxchilan, in Southern Mexico.

Ancient Maya Bloodletting Tools or Common Kitchen Knives? How Archaeologists Tell the Difference

New techniques for identifying the tools of sacrifice sharpen our understanding of the ritual

Astronomy students at the Banneker and Aztlán Institutes in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Space Hub

Why the Universe Needs More Black and Latino Astronomers

Astronomy has one of the worst diversity rates of any scientific field. This Harvard program is trying to change that

A farmer in southern Zinder, Niger, collects leaves that will feed his sheep.

Age of Humans

The “Great Green Wall” Didn’t Stop Desertification, but it Evolved Into Something That Might

The multibillion-dollar effort to plant a 4,000-mile-long wall of trees hit some snags along the way, but there's still hope

Can scientists make cardboard diet food taste like the real deal?

New Research

Food Tasting Too Healthy? Just Add Scent

How scientists use smell to trick tastebuds—and brains

Simple times may be over for the National Parks. Shown here: El Capitan, a vertical rock formation in Yosemite National Park, California.

Age of Humans

How the National Parks Are Playing the Game of “What If” to Prepare for Climate Change

Federal agencies are starting to embrace scenario planning, a tool developed by the military to plan for thermonuclear war

Small fixes can keep birds from being snagged by fishing lines, which also helps fishing vessels not lose bait to the flying foragers.

Age of Humans

These Simple Fixes Could Save Thousands of Birds a Year From Fishing Boats

Changes as basic as adding a colorful streamer to commercial longline fishing boats could save thousands of seabirds a year

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