Anthropocene

Is This Plan to Combat Climate Change Insane or Insanely Genius?

Harvard physicist David Keith wants to use two jets and one million tons of sulfur dioxide a year to halt global warming

A trap-jaw ant opens its massive mandibles.

New Research

Watch These Ants Hurl Themselves Out of Death Traps With Their Mouths

At least one trap-jaw ant species has coopted its exceptionally strong mandibles to escape its nemesis, the ferocious antlion

A pelican dives for dinner among an unsuspecting school of fish.

Paper Turtles and Frisky Skates Bring This Indoor Seashore to Life

A new exhibit at the National Aquarium in Baltimore takes visitors on a trip to the beach and into the dark depths of the Atlantic

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Best Space Photos of the Week

A Lopsided Supernova, Orbital Espresso and More Cosmic Wonders

An exploding star reveals its secrets and an astronaut takes a coffee break in this week’s best space pictures

A person looks at profile photos on the messaging app Momo in Shanghai.

New Research

Your Online Dating Profile Picture Affects Whether People Trust You

Attractiveness is linked to trust, but the responses are very different between men and women

10 New Things Science Says About Being a Mom

Such as, how much time she spends with her child doesn’t matter as much as we think

The Cosmic Navel is larger than it appears in this image—it spans about 200 feet wide and is between 16 and 65 feet deep.

How the Giant “Cosmic Navel” Formed in Utah

The unique landform in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument is essentially one of the biggest potholes on Earth

In a recent ad campaign, portraits of litterers made from DNA taken from tossed cigarettes, coffee cups and condoms were posted in public places around Hong Kong.

DNA Testing Could Identify Litterbugs and Dog Poop Miscreants

Anonymous crimes may not be quite so anonymous anymore

Lightning crackles across the sky over Canyonlands National Park in Utah.

New Research

Rockets and Microphones Reveal the First Images of Thunder

The acoustic visuals could help us better understand the physical processes that drive lightning strikes

New Research

Veggie Power? Artificial Muscles Made From Blinged-Out Onions

Turning root vegetables into working muscles requires gold, electricity and imagination

A blood-sucker creeping around on a potential victim's pristine white sheets.

Cool Finds

How Our Modern Lives Became Infested With Bed Bugs

After being bitten by the tiny pests, author Brooke Borel set out to learn all she could about her blood-sucking foes

Evan Creelman, Newlight COO; Mark Herrema, Co-Founder and CEO; and Kenton Kimmel, Co-Founder and CTO, with a few products made of AirCarbon.

Smart Startup

Creating Plastic From Greenhouse Gases

Newlight Technologies is turning carbon emissions into plastic for everyday items

Humans traveling to Mars may need extra shielding for their brains.

New Research

A Trip to Mars Could Give You Brain Damage

Exposure to cosmic rays may cause defects that would make astronauts lose their curiosity during a mission

The marbled salamander is increasing its distribution and range in response to warming winter temperatures.

Anthropocene

Climate Change Will Accelerate Earth’s Sixth Mass Extinction

The pace at which species disappear is picking up as temperatures rise, and things are looking especially troubling in the tropics

Ask Smithsonian: Are Cats Domesticated?

There is little genetic difference between a tabby and a wild cat, so scientists think the house cat is only domestic when it wants to be

The Eurasian tree sparrow is one of 30 bird species in decline around Fukushima.

Birds Are in a Tailspin Four Years After Fukushima

Like the proverbial canary in a coalmine, avian abundances may paint a grim picture of the effects of nuclear disasters on wildlife

Bat-like Yi qi is the flying dinosaur this forest deserves.

New Research

This Fluffy Little Dinosaur Had Bat-Like Wings

About the size of a sparrow, Yi qi probably glided through Jurassic forests on membrane-covered appendages

A Diana monkey, perhaps tuning in to the distress calls of  fellow primates.

New Research

Monkeys Can Hack Each Other’s Grammar

Campbell’s monkeys add suffixes to alarm calls to indicate specific threats, and Diana monkeys tune in for their own benefit

The Jurassic dinosaur Chilesaurus diegosuarez, a plant-eating theropod.

New Research

Meet Chilesaurus, a New Raptor-Like Dinosaur With a Vegetarian Diet

A seven-year-old and his family found the unusual Jurassic theropod while out for a hike in southern Chile

The makech, a beautiful beetle from Central and South America has been worn as a living pendant for centuries.

Meet the Makech, the Bedazzled Beetles Worn as Living Jewelry

The unusual bugs from the Yucatán have a backstory as colorful as their rhinestone-studded rumps

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