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These fascinating serpents embody acclaimed qualities including cunning and intelligence
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Paleontologists continue to find fossils that help revise our understanding of how dinosaurs did it
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These images from the Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest show just why penguins have waddled into our hearts
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A variety of new technologies aim to improve wildfire detection and help map the spread of blazes
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These fascinating serpents embody acclaimed qualities including cunning and intelligence
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Human use of fire has produced an era of uncontrolled burning
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Researchers hope the designation of several species of land snails, or kāhuli, will lead to conservation
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You won’t regret experiencing bioluminescence, swimming with sperm whales or witnessing the rush of a horizontal waterfall
A company called BlueGreen Water Technologies aims to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere while also fighting algae’s toxic effects on people and the environment
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An arboreal archaeologist roots around the Italian countryside and in centuries-old frescoes for a cornucopia of fruits long forgotten—but still viable to grow and consume
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Roughly 201 million years ago, drastic changes extinguished many forms of life and led to conditions that allowed the terrible lizards to thrive
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Ivan Kashinsky has traveled the world for <em>Smithsonian</em> magazine, but when disaster struck earlier this month, he rushed home to point his lens at his own neighborhood
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Your body is a collection of cells carrying thousands of genetic mistakes accrued over a lifetime—many harmless, some bad and at least a few that may be good for you
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A team trekked for two weeks and collected the sounds of birds, frogs, a jaguar and whales in order to make the song
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By evaluating fossils, scientists are learning what creature features may have been used to attract mates and fight off sexual competitors
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Challenge trials help researchers study immune responses. Skeptics still doubt the approach is worth the risks
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Geomorphologist and veteran climber Ludovic Ravanel is learning how Mont Blanc is shifting—and sharing his discoveries with the Alpine community
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On Tetiaroa, a vibrant coral atoll dotted with sandy islets, archaeologists, marine biologists and cultural practitioners are working together to improve understanding of a unique ecosystem
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With the state’s glaciers retreating at alarming rates, there is no time like now to trek, climb, paddle and fly to see them
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The cute creatures are chatty, family oriented—and facing a shrinking habitat in the remote forests of Ecuador
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One of the smallest owls in North America, the northern saw-whet lives among us and is rarely seen—but one volunteer science project aims to find them and uncover their secrets year after year
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Big Baby
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