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Frontiers in Science logo

Science & Nature

Frontiers of Science

Smithsonian spotlights the men and women who are breaking new ground in the fields of science and technology

Javier Movellan with robot

Robot Babies

Can scientists build a machine that learns as it goes and plays well with others? A new robot design draws on ways human babies learn about the world
By Abigail Tucker

Annette von Jouanne at Oregons Otter Rock Beach

Catching a Wave, Powering an Electrical Grid?

Electrical engineer Annette von Jouanne is pioneering an ingenious way to generate clean, renewable electricity from the sea
By Elizabeth Rusch

Dr Carlo Croce in his lab

High Hopes for a New Kind of Gene

Scientists believe that microRNA may lead to breakthroughs in diagnosing and treating cancer
By Sylvia Pagán Westphal

Australian bull dog ant

The Hidden World of Ants

A new photo exhibit featuring the work of biologist Mark Moffett reminds us that we still live in an age of discovery
By Amanda Bensen

Blue Whale

Wild Things:
Life as We Know It

Whale of a comeback, dancing cockatoos, sticky bees, and waltzing pond scum
By Amanda Bensen, Joseph Caputo, T.A. Frail, Laura Helmuth and Abigail Tucker

Stone wheel

A Salute to the Wheel

Always cited as the hallmark of man’s innovation, here is the real story behind the wheel – from its origins to its reinvention
By Megan Gambino

Map of ocean currents

Borne on a Black Current

For thousands of years, the Pacific Ocean’s strong currents have swept shipwrecked Japanese sailors onto American shores
By Curtis Ebbesmeyer and Eric Scigliano

Dinosaur fossil

Where is the Dinosaur Capital of the World?

Construction at two Illinois museums brings a new town to the debate of who holds this prestigious title
By Smithsonian.com

The Magellanic Penguins of Punta Tombo

On a tiny peninsula in southern Argentina, nearly 400,000 penguins gather to breed and usher in a new generation of their species

Richard Conniff

Richard Conniff’s Wildlife Writing

International journalist Richard Conniff has reported on animals that fly, swim, crawl and leap in his 40 years of writing
By T.A. Frail

John Allman and Atiya Hakeem examing elephant brain specimens

Brain Cells for Socializing

Does an obscure nerve cell help explain what gorillas, elephants, whales—and people—have in common?
By Ingfei Chen

Termite queens

Wild Things:
Life as We Know It

Flight of the hummingbird, termite cloning and the rise of the octopus
By Joseph Caputo, T.A. Frail, Megan Gambino, Abigail Tucker and Sarah Zielinski

Lionfish invasion

Invasion of the Lionfish

Voracious, venomous lionfish are the first exotic species to invade coral reefs. Now divers, fishermen—and cooks—are fighting back
By Anika Gupta

Embryonic stars in the Eagle Nebula

The Hubble Space Telescope’s Finest Photos

Now that the telescope has received its final upgrades, we look back on Hubble's most memorable images from space
By Joseph Caputo

Audubon Insectarium

Going Buggy at the New Audubon Museum

Crickets, spiders, ants and many other insects thrive in historic New Orleans, where kids and adults learn about creepy crawlers
By David Zax

Sylvea Pagan Westphal

Sylvia Pagán Westphal on “High Hopes for a New Kind of Gene”

By Megan Gambino

Blogs

Around the Mall

Folklife Festival Events for Sunday, July 5

Dinosaur Tracking

Will There Ever Be a Jurassic Park IV?

Food & Think

Ben Franklin: Patriot, Foodie

Surprising Science

Picture of the Week—Fireworks

Most Popular

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  1. The Ultimate Spy Plane
  2. Photo Contest Grand Prize Winner - In the early morning, fishermen clean their nets by Erhai Lake
  3. Catching a Wave, Powering an Electrical Grid?
  4. Photo Contest Finalist - A mountain dwarfs a passenger boat in the Three Gorges area of the Yangzi River
  5. Photo Contest Finalist - Ganga Arati
  6. Photo Contest Finalist - After a hard night's work at sea, a fisherman collects the rope that ties the nets
  7. Photo Contest Travel Winner - Dining in Gion
  8. Photo Contest Finalist - Erik in the World’s Greatest Store
  9. Frank Baum, the Man Behind the Curtain
  10. Photo Contest Finalist - Michel Frazier plays in the fields next to her trailer
  1. There Oughta Be a Law
  2. Frank Baum, the Man Behind the Curtain
  3. Photo Contest Grand Prize Winner - In the early morning, fishermen clean their nets by Erhai Lake
  4. Terra Cotta Soldiers on the March
  5. Catching a Wave, Powering an Electrical Grid?
  6. High Hopes for a New Kind of Gene
  7. Up in Arms Over a Co-Ed Plebe Summer
  8. The Ultimate Spy Plane
  9. Photo Contest Finalist - Jujing Village
  10. Photo Contest Finalist - Walk on Water

Games


WordSmith

Test your knowledge on Smithsonian.com's crossword puzzle

Daily Sudoku

Play the addictive number placement puzzle

Ecocenter

EcoCenter: Energy

What are governments, companies and households doing to conserve energy and pursue a "greener" future?

Photo Essay

The Magellanic Penguins of Punta Tombo

Explore photos from Eric Wagner's experience with the Magellanic penguins of Punta Tombo

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Smithsonian Videos

Counting Down for the Liftoff to the Moon

Counting Down for the Liftoff to the Moon

Photographer David Burnett focused his camera on the many tourists who flocked to Florida in 1969 to watch the launch of Apollo 11

Lucian Perkins Images

A Navy Plebe Re-Meets His Match

Photojournalist Lucian Perkins reunites Naval Academy graduates Sandee Irwin and Don Holcomb, 30 years after his photo captured the new gender dynamics at the school

Deploying the Wave Energy Buoy

Deploying the Wave Energy Buoy

See a prototype of a wave energy buoy bob up and down on the water’s surface as researchers from Oregon State University study its efficacy

Nikita Khrushchevs Great American Tour

Nikita Khrushchev's Great American Tour

As part of a diplomatic mission, Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev traveled across the United States, meeting Americans from New York to Iowa to California

Terra Cotta Soldiers

Uncovering the Terra Cotta Soldiers

A curator from the Houston Museum of Natural Science explains how the terra cotta warriors were discovered and what they reveal about China’s Qin dynasty

In The Magazine

July 2009 Issue Cover

July 2009

  • On the March
  • Nikita in Hollywood
  • We Have Liftoff
  • Birth of a Robot
  • Catching a Wave

View Table of Contents



Smithsonian Journeys

A Mountain Gorilla enjoys a meal, Uganda and Rwanda Gorilla Safari Uganda and Rwanda Gorilla Safari
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