Behavior
Emotions, perception and the biological processes of living organisms
Breeding the Perfect Bull
A Texas cattleman used genetic science to breed his masterpiece – a near-perfect Red Angus bull. Then nature took its course
April 2010 |
By Jeanne Marie Laskas
The Bacterial Evidence on Our Keyboards
Late last year, the television show Mythbusters showed that our computer keyboards are crawling with microorganisms. Now scientists from the University of Colorado have shown that those bacteria can be used to identify a computer's user.Germophobes don't want to know this, but our bodies are covere...
March 17, 2010 |
By Sarah Zielinski
Odd Malaria Risk Factor: Drinking Beer
Here in the United States, we rarely have to worry that a mosquito bite will cause malaria. Like Canada, Australia, much of Europe and a few other places, we've been designated "malaria-free" by World Health Organization. Other places aren't so lucky. Nearly one million people died from the disease...
March 11, 2010 |
By Sarah Zielinski
Vaccines Don't Cause Autism
It's rare in science and science writing to make definitive statements, particularly about causation. We like to add what I call "wishy washy" words like "may" and "probably" and "perhaps." So when scientists or science writers make definitive statements like "vaccines don't cause autism" and "vacc...
March 04, 2010 |
By Sarah Zielinski
Stephen Hawking's Initials in the Big Bang's Echo
Scientists have released their latest, most detailed map of the cosmic microwave background--that faint glow of radiation left over from the Big Bang--and Stephen Hawking's initials are still there. The S and H have been spotted in previous versions of the image, which is sometimes known as WMAP fo...
February 09, 2010 |
By Sarah Zielinski
What Neuroscience Sounds Like
Neuroscience has always been a scary topic for me. I studied ecology and marine science and viewed brain science as another language, another world, kind of how John Cleese "explains" it in this video. Enjoy!(Hat tip: Boing Boing)
February 04, 2010 |
By Sarah Zielinski
How Sleepy Are Sloths and Other Lessons Learned
Smithsonian scientists use radio technology to track animals in an island jungle in the middle of the Panama Canal
February 03, 2010 |
By Megan Gambino
The Barefoot Running Debate
My husband’s favorite story to tell about his first marathon is that a woman in stocking feet beat him.“And it was in Vermont…in October…on gravel roads,” he always adds, still amazed at the freakish phenom.That was in 2006, and now just over three years later, barefoot running, though clearly not ...
January 28, 2010 |
By Megan Gambino
The Truth About Lions
The world's foremost lion expert reveals the brutal, secret world of the king of beasts
January 2010 |
By Abigail Tucker
Man-Eaters of Tsavo
They are perhaps the world’s most notorious wild lions. Their ancestors were vilified more than 100 years ago as the man-eaters of Tsavo
January 2010 |
By Paul Raffaele
Nine Science Stories You Should Have Read This Year
It's also been a good year for science stories in Smithsonian magazine, including our special issue, Exploring the Frontiers of Science. Here are nine you should read if you haven't already:Gene Therapy in a New Light: A husband-and-wife team's experimental genetic treatment for blindness is renewi...
December 30, 2009 |
By Sarah Zielinski
The Call of the Panama Bats
Scientist Elisabeth Kalko uses high-tech equipment to track and study the 120 bat species in the region
December 28, 2009 |
By Megan Gambino
Eight Awful Movies for Science in the 2000s
Even a bad movie can be enjoyable under the right circumstances. Sometimes, though, you wish you hadn't bothered. Here are eight clunkers from the last decade: Erin Brockovich (2000): Julia Roberts won an Academy Award for her work in this true-life story of a woman who fought against polluters in ...
December 17, 2009 |
By Sarah Zielinski
The Most Ferocious Man-Eating Lions
Africa's lions may usually prey on zebras or giraffes, but they also attack humans, with some lions responsible for over 50 deaths
December 16, 2009 |
By Abigail Tucker
A Coral Reef's Mass Spawning
Understanding how corals reproduce is critical to their survival; Smithsonian's Nancy Knowlton investigates the annual event
December 2009 |
By Megan Gambino
Heart Disease Found in Ancient Egyptian Mummies
Heart disease may appear to be a recent problem, brought on by the processed foods and sedentary lifestyles of modern living, but it's been plaguing humanity since ancient times, according to a new study in the Journal of the American Medical Association.A team of scientists from the United States ...
November 18, 2009 |
By Sarah Zielinski
Recording the Ju/'hoansi for Posterity
For 50 years, John Marshall documented one of Africa's last remaining hunter- gatherer tribes in more than 700 hours of film footage
November 2009 |
By Amanda Bensen
Emmett Till's Casket Goes to the Smithsonian
Simeon Wright recalls the events surrounding his cousin's murder and the importance of having the casket on public display
November 2009 |
By Abby Callard
Invasion of the Longhorn Beetles
In Worcester, Massachusetts, authorities are battling an invasive insect that is poised to devastate the forests of New England
November 2009 |
By Peter Alsop
Alaska's Great Wide Open
A land of silvery light and astonishing peaks, the country's largest state perpetuates the belief that anything is possible
November 2009 |
By Pico Iyer
