What Genomic Research Can Tell Us About the Earth's Biodiversity

Smithsonian scientists are gathering wildlife tissue samples from around the world to build the largest museum-based repository of such specimens
June 2013 | By Joseph Stromberg

Should Students Who Are Bad at Math Receive Therapeutic Electro-Shock Treatments?

Students who had their brains zapped solved math questions 27 percent faster than those who did not
May 17, 2013 | By Rachel Nuwer

Endangered Ocean Creatures Beyond the Cute and Cuddly

Marine species threatened with extinction aren't just whales, seals and turtles--they include fish, corals, mollusks, birds, and a lone seagrass
May 17, 2013 | By Emily Frost

A Bust of Richard III, 3D-Printed From a Scan of His Recently Exhumed Skull

A forensic art team reconstructed Richard III's face
May 17, 2013 | By Colin Schultz

Two-Thirds of the World Still Hates Lefties

For 2/3 of the world's population, being born left handed is still met with distrust and stigma
May 17, 2013 | By Rose Eveleth

Subway Is Just as Bad For You as McDonald’s

This ad for Subway sandwiches reminds you that, unlike their fast food competitors that sell burgers and fries and shakes, Subway is healthy. That seems obvious, since they’re selling sandwiches with lettuce on them while other places sell fattening burgers. But a new study suggests that in fact eating at Subway might be less healthy [...]
May 16, 2013 | By Rose Eveleth

Doctors Used to Use Live African Frogs As Pregnancy Tests

Now, those former test subjects may be spreading the deadly amphibian chytrid fungus around the world
May 16, 2013 | By Rachel Nuwer

A Friendly Reminder From Pretty Much Every Climate Scientist in the World: Climate Change Is Real

Yes, climate change is real. Yes, we are causing it.
May 16, 2013 | By Colin Schultz

Water Cut Off From the World for Billions of Years Is Bubbling From the Bottom of a Mine

1.5 miles down at the base of a Canadian mine life may have thrived
May 16, 2013 | By Colin Schultz

So Long, Kepler: NASA’s Crack Exoplanet-Hunter Falls to Mechanical Failure

Kepler has changed our place in the universe, but now the four-year old satellite is down with a broken wheel
May 16, 2013 | By Colin Schultz

Scientists Are Finding Clues to the Next Mega-Earthquake in One That Hit the West Coast in 1700

Researchers now know details of how the infamous earthquake of 1700 struck the West Coast
May 16, 2013 | By Rachel Nuwer

How Pixar and Psychology Helped Facebook Design Its Emoticons

Facebook teamed up with a Pixar illustrator and a psychologist to make the most emotive emoticons it could muster
May 16, 2013 | By Rose Eveleth

Dogs Experience a Runner’s High (But Ferrets Do Not)

Though the researchers didn't include cats in the study, they suspect that felines, too, would experience a runner's high
May 15, 2013 | By Rachel Nuwer

Climate Change Is Making the Whole Planet Tip

Climate change isn't just making the North Pole warmer, it's actually changing where the North Pole is located
May 15, 2013 | By Colin Schultz

A U.S. Spy Agency’s Leftover, Hubble-Sized Satellite Could Be on Its Way to Mars

What do you do with a spare world-class satellite?
May 15, 2013 | By Colin Schultz

E. Coli Can Survive the Freezing Cold Winter Hidden in Manure

Even the harsh Canadian winter can't kill these hardy bacteria
May 15, 2013 | By Colin Schultz

Amazing Sea Butterflies Are the Ocean’s Canary in the Coal Mine

These delicate and stunning creatures are offering Smithsonian scientists a warning sign for the world's waters turning more acidic
May 14, 2013 | By Hannah Waters

Watch Out: This Year’s Fire Season Will Be Another Bad One for the West

A warm, dry winter has set the stage for another bad year of forest fires in the western U.S.
May 14, 2013 | By Colin Schultz

Mount Everest Is Not Immune to Climate Change

Over the past 50 years, the snow line has receded nearly 600 feet up the mountain and glaciers in the region have shrunk by 13 percent
May 14, 2013 | By Rachel Nuwer

Police Could Soon Get Their Hands on the U.S. Military’s ‘Pain Ray’

This high frequency microwave weapon makes you feel like your skin is burning, but leaves no scars
May 14, 2013 | By Colin Schultz

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