Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Science

The fossil of Icaronycteris gunnelli

Paleontologists Discover 52-Million-Year-Old Bat

The fossil represents the earliest-known species of the flying mammal

The total solar eclipse of 2017 as seen from Monmouth, Oregon

Everything You Need to Know About the 2024 Total Solar Eclipse

A veteran eclipse chaser explains how to get ready for one of the planet’s biggest celestial events

A revolutionary new tool, a collaboration between the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory and NASA, will monitor the chemistry and changing dynamics of major pollutants (above: an Arizona power generating station).

This Eye in the Sky Promises Major Insights Into the Air We Breathe

The satellite mission TEMPO will detect pollutants at a neighborhood scale across the nation

Xander Bogaerts hits his first home run with his new team, the San Diego Padres, at Petco Park in San Diego on April 1, 2023. 

Climate Change Is Making Home Runs Easier to Hit

A new study attributes more than 500 homers since 2010 to increased global average temperatures, an effect that will only increase the hotter Earth gets

None

Our Sustainable Future

Our Sustainable Future

The latest on how climate change affects life on Earth today and on what solutions scientists, including those at the Smithsonian, are innovating

"AquaReinas," or costumed mermaid messengers with the Mermaid Society of Texas, participate in the 2022 Mermaid Capital of Texas Fest parade in San Marcos, Texas.

Planet Positive

The Texas City Where Mermaids Inspire River Conservation

“Aquamaids” were once the stars at an amusement park in San Marcos. Now, they are making a comeback to help the environment

Technician Yesmarie De La Flor prepares cultures of probiotics in the Smithsonian Marine Station’s microbiology laboratory in Fort Pierce, Florida. These probiotics were used for testing on diseased corals.

Probiotics May Help Corals Fight a Dangerous Disease Off Florida’s Coast

The new treatment shows promise in lab experiments

A monk seal in southern Greece. Females tended to give birth on beaches before human hostility drove them into hiding.

Planet Positive

The Mediterranean Monk Seal Is Making a Comeback

The endangered sea creature, known for its reclusive nature, has re-emerged out of the shadows

A sadhill crane flies over the San Luis Valley.

Planet Positive

Planet Positive

From stories about rebounding species to dispatches about green innovations, Smithsonian magazine shares environmental practices that are working.

A team skis from the remote Taku D site to the Camp 10 sleeping quarters. Students often travel as much as 8 to 10 miles a day, carrying packs a third of their body weight.

Discover Alaska

These Students Are Part of a 75-Year Study to Map Alaska’s Glaciers

Traversing an icefield by foot and on skis, the young researchers experience one of the coolest classrooms in the nation

Researchers hike near a creek that formed after a glacier retreated.

As Glaciers Retreat, New Streams Offer Homes for Salmon

After the waterways form, insects move in, alders and willows spring up, and spawning fish arrive in thousands

Theodore Roosevelt, right, and Cândido Rondon, second from right, led the fateful mission to map an uncharted waterway and document natural wonders.

Teddy Roosevelt’s Perilous Expedition on the Amazon

The dangerous—yet victorious—trip wouldn’t have been possible without Cândido Rondon, an icon of Brazilian history

Saylor Flett, left, fans flames ignited by Jeff Greef. Air quality, weather and even bird migration affect when it’s safe to conduct a burn.

Planet Positive

Fighting Fire With Fire in California

How communities in the West are boldly setting property ablaze to reduce the impact of extreme wildfires

An artist’s reconstruction of Rhinesuchus, a rhinesuchid temnospondyl

Paleontologists Uncover Fossil Impressions of Giant, Alligator-Like Amphibians

The find reveals how the creatures swam and relaxed in prehistoric waterways

Archaeologists collect samples from a prehistoric caribou hunting site on Alpena-Amberley Ridge in Lake Huron.

America's Waterways: The Past, Present and Future

Clues to the Lives of North America’s First Inhabitants Are Hidden Underwater

Submerged prehistory holds insights on the first humans to live in North America

Live oaks in Beaufort, South Carolina, photographed using an old-fashioned wet-plate process

The Live Oak Tree Has Withstood the Ravages of History

Majestic and sturdy, the icon of the American South has offered protection time and again

Several private companies are designing space stations that may eventually orbit Earth.

The ISS Will Fall From the Sky After the End of the Decade. What Will Replace It?

As NASA plans to retire the orbiting laboratory, these four privately owned and operated space stations are under development

Lego Caveman comes armed with a toy wooden club.

Did Our Ancestors Actually Wield Clubs?

Inspired by pop culture depictions of cavepeople, an archaeologist searches for what is real and what is a myth

This functional connectivity map, a kind of “fingerprint” of the brain, displays how different regions interact with each other in 12-year-olds. The map was constructed from resting-state MRIs, where participants were lying down and not completing a task. Larger red circles denote brain “nodes” with more connections.

The Future of Mental Health

Can a ‘Fingerprint’ of Your Brain Help Predict Disorders?

Using new medical imaging techniques, researchers are working to identify early signs of developmental disorders and mental illness

Many of the reptiles that thrived during the Triassic were crocodile relatives that dinosaurs would later mimic through evolutionary happenstance, such as Postosuchus (back) and Desmatosuchus (front).

Dinosaurs Were Evolutionary Copycats of These Long-Lost Look-Alikes

Before T. rex and ankylosaurus ruled the Earth, a host of similar Triassic reptiles reigned

Page 38 of 458