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Huxley’s Apocryphal Dinosaur Dinner
Fossil lore says 19th century naturalist T.H. Huxley realized that birds were dinosaurs when he carved into a Christmas turkey, but what really happened?
December 22, 2011 |
By Brian Switek
Hitchcock’s Primeval Birds
Paleontologist Edward Hitchcock was one of the first dinosaur track experts, but why did he insist that birds left the footprints?
December 19, 2011 |
By Brian Switek
A Comedy of Dinosaur Errors
If any dinosaur has a tortured history, it's the giant predator Saurophaganax
December 16, 2011 |
By Brian Switek
Read Sir Isaac Newton’s Works Online
Cambridge University is digitizing its collection of works by Newton and other revolutionary scientists of the past
December 14, 2011 |
By Sarah Zielinski
Dinosaurs In Space!
It's not just science fiction—dinosaurs have already been in space twice
December 12, 2011 |
By Brian Switek
Who Wrote the First Dinosaur Novel?
A decade before The Lost World debuted, one science fiction writer beat Arthur Conan Doyle to the dinosaurian punch.
December 08, 2011 |
By Brian Switek
Lambe’s Lazy, Scavenging Gorgosaurus
Back when tyrannosaurs were new to science, paleontologist Lawrence Lambe cast them as bumbling scavengers that ate rotten flesh
December 01, 2011 |
By Brian Switek
The Origin of a Little Tyrant
Is "Nanotyrannus" a small-bodied tyrannosaur, a juvenile of some unknown species, or a young Tyrannosaurus rex?
November 08, 2011 |
By Brian Switek
Q and A with Alan Alda on Marie Curie
A new play explains how despite the many challenges, the famous scientist didn’t stop trailblazing after her first Nobel
November 03, 2011 |
By Casey Rentz
Five Historic Female Mathematicians You Should Know
Albert Einstein called Emmy Noether a "creative mathematical genius"
October 07, 2011 |
By Sarah Zielinski
The Invasive Species We Can Blame On Shakespeare
There are 200 million European starlings in North America, and they are a menace
October 04, 2011 |
By Sarah Zielinski
Six Secrets of Polonium
This rare and dangerous element, discovered by Marie Curie, is found in cigarettes and was used to poison an ex-KGB agent
October 03, 2011 |
By Sarah Zielinski
Madame Curie's Passion
The pioneering physicist's dedication to science made it difficult for outsiders to understand her, but a century after her second Nobel prize, she gets a second look
October 2011 |
By Julie Des Jardins
Ten Historic Female Scientists You Should Know
Before Marie Curie, these women dedicated their lives to science and made significant advances
September 20, 2011 |
By Sarah Zielinski
The First Supernova
In 185 A.D., someone in China looked up in the night sky and saw a new star
September 06, 2011 |
By Sarah Zielinski
An Ode to Archaeopteryx
The many fuzzy and feathery dinosaurs that have been discovered reveal one of the most magnificent evolutionary transformations in the history of life
August 26, 2011 |
By Brian Switek
The Great New England Hurricane of 1938
Katharine Hepburn's Connecticut beach house and 8,900 other homes were swept into the sea
August 25, 2011 |
By Sarah Zielinski
Q and A: Smithsonian's Elizabeth Cottrell on the Virginia Earthquake
A Smithsonian geologist offers her expertise on the seismic event that shook much of the mid-Atlantic this week
August 24, 2011 |
By Megan Gambino
Dinosaurs for Experts, or for Everyone?
Mounting a full dinosaur skeleton, some paleontologists believed, had more to do with art and architecture than with science
August 15, 2011 |
By Brian Switek
What is Killing the Bats?
Can scientists stop white-nose syndrome, a new disease that is killing bats in catastrophic numbers?
August 2011 |
By Michelle Nijhuis
