Ben Panko

Ben Panko is a staff writer for Smithsonian.com

A European bison, also referred to as a wisent

A Wild Bison Was Spotted in Germany for the First Time in Two Centuries. Then It Was Shot

As conservationists work to restore the once mighty European bison, they must face misunderstandings from concerned citizens

Mount Hora, the site in Malawi where an 8,100-year-old skeleton was found, yielding the oldest-known DNA from Africa.

Ancient DNA Helps Scientists Shed Light on How Ancient Africans Moved and Mixed

New techniques help explain why there is little genetic overlap between modern and ancient Malawi people—and promise much more

The three bears whom Goldilocks infamously meets

Celebrate 150 Years of the Illustrator Who Brought Children's Books to Life

Arthur Rackham's work defined the style of his era and beyond

An Enigma machine used during World War II to send coded messages

More Than 5,000 Objects of Espionage Are Coming to the Spy Museum

The trove of cool artifacts comes from the world's largest private collection of spycraft

A gloomy octopus among piles of discarded shells at Octlantis

Octopus 'City' Found Off the Coast of Australia

Expected to live as loners, gloomy octopuses may actually live in groups bustling with activity

A close-up of the stems and optical fibers used to illuminate Field of Light

Stunning 'Field of Light' Surrounds Iconic Australian Rock

As the Sun sets at Uluru, a landscape of lit glass flowers awakens

The electric eel makes it leaping attack onto a biologist's arm

How Strong Is a Zap From an Electric Eel? Shockingly Strong

A biologist learns an eel's power first hand, allowing himself to be repeatedly shocked in the name of science

Taken in 1938, this image captures one of the once abundant Javan tigers. Hunting drove the big cats to extinction.

Long Thought Extinct, Javan Tiger May Have Been Spotted in Indonesia

Last sighted in 1976, many are hopeful that the Javan tiger still lives

Is this cat a liquid or a solid? One researcher is on a hunt for answers.

Liquid Cats, Didgeridoo Research and More From the 2017 Ig Nobel Prizes

A parody of the prestigious Nobel Prizes, the awards celebrate research that makes people laugh, then think

The room where Abraham Lincoln died in the Petersen House

House Where Lincoln Died to Close for Renovations

The Petersen House, across the street from Ford's Theatre, will undergo preservation work to keep it as a museum of the president's final moments

An experiment on how humans reacted to the sight of a truly driverless car was revealed by an intrepid TV reporter

Man Dresses Up Like a Car Seat for Science

After a dramatic confrontation with the costumed driver, it turns out it was all a test

Astronaut Rick Mastracchio poses with the bacteria grown with antibiotics on the International Space Station

Why Bacteria in Space Are Surprisingly Tough to Kill

Learning how space changes microbes might help fight antibiotic resistance here on Earth

Using their elongated necks just right, giraffes can stay cool on the steamy savannah

How Do Giraffes Stay So Cool? Perhaps the Secret Is a Long Neck

Those long, thin necks may be used to shade their skin from the hot African Sun

Since It's 2017, New Broadway Play Plans to Keep Up With the News

From the creator of 'House of Cards,' 'The Parisian Woman' plans to capture the political zeitgeist of the moment

You won't be hearing these disease names from your doctor

This Algorithm Generates Crazy and Terrifying Disease Names

A new neural network makes lists of diseases we thankfully don't have

An apricot seed and the kernels found within them

Man Poisons Himself by Taking Apricot Kernels to Treat Cancer

Many believe these seeds can fight cancer, but there's no scientific evidence to back up the claim

The new Palestinian Museum in the West Bank's Birzeit

Palestinian Museum's First Exhibit Opens

In four sections, 'Jerusalem Lives' uses a variety of mediums to look at Jerusalem's history, political status and daily life

Joan Baez during the Civil Rights March on Washington, D.C. in 1963.

'We Shall Overcome' Verse Now in the Public Domain

A judge recently struck down the copyright for the first verse of the iconic Civil Rights song

A painting of Claude Monet's wife and son by friend Pierre-Auguste Renoir that he owned

The Art Monet Owned

A new exhibit looks inside the mind of this influential Impressionist through the lens of the works he collected

Kangaroo herds dominate Australians ecosystem today, outcompeting other organisms

To Save Australia's Ecosystem, Ecologists Say Eat Kangaroos

With a soaring population, the iconic marsupials are overwhelming other species and may soon run out of food

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