Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Stories from this author

None

Snap Shot

None

Presto!

Can invisible technology make Harry Potter disappear?

In a recent study, malaria-resistant mosquitoes —tipped off by their neon green eyes—faired better than typical wild insects after feeding on infected blood.

Can Mosquitoes Fight Malaria?

Scientists can build a mosquito that resists infection, but getting the insects to pass along the gene is a harder task

Marine archaeologists rescued the shipwrecked H.L. Hunley (above, a computer rendering) in August 2000 more than 135 years after it sank during the Civil War.

Saving Our Shipwrecks

New technologies are aiding the search for one Civil War submarine, and the conservation of another

"If we want to ensure free-ranging devil populations that are disease free, putting them on offshore islands is the only alternative we've got," says wildlife researcher Hamish McCallum.

Tasmanian Tailspin

Can a new plan to relocate the Tasmanian devil save the species?

None

The Chopping Block

None

Super Supernova

A view of the Thirteen Towers of Chankillo, in Peru.

Return of the Sun Cult

In Peru, scientists discover the oldest solar observatory in the Americas

"It caught the public's imagination," says Heaney. "We will be dead and gone for years, and people will still be saying, coming off the boat: 'That's Alcatraz.'"

Breaking into Alcatraz

A former guard’s inside look at America’s most famous prison

None

Interview: Daniel Gilbert

What will make you happy? A social scientist explains why it’s so hard to predict

None

Talking to the Feds

The chief of the FBI’s organized crime unit on the history of La Cosa Nostra

None

The Nic Fix

Put down your lighters and pick up your health care cards—, nicotine vaccines are in the works

The amount of jobs and money funneling into the American Midwest could be an economic boon, says Chris Somerville. "We've gone from a couple to 150 corn-grain ethanol plants in 3 years."

The World After Oil

As the planet warms up, eco-friendly fuels can’t get here fast enough

None

DeLorean Tremens

Hold onto your flux capacitors, time machines have nearly arrived

Cowbirds (a male, above) "are more highly evolved than we previously thought," says Jeff Hoover.

Wiseguys with Wings

“Mafia” cowbirds muscle warblers into raising their young

"If global warming's worst predictions come true in 100 years," says Fabio Carrera, "the real issue is preserving Venice as a liveable place—not stopping the occasional tide from coming in."

Venice’s Uncertainty

A new floodgate system should protect the city from high tides—unless climate change interferes

None

Tool Time

An image of Augustine erupting on January 13, 2006, from about 50 miles away from the volcano.

Volcanic Lightning

As sparks flew during the eruption of Mount St. Augustine in Alaska, scientists made some new discoveries

Ancient meditation might have strengthened the mind's ability to connect symbols and meanings, eventually causing gene mutations that favored modern memory.

Meditate on It

Could ancient campfire rituals have separated us from Neanderthals?

A researcher tests a polygraph machine.

Detecting Lies

From chewing rice to scanning brains, the perfect lie detector remains elusive

Page 3 of 4