Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Stories from this author

Fish on Prozac Are Violent And Obsessive

Prozac is seeping out of sewage treatment plants and into rivers and lakes, turning male minnows into female murderers

Archeologists Uncover Utah’s First Mormon Baptistry

Archeologists uncovered the remains of the first Latter-day Saints baptistry in Utah County, build around 1875

None

Lonesome George Was Not Alone!

Reality Check: Does Oxytocin Keep Committed Men Away from Other Women?

The latest oxytocin study says the hormone makes committed men stay faithful, but some skeptics cry foul

None

To Avoid College Admissions Scrutiny, High Schoolers Are Changing Their Names on Facebook

In recent years, colleges have been sharpening their interest in applicants’ online personas, specifically their Facebook accounts - but students have caught on

Killer robots storm the Winter Palace.

Australian Students Accidentally Taught That Robots Led the Russian Revolution

Nearly 6,000 Australian students were inadvertently taught this week that giant robots led the Russian Revolution thanks to a sloppy exam staff Google job

None

To Save Money, Ask for Pretty, New Dollar Bills

People like their cash fresh and clean, and they’re more likely to hold on to those neat bills than spend them quickly

None

Protected Mountain Gorilla Population Rises by Ten Percent in Two Years

Conservationists announce good news for mountain gorillas, but the species is not out of the woods just yet

Male head louse

Lice Evolution Tracks the Invention of Clothes

The evolution of body lice shows that humans began wearing clothes between 50,000 to 200,000 years ago

How to Learn a Language in Less Than 24 Hours

A new company called Memrise says their app can teach you an entire language within hours

Are Humans Getting Intellectually And Emotionally Stupid?

Evolution no longer places intelligence-selecting demands on us, researchers argue, meaning we are slowly but surely regressing intellectually

Climate Change May Obliterate Pandas

Panda bears are climate change’s latest potential victims, which threatens to destroy their bamboo forests

A Flourishing Microbial Community Dwells Within Your Belly Button

A team of researchers dug into 60 different people’s belly buttons and found bacterial diversity and microbial mystery

None

State Department Takes On Illegal Wildlife Trade

Hillary Clinton aims to create an international coalition to stop illegal wildlife trafficking

None

Happy Birthday Rodin, Sculptor And Breaker of Women’s Hearts

Rodin’s contribution to society lives on in his artistic works, but he wrecked a few lives in his time

Mother Birds Teach Their Eggs a Secret ‘Feed Me!’ Password

Australian female fairy-wrens don’t even wait until their young are hatched before starting to teach them life skills

None

Crocodile And Alligator Jaws Are More Sensitive Than Human Fingertips

Human fingertips are exquisitely sensitive to texture and touch, but they’ve got nothing on crocodilian jaws

How Gigantic, Ancient Cats And Dogs Got Along

Dogs and cats have never been the best of friends, but 9 million years ago they at least lived in harmony together

None

Why We Can’t Give Good Directions

Our minds find it incredibly difficult to appreciate how the world looks to someone who doesn’t know it yet

Page 71 of 83