Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Sarah Kuta

Daily Correspondent

Sarah Kuta

Sarah Kuta is a freelance journalist based in Longmont, Colorado. She’s been writing and reporting for nearly two decades, covering everything from archaeology and anthropology to evolutionary biology and astronomy. She especially loves writing about wildlife, history, conservation and travel.

Highlights

  • Contributor to National Geographic, Popular Science, Condé Nast Traveler, NBC News, Success magazine, Lonely Planet, the Denver Post, Robb Report, Apartment Therapy and numerous other publications
  • Member of the National Association of Science Writers and the Science Writers Association of the Rocky Mountains
  • Recognized by the Colorado Press Association and the Colorado Associated Press Editors & Reporters

Education

Bachelor’s degree in journalism from Northwestern University

Archaeologists are conducting excavations in the forecourt of Notre-Dame Cathedral.

Secrets From Centuries of Paris History Are Emerging From Archaeological Digs After the Notre-Dame Cathedral Fire

Ahead of planned redevelopment around the iconic Gothic landmark, researchers are digging into the city’s past, through medieval and Roman layers

Pigeons that had been injected with a drug to deplete their special liver cells did not find their way home until the sun came out.

How Do Pigeons Find Their Way Home? New Research Suggests That the Birds’ Remarkable Navigational Skills Come From Their Livers

The birds might use the organs’ iron-rich immune cells as internal compasses on overcast days, when they must rely on Earth’s magnetic field, instead of the sun’s light cues, for navigation

Chimpanzees, bonobos and gorillas tend to walk on their knuckles, while macaques and capuchins walk with flat palms.  

Did Human Ancestors Walk on Their Knuckles Like Today’s Chimpanzees? New Research Adds More Evidence to the Debate

After investigating thousands of wrist bones, scientists suspect the last common ancestor species of humans and chimpanzees may have navigated the world on its knuckles

After being declared extinct in the wild in the 1960s, Przewalski's horses are slowly making a comeback.

‘Playful Youngster’: See the Rare, Endangered Przewalski’s Horse Born at the Bronx Zoo

The foal was born on April 21 and is now romping around with the rest of the herd in the zoo’s seasonal Wild Asia Monorail exhibit. It belongs to a species whose members are often considered the last truly wild horses

In February 2020, naturalist guides Lizardo Proaño and Juan Carlos Narváez photographed a harvestman eating a live frog during a night hike at Mashpi Lodge in Ecuador.

Daddy Longlegs Seem to Hunt Frogs in South America, Revealing the Gangly Arachnids as Overlooked Predators

A new study suggests that harvestmen actively attack the slippery amphibians, rather than just scavenging them. The findings hint that the spineless creatures have a more complex relationship with vertebrates than previously thought

Researchers decided not to dye or bleach the yarn so that the shipwreck’s original color could shine.

A Shipwreck, but Make It Fashion: Researchers Transformed Wooden Fragments From a 17th-Century Shipwreck Into a Pair of Stylish Maxi Dresses

Scientists at Aalto University in Finland saved pieces of the Hahtiperä wreck and turned them into textile fibers

Human development—such as roads—affects wildlife. But so does the presence of people.

The Mere Presence of Humans—Not Just Our Changes to the Land—Can Alter Wild Animals’ Behaviors, a New Study Suggests

Researchers examined GPS tracking data from thousands of animals representing 37 species and anonymized cellphone location data from 2020, a year of Covid-19 lockdowns, and the previous year

A team is exploring shipwrecks in Lake Union, including this steel workboat submerged 30 feet deep.

An Underwater Robot Explores the Hidden ‘Shipwreck City’ Beneath the Surface of This Popular Urban Lake in the Pacific Northwest

Using a remotely operated vehicle, researchers are exploring a long-overlooked piece of Seattle’s maritime history

The researchers studied four captive belugas housed at the New York Aquarium of the Wildlife Conservation Society.

Belugas Can Recognize Themselves in Mirrors, Joining a Short List of Nonhuman Species That Show Signs of Self-Awareness

The researchers hope that this new understanding of cognition in the toothed whales will increase human empathy and concern for the animals, leading to more efforts to protect them

Researchers found evidence of degenerative joint disease, trauma and other health problems.

Whalers Didn’t Just Sing Sea Shanties and Seek Adventure. Proof of Laborers’ Grueling Work Is in Their Skeletons, Buried in the Arctic

Remains buried on Svalbard show the brutal toll whaling took on men in the 17th and 18th centuries. Climate change threatens these kinds of archaeological sites across the Arctic

Around 90 percent of people are right-handed.

Why Is Nearly Every Person Right-Handed—but Not Every Ape and Monkey? New Research Explores the Evolutionary Origins of Human Handedness

Brain size and bipedalism are the most likely drivers of our species’ right-hand dominance, according to new research

Mediterranean monk seals are among the rarest pinnipeds in the world.

Mediterranean Monk Seals Hide in Underwater ‘Bubble Caves’ to Avoid Tourists During the Busy Summer Season, a Study Suggests

Researchers caught the rare pinnipeds resting and sleeping in a secluded chamber on the Greek islet of Formicula. The findings suggest that these small caves should be included in efforts to protect the animals’ habitat

The skeleton first emerged from an eroded road cut in 2000 or 2001.

Likely Kicked by a Kangaroo, This Dingo Healed a Millennium Ago Thanks to Help From an Aboriginal Community That Continued to Honor It for 500 Years

New research shows that the ancestors of the Barkindji people in Australia ritually added river mussel shells to a burial site for centuries after the dingo died, suggesting they cared for it deeply

A chick hatches around 18 days after embryo transfer to the artificial egg, according to the company.

‘De-Extinction’ Company Says It Hatched Chicks From Artificial Eggs, Paving the Way for Resurrecting Dodos and Other Bygone Birds

Colossal Biosciences announced that 26 live baby chickens have emerged from 3D-printed honeycomb structures. But the company does not plan to detail the system in a paper, and its mission has faced criticism

Each by-the-wind sailor is made of a community of genetically identical organisms called "zooids" that perform different tasks.

Millions of Bright Blue Blobs Called ‘By-the-Wind Sailors’ Are Littering Beaches Along the West Coast

The strange creatures are washing up on shores across California, Oregon and Washington this spring—and making the coast smell especially fishy

Archaeologists discovered the burial in Colchester, a city in Essex, England, which served as the first capital of Roman Britain. 

A Woman Buried in an Elaborate Roman Coffin With Precious Grave Goods Was ‘Clearly Cherished by Her Family and Her Community,’ Archaeologists Say

A new exhibition in Colchester, England, site of the first capital of Roman Britain, explores the “Lexden Lady” and her collection of treasures

In laboratory experiments, house crickets groomed an antenna that had been touched by a hot soldering iron.

Can Insects Feel Pain? New Research Suggests That Crickets Do

Used for food, feed and research, the critters are among the most widely farmed bugs. The study authors say humans should work to reduce harm in insect farming, handling and experimentation

Beyoncé’s single “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)” and Taylor Swift’s album 1989 were added to the National Recording Registry.

Music From Beyoncé and Taylor Swift, Plus Dozens of Other ‘Audio Treasures,’ Added to National Recording Registry

The 25 newest additions to the national playlist at the Library of Congress have been deemed “worthy of preservation for all time based on their cultural, historical or aesthetic importance in the nation’s recorded sound heritage”

Nagatitan chaiyaphumensis was a long-necked, plant-eating dinosaur that lived in what is now Thailand between 100 million and 120 million years ago.

A Man Spotted Strange-Looking Rocks Near a Pond in Thailand. They Turned Out to Be the Bones of a Massive New Dinosaur Species

Paleontologists have dubbed the long-necked, plant-eating creature “Nagatitan chaiyaphumensis.” It’s the 14th named dinosaur from Thailand, and it might be the biggest one ever found in Southeast Asia

The procedure was likely extremely painful. But, afterward, the Neanderthal continued chewing with the tooth, which suggests they felt some relief.

Neanderthals Got Cavities, Too—and New Research Suggests They Drilled Into Their Teeth to Treat Them, Just Like Modern Dentists

Researchers unearthed a 59,000-year-old Neanderthal molar that shows signs of dental surgery, a discovery that pushes back the earliest evidence of dental work by roughly 45,000 years

Page 1 of 84