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The smaller of the two twin panda cubs has died.

Updated: One of the National Zoo’s Panda Cubs Has Died

The Zoo announced on August 26 that the smaller of its newborn twin panda cubs has died

Doomsday mushrooms?

Anthropocene

Death By Fungus, and Other Fun Facts About Fungal Friends and Foes

This Generation Anthropocene episode highlights oft overlooked organisms that may help us better understand human impacts

Alexander Niculescu and his colleagues at Indiana University have found a way to identify, with more than 90 percent accuracy, patients who will have suicidal thoughts in the next year.

Innovative Spirit Health Care

A Blood Test and App May Help Identify Patients at Risk of Suicide

With blood biomarkers and a questionnaire, researchers at Indiana University claim they can pinpoint patients who will have suicidal thoughts within a year

Don Herbert was "Mr. Wizard," an educator who loved spectacle as much as he loved science.

Meet Mr. Wizard, Television’s Original Science Guy

In the 1950s and 1960s, Don Herbert broadcast some of the most mesmerizing, and kooky, science experiments from his garage

On August 29, 1985, Michael Drummond became the sixth person, and the youngest, to be implanted with an artificial heart.

The Innovative Spirit

Thirty Years Ago, an Artificial Heart Helped Save a Grocery Store Manager

The Smithsonian, home to the Jarvik 7 and a host of modern chest-pumping technologies, has a lot of (artificial) heart

The Castle and the Enchanted Forest Sign as they look today on Clark's Elioak Farm.

The Abandoned Theme Park That Finally Got a Storybook Ending

This Maryland amusement park was once an East Coast version of Disneyland and was left for dead until one woman rescued it

The smallest cub, which weighed just 86 grams at birth, is seen here being hand-reared with bottle formula feedings.

Panda Update: Giant Panda Mom Mei Xiang Won’t Exchange Care of Cubs

Smaller cub is receiving infant formula and fluids from Zoo veterinarians

Innovative Spirit Health Care

Look Into This Smart Mirror and You Get a One-Minute Medical Checkup

The Wize Mirror can spot early warning signs of heart disease and diabetes

Innovative Spirit Health Care

Six Children’s Books That Use Psychological Techniques to Help Kids

The sleep-inducing “The Rabbit Who Wants to Fall Asleep” has become a mega bestseller. But it’s not the only story to lean on psychology

Molted glass during the 3D printing process, screenshot from "Glass" on Vimeo

Cool Finds

3D Printing Molten Glass Is Beautiful

The innovation comes out of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

A bat box stands over the Herdade do Esporão vineyard in Portugal.

Age of Humans

Winemakers Are Building Houses for Bats to Make Vineyards Greener

Attracting the right species can help get rid of vine-munching insects and allow farmers to cut back on pesticides

Opah caught off the coast of Hawaii can weigh 200 pounds.

Taking the Temperature of the First Warmblooded Fish

What can the opah tell us about the deep blue sea

The white Kermode bear, a rare ursa sacred to local tribes, is now the center of a fierce battle to protect British Columbia’s rainforest.

Canada

This Rare, White Bear May Be the Key to Saving a Canadian Rainforest

The white Kermode bear of British Columbia is galvanizing First Nations people fighting to protect their homeland

The True Story of Kudzu, the Vine That Never Truly Ate the South

A naturalist cuts through the myths surrounding the invasive plant

Ask Smithsonian 2017

What Happens to Spiders That Get Sucked Into a Vacuum?

You asked, we answered

The Broken Promise of the Levees That Failed New Orleans

A piece of concrete serves as a reminder of how Hurricane Katrina shattered a city’s faith

Chicago schoolkids pledge allegiance in 1963.

How the Pledge of Allegiance Went From PR Gimmick to Patriotic Vow

Francis Bellamy had no idea how famous, and controversial, his quick ditty would become

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