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The colorful salt terraces in the Dallol region of Ethiopia are hot targets for astrobiologists seeking extreme microbial life that could resemble extraterrestrials.

New Research

This Alien Color Catalog May Help Us Spot Life on Other Planets

A digital library of reflectance spectra from microbes could be a powerful tool for spotting signs of extraterrestrials

The ubiquitous shamrock has mythical origins.

No One Really Knows What a Shamrock Is

The three-leaf clover is what everyone wears, but what species is it?

Volunteer Rosheka Robinson serves plates of food to guests at Sister Jean's Kitchen in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Smart Startup

This App Recommends Volunteer Opportunities Based on the News You Read

Ideal Impact connects people that show an interest in a particular cause with organizations that could use their help

Bust some ghosts in this board game based on the 1984 classic.

This Week in Crowdfunding

A Ghostbusters Board Game, Lights That Respond to Music and Other Wild Ideas That Just Got Funded

Also, a sensor that uses thermal technology to track the amount of gas left in a tank

Best Space Photos of the Week

A Solar Flare and a Volcano Blizzard Are Among These Stellar Shots

An X-class explosion and a snowy satellite image feature among our picks for the week’s best space images

Roberts' wheelchair sports a reclining seat, a headlight for nighttime driving and a space in the back for a respirator and a small portable ramp.

Ed Roberts’ Wheelchair Records a Story of Obstacles Overcome

The champion of the disability rights movement refused to be hindered and challenged the world to create spaces for independent living

Last fall, the Federal Aviation Administration finally allowed a handful of movie companies to use drones for filming in the United States.

It Was Only a Matter of Time: Drones Get Their Own Film Festival

Hoping to clean up the tarnished image of drones, a filmmaker shifts the focus to their potential for changing how movies are made

From Auto-Tune to Motor Oil, Pi Helps Power the World

More than just a famously never-ending number, pi has a knack for appearing in the mathematical formulas we use every day

Pi Day pies.

Indiana Almost Made Pi Equal to 3.2, and Other Pi Day Facts

As you celebrate the mathematical holiday, here’s a history of notable moments in the irrational number’s past

Why the Story of Cinderella Endures and Resonates

A Smithsonian folklorist follows the ancient tale with a particularly American twist

Personal environmental monitors, such as TZOA (shown here), measure air quality and stream that information to users who may otherwise have no idea what they are breathing.

With Wearable Devices That Monitor Air Quality, Scientists Can Crowdsource Pollution Maps

Emerging technology means anyone with a smartphone can become a mobile environmental monitoring station

Ask Smithsonian: How Do People Get Phobias?

The origins of irrational fears

At the Batadomba-lena rock shelter in Sri Lanka, scientists found evidence that humans were living off rainforest resources as early as 20,000 years ago.

Anthropocene

Humans Relied on Rainforest Riches 12,000 Years Earlier Than Thought

Fossil remains suggest that prehistoric people in Sri Lanka may have eaten monkeys and other forest species

It's time for the Romance Novel to get its due as an influential genre in the literary canon.

Why Can’t Romance Novels Get Any Love?

The genre is long overdue to be the focus of serious study from academics

An ecosystem of bacteria lives in our intestines and produces gases. Detecting these gases in real-time could provide insight into their relationship with different illnesses.

New Research

Fecal Fermentation and Electronic Pills May Help Decipher Gut Gases

Some intestinal gases have been linked with diseases such as irritable bowel syndrome and colon cancer, so tracking them might explain the connection

This sinkhole in Belize has drawn scientists and divers, shedding light on the mystery that ended the Mayan Empire.

The World is Full of Circles

In honor of a very special Pi Day, enjoy this map that explores the human-made and natural structures that come closest to a perfect circle

The front page of the Los Angeles Times on March 14, 1928

On Occasions Like This, I Envy the Dead: The St. Francis Dam Disaster

William Mulholland was the savior of Southern California until he wasn’t

A blue whale specimen, dating from 1936, from the Gulf of Mexico is part of a rare Smithsonian collection of whale fetuses.

New Research

Rare Collection of Whale Fetuses Reveals the Evolution of Cetacean Hearing

Smithsonian researchers offer up an unprecedented glimpse at the development of the “acoustic funnel,” an ear area found exclusively in whales

The Amazing Results of Putting a Light Inside Fruits and Vegetables

Romanian photographer Radu Zaciu makes these farmers’ market foods glow from within

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