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Articles

We All Experience Smells Differently From One Another

A difference of a single amino acid on one gene can cause that person to experience a smell differently than someone with another amino acid

Stop Freaking Out About Lead in Backyard Chicken Eggs

Urban hens’ eggs have elevated levels of lead, but the levels are still pretty low

Santa could make his home on floating sea ice, but the Arctic may be ice free as early as 2016, according to the U.S. Navy.

Six Ways Climate Change Is Waging War on Christmas

If Santa really lived at the North Pole, he would have drowned long ago—his icy abode is slowly melting

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Watch A 1,400-Pound Right Whale Skull Arrive At the Smithsonian

A rare specimen from an endangered species is donated to the Natural History Museum’s collections

Vying for tamale-downing dominance, Carter demolished 16 of the Delta delicacies. A key part of his strategy: swigging from his opponent’s water bottle.

How the Hot Tamale Conquered the American South

Our intrepid reporter heads back to the Mississippi Delta in search of his favorite food—and the title of tamale-eating champ

Watch China’s Chang’e Lander Touch Down on the Moon

For the first time in 37 years, humans have landed something on the Moon

How Many Birds Do Wind Turbines Really Kill?

The giant spinning turbines are basically bird death traps - and often they cut through prime flying space making the carnage even worse

Stained transverse section of a lily flower bud. Darkfield illumination, stitched images.

Art Meets Science

The Startling Beauty of the Microscopic

Olympus BioScapes announces ten winners of their 2013 Digital Image Competition, which honors some of the best images taken through a microscope

Cut Down a Forest, Let It Grow Back, And Even 30 Years Later It’s Not the Same

In the tropics, secondary forests are often “ephemeral,” succumbing to deforestation every 10 years or so and thus never able to fully recover

Don't let the badges fool you - most people are willing to cheat.

It’s Not That Hard to Make People Do Bad Things

How many people do you think you’d have to approach before you could convince one to tell a lie?

Reinvented: Futuristic Toilet Extolls the Health Benefits of Squatting

An award-winning design for the toilet of the future makes it easier to switch to a more natural posture

This Computer Algorithm Can Tell If You’re a Hipster

One day, they could help flash ads for single-speed bikes when you walk by

Student Olivia Persons of George Washington University jumped at the chance to help the National Museum of Natural History develop a new education facility.

A New Education Lab Called Q?rius Aims to Be the Mother of All Curiosity

It’s a quirky way to spell curious, but at Natural History’s Q?rius, the kids are lining up to get in

Stores are using sensors to make sense of the madness.

How Are Stores Tracking the Way That We Shop?

More and more are using sensors to follow the cell phone signals of customers to understand how they behave

A composite photo shows the shower of the Geminids.

Friday Night Lights: The Geminid Meteor Shower Peaks Tonight

For prime meteor shower viewing tonight, stay up late until the Moon sets

How One Chinese Corporate Spy Dodged the FBI to Steal Inbred Corn Seeds from Iowa

Mo Hailong faces a decade in prison for allegedly trying to steal millions of dollars-worth of corn seeds

Charles "Pete" Conrad stands with the United States flag on the lunar surface on November 19, 1969.

The Moon Belongs to No One, but What About Its Artifacts?

Experts call on spacefaring nations to protect lunar landing sites, not to mention Neil Armstrong’s footprints

An 800-year-old medieval bridge spans the subterranean River Roch beneath Rochdale, England.

This River And Medieval Bridge, Paved Over for 100 Years, Will Soon Return to the Light

Local artists were recruited to help determine the river’s ultimate design, and developers say the project could be completed by 2015

Using interpretive dance, Cedric Tan, a biologist at the University of Oxford, explains his PhD thesis, "Sperm competition between brothers and female choice.

Art Meets Science

This is What Happens When You Ask Scientists to Explain Their PhDs in Dance

Watch this year’s winners of the “Dance Your Ph.D” contest animate sperm competition, cell division and sleep deprivation

Can Bees Be Trained to Sniff Out Cancer?

A British artist has designed Bee’s, a glass diagnostic tool that aims to make screening as simple as breathing into a bowl

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