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Articles

The SlimStyle’s radical design allows for continuous operation without the need for aluminum heat sinks, one of the major cost drivers of LED bulbs.

Tech Watch

Switching to This Flat LED Light Bulb Could Be an Easy Resolution to Keep in the New Year

With its radical new design, the Philips SlimStyle may be the cheapest LED yet

The Scientific Reason Super-Villains Always Lose

Evil isn’t the only culprit

Ancient Reptiles Kept Switching Between Laying Eggs And Giving Birth to Live Babies

Colder temperatures seem key to triggering the switch to live births

There’s a Simple, Effective Way to Get Kids to Eat Vegetables—Pay Them

Kids throw away around $3.8 million of uneaten veggies and fruits from school lunches each year

A golden eagle swoops for a rabbit.

Art Meets Science

Beautiful Anatomical Skeletons, Posed and Photographed As Sculptures

Photographer Patrick Gries transforms ordinary specimens, stripped of fur and flesh, into art that showcases motion, predation and evolution

The British Library Just Put More Than a Million Images in the Public Domain

From the largest library in the world, more than a million images free to download and use

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LISTEN: Smithsonian Folkways Re-releases Anthology of Indian Classical Music

This Mick Jagger-approved album includes Ravi Shankar and Ali Akbar Khan’s first recordings released in the West

This Past November Was the Hottest November Ever Recorded

In the 134-year observational record, we’ve never had a hotter November

Frozen seafood in the lab, ready for DNA testing.

The DNA Detectives That Reveal What Seafood You’re Really Eating

Genetic sequencing allows scientists to uncover increasingly prevalent seafood fraud

The new tapir, Tapirus kabomani.

Scientists Discover a New Species of Tapir; Locals Say, “We Told You!”

The new tapir is the smallest of the world’s five known species but it still counts as one of the largest mammals found in South America

A study, conducted by researchers in Berlin, shows that those who suck on a mint containing a particular type of bacteria actually reduce the levels of cavity-causing bacteria in their saliva.

Is Candy That Fights Cavities Too Good To Be True?

Researchers in Berlin find that sweets containing a special probiotic may help you avoid the dentist’s chair

Hövding is a helmet cyclists wear on their necks—not their heads.

The Bicycle Helmet That’s Invisible (Until You Need It)

Riffing off of airbag technology, Swedish designers have created a helmet, worn around the neck, that inflates during an accident

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Listen to Classic Holiday Music From Around the World

Go around the world this holiday with Smithsonian Folkways—no reindeer or sleigh required

The northern subtropical jet stream flows in Cameron Beccario's Earth.

Watch How the Wind Moves Around the Earth—It’s Hypnotic

This mesmerizing tool helps visualize the winds all over the globe and is known simply as “Earth”

More Than Three Years Later, Oil From the Deepwater Horizon Persists in the Gulf

Continued testing has found evidence of oil in the water, sediments and marine animals of the Gulf

StarCraft II Player Is Now Officially an Athlete, According to the U.S. Government

Kim Dong-hwan, a competitive StarCraft player, was just issued a P-1A visa—the type that’s usually given to athletes

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Powering the 21st Century

Powering the 21st Century

Two Scientists Share Credit for the Theory of Evolution. Darwin Got Famous; This Biologist Didn’t.

When the Linnean Society of London hears the case for natural selection in 1858, Darwin shared credit with biologist A.R. Wallace

The sun sets on the River Thames winding its way between the London Eye and the Houses of Parliament. The 210-mile river flows through several small English towns before it reaches the center of London, and eventually spouts into the North Sea. The 184-mile Thames Path, which hugs the river’s banks, is the longest riverside walkway in Europe.

Top Cities for the Cultural Traveler: London

NSA Metadata Collection Is Unconstitutional, Judge Says

A U.S. District Court Judge ruled that the NSA’s metadata surveillance violates the Fourth Amendment

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