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Blogs

The Ramos gin fizz gets its frothy top from several minutes of vigorous shaking.

Slurred Lines: Great Cocktail Moments in Famous Literature

Fancy drinks like the Gimlet and the Brandy Alexander have high class histories

Greenland may eventually resemble the lush Tongass National Forest in Alaska.

Climate Change Will Green Greenland

Many species of trees and shrubs may take up residence in formerly frozen Greenland, transforming parts of the island into a lush landscape

Astronomers traced 2011 QF99, circled in green, across the sky to find that it shared an orbit with Uranus.

Temporary Companion Leads Uranus in Its Race Around the Sun

A small asteroid that orbits ahead of the seventh planet offers a clearer picture of the ongoing celestial pinball game in the solar system’s outer reaches

Each crane is tagged with a radio transmitter (shown on the bird’s left leg) to monitor its location.

Nurture, Not Nature: Whooping Cranes Learn to Migrate From Their Elders

New research shows that the endangered cranes learn to navigate thousands of miles by taking cues from older birds

Valley of the Reclining Woman

Carl Warner’s Mountains Are Made of Elbows and Knees

The British photographer creates convincing landscapes—deserts and rocky scenes—by piecing together photos of nude models

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What Digitization Will Do for the Future of Museums

The Secretary discusses his new e-book about how the Smithsonian will digitize its collections and crowdsource its research

Could life on Earth have been born on Mars?

Cracking the Code of the Human Genome

Did Life Come to Earth From Mars?

Mineralogical clues point to the idea that the early Earth, starved of oxygen and submerged by a vast ocean, needed molecules from Mars to kick start life

New research shows that abnormally cool waters in the Pacific, part of a natural cycle, have masked the warming we should have seen due to greenhouse gas emissions. When the waters go back to normal, global warming will likely accelerate.

Why Global Warming Has Paused—And Why It Will Soon Start Up Again

Abnormally cool waters in the Pacific, part of a natural cycle, have masked the underlying warming caused by humans burning fossil fuels

One-year-old cubs play at the nursery in Bifengxia, China

A Zoo Panda Keeper on His Trip to China and Why Mei Xiang is a Great Mom

Panda keeper Juan Rodriguez opens up about Mei Xiang’s first days with her new cub, as well as a recent trip to a partner panda facility in China

John Surratt after he was captured

The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln

The Family Plot to Kill Lincoln

Mary and John Surratt helped John Wilkes Booth assassinate Abraham Lincoln and then paid the ultimate penalty for their actions

Red Mural, by Amber Hasselbring

A Butterfly Species Settles in San Francisco’s Market Street

Two advocates track Western tiger swallowtails through the city and use art to encourage residents to think of the fluttering creatures as neighbors

Much like bats and dolphins, some people have developed the ability to analyze bouncing sound waves to generate a picture of their environment.

How Human Echolocation Allows People to See Without Using Their Eyes

Mimicking bats and dolphins, some people have developed the ability to analyze bouncing sound waves to generate a picture of their environment

When job opportunities come through a mobile app

Think You’re Doing a Good Job? Not If the Algorithms Say You’re Not

Relying on data collected through smartphones, Gigwalk says it knows more about its workers than any company ever has

Firefly (Photinus pyralis)

Biomimetic Design Means We’ll All Be Living A Bug’s Life

Researchers and designers looking to nature for inspiration have literally one million reasons to reveal the secrets of insects

The Zoo reports that the “cub’s heart rate is steady and its belly was full.” Veterinarians report that they “could hear breath sounds from both lungs.”

New Baby: Giant Panda Gives Birth at the National Zoo!

The first cub is healthy and doing well. Mei Xiang gave birth to a second, stillborn cub on Saturday

“I’d rather gnaw a bean than be gnawed by continual fear.”

Scientists Investigate Whether the City Mouse Is Smarter Than the Country Mouse

Contrary to biologists’ expectations, critters living in cities don’t always have an adaptive edge over their rural counterparts

Five Unusual Ways Scientists Are Studying Climate Change

Fossilized urine, old naval logbooks and the recent speeds of satellites are among the unexpected records that track changing climate

Food service crew workers

Eating on the March: Food at the 1963 March on Washington

Organizing an event that large was a formidable task in and of itself. Tackling the issue of handling food for the masses was another issue entirely

What is it that makes honey such a special food?

The Science Behind Honey’s Eternal Shelf Life

A slew of factors—its acidity, its lack of water and the presence of hydrogen peroxide—work in perfect harmony, allowing the sticky treat to last forever

Optical art

These Patterns Move, But It’s All an Illusion

What happens when your eyes and brain don’t agree?

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