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Science / Human Behavior

Some solutions are reached incrementally, with logic or calculations. But others seem to just pop into your head—and neuroscientists are investigating how this happens.

‘Aha’ Moments Seem to Come Out of Nowhere. How Does the Brain Create These Sudden Bursts of Insight?

Neuroscientists are tracking the brain activity that underlies a cognitive breakthrough and unraveling how it might boost memory

In “Depicting Dark Waters,” British sculptural model maker Alice Baker collaborated with marine biologists from the Netherlands and Sweden to depict European cold-water corals in glass and raise awareness about deep-sea ecosystems.

Art Meets Science

The Hidden World of Cold-Water Corals Rises to the Surface With These Glass Sculptures That Are Resurrecting a Lost Craft

As increased industrial activity puts fragile deep-sea ecosystems at risk, one artist is raising awareness about imperiled corals through scientific model making

Research suggests that elephants use certain plants for medicinal purposes.

When Some Elephants Raid Farms, They Might Not Be After a Snack. They Could Be Looking for Medicinal Plants

A recent study suggests that the large mammals may seek out parts of bananas and papayas when they’re suffering from gut parasites, sparking a cross-species exchange of pharmaceutical knowledge

A whooping crane in flight in Texas

Whooping Cranes Came Back From the Brink of Extinction. Now, New Threats Are Converging on Their Texas Wintering Grounds

Some residents along the Gulf Coast are creating habitat for the endangered birds on their properties, but development, saltwater intrusion and bird flu are putting pressure on the species’ recovery

The Polar Bear Swim in Vancouver in 1978. Lisa Pantages, second from the left, will complete her 64th annual plunge this New Year’s.

‘Excitement With a Little Dash of Fear’: Polar Plunges Ring in the New Year With a Splash. But What Actually Happens to Your Body?

Three experts share the science behind taking a dip in cold water—and offer safety tips that any potential plungers should bear in mind

Look up throughout the year to catch a wide array of astronomical sights.

Don’t Miss These Ten Celestial Events in 2026, From Aligned Planets to a Total Solar Eclipse

The upcoming year will offer a blood-red moon, spectacular meteor showers and the first glimpse of the sun’s corona since April 2024

In 2025, researchers watched an interstellar comet, learned about human origins and traced the spread of measles.

The Ten Most Significant Science Stories of 2025, From Medical Breakthroughs to an Interstellar Visitor

All year long, these moments captivated the public, demonstrated dangerous trends, and pushed research and innovation forward

David Rankin, operations manager at the Catalina Sky Survey, keeps tabs on space rocks in search of new and potentially hazardous asteroids.

From a Remote Observatory, He’s Defending Our Planet. Get a Glimpse Inside the Life of a Doomsday Asteroid Hunter

David Rankin of the Catalina Sky Survey in Arizona spends nights scanning the solar system for potentially catastrophic space rocks. Here’s what he has to say about that “high consequence” work, an interstellar comet and living with uncertainty

A rinkhals (Hemachatus haemachatus) in Hluhluwe, South Africa, performs a threat display. These snakes tend to live on the edges of human communities.

The High-Stakes Quest to Make Snakebites Survivable Took Leaps Forward This Year, With Promising New Avenues to Safer Antivenoms

A wave of fresh science is challenging a century-old treatment and offering hope to the people snakebites harm most—often far from hospitals and help

Juvenile sunflower sea stars at the Sunflower Star Laboratory in Moss Landing, California. At this phase, each is less than an inch wide, but they can grow to be more than three feet across as adults.

A Deadly Pathogen Decimated Sunflower Sea Stars. Look Inside the Lab Working to Bring Them Back by Freezing and Thawing Their Larvae

For the first time, scientists have cryopreserved and revived the larvae of a sea star species. The breakthrough, made with the giant pink star, gives hope the technique could be repeated to save the imperiled predator

A dead tree stands with its bare, white trunk and branches in contrast to the greenery around it.

What’s Killing These Oak Trees in the Midwest? Conservationists Believe Drifting Herbicides Are to Blame

When Illinois landowners noticed tree deaths and diseases on their properties ramp up in 2017, they suspected industrial agriculture. A survey found herbicides in 90 percent of tree tissues

A long-exposure view of the Milky Way, seen from Brandenburg, Germany, is cut through by the light trails of passing satellites.

Giant Mirrors in Space Could Bring Sunlight After Dark, One Startup Says—and Astronomers Are Concerned

Critics argue the satellites, billed as a way to harness solar energy at night, could hamper sky observations and may pose a threat to human and animal health

Smithsonian magazine's picks for the best books about science in 2025 include Replaceable You, Dinner With King Tut and North to the Future.

The Best Books of 2025

The Ten Best Science Books of 2025

From “experimental archaeology” to the mysterious appeal of exploration, the wide-ranging subjects detailed in these titles captivated Smithsonian magazine’s science contributors this year

A digital illustration of an HIV-infected T cell. Once infected, the immune cell is hijacked by the virus to produce and release many new viral particles before dying. As more T cells are destroyed, the immune system is progressively weakened.

New Trials Hint That ‘Functional Cure’ for HIV May Be Within Reach, Helping Some Patients Achieve Lasting Remission

People infected with HIV must take antiretroviral drugs for life. But engineered antibodies appeared to suppress the virus for certain participants in recent trials in Africa and Europe

Students learn anatomy from an Asclepius AI Table, which merges interactive elements and artificial intelligence.

Medical Students Are Learning Anatomy From Digital Cadavers. Can Technology Ever Replace Real Human Bodies?

From interactive diagrams to A.I. assistants, virtual tools are beginning to supplant physical dissections in some classrooms

New research strives to understand what happens in the brain at the transitions between sleeping and being awake.

At the Mysterious Boundary Between Waking Life and Sleep, What Happens in the Brain?

Neuroscientists studying the shifts between sleep and awareness are finding many liminal states, which could help explain the disorders that can result when sleep transitions go wrong

Chubby the macaw arrived with self-plucking injuries, which are typically caused by stress, boredom, anxiety or life changes. Chubby was 22 at the time of being photographed in 2025, and she has since been adopted.

The Nation’s Biggest Animal Sanctuary Operates Under a Mantra to ‘Save Them All.’ How Could That Be Controversial?

Best Friends Animal Society has a sprawling campus in the canyons of Utah, but its influence has grown to reach almost every shelter in the country

Hyper-realistic reconstructions of Australopithecus afarensis (Lucy foreground, Selam background) by Élisabeth Daynès in the National Museum’s “People and Their Ancestors” exhibition, Prague

Meeting Lucy: How a World-First European Exhibition Brought Visitors Face to Face With the Fossil That ‘Shrinks Time’

Two Australopithecus fossils named Lucy and Selam made a rare trip out of Ethiopia for a 60-day display at the National Museum in Prague

A camera trap image of El Jefe, a male jaguar who made international news as the only known jaguar in the United States.

How El Jefe, the Lone Arizona Jaguar Who Captivated a Nation in 2016, Became a ‘Rock Star’

Once called “America’s last jaguar,” the solitary male wandered across the southern border in 2011 and became the centerpiece of a campaign to protect habitat in the Santa Rita Mountains

Gloria Acevedo, a diver with the Sirenas de Oriente in Mexico, removes a fishing line from coral near Cozumel Island.

‘Ghost Gear,’ or Abandoned Fishing Equipment, Is Haunting the Oceans. Here’s How Conservationists Are Fighting Back

Discarded nets, lines and traps are a hazard to marine life and ecosystems around the world, but pioneering programs are tackling the problem creatively through education, prevention, ocean cleanups and recycling

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