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Science / Our Planet

The FarmBot Genesis Brings Precision Agriculture to Your Own Backyard

Developed by a team from California, this machine plants seeds, pulls weeds and waters plants individually

Statue in front yard, Chalmette neighborhood

Age of Humans

Plastic is Forever: The Art of Mass Consumption

For International Bag Free Day, an intimate look at American mass consumption through the eyes of photographer Chris Jordan

Ask Smithsonian

What’s the Difference Between Invasive and Nonnative Species? Plus, More Questions From Our Readers

You asked, we answered

A schematic design of the upcoming “Icebergs” installation for the National Building Museum

Age of Humans

A Maze of Palatial Icebergs Has Floated Into a Washington, D.C. Museum

The new exhibition touches on design, landscape architecture, the life of icebergs and climate change

Fraises Des Bois, the Best Strawberry You’ve Never Had

Supermarket strawberries are big, perfectly red, perfectly heart-shaped, and perfectly flavorless—at least compared with what they could be

Louisiana is spending $42.5 million to rebuild the marshes in the Grand Liard Bayou. Without the project, the land was expected to disappear entirely by 2050.

Age of Humans

The Residents of This Louisiana Island Are America’s First “Climate Refugees”

As the sea levels rise, these photos provide a big picture view of a place losing the battle against climate change

American Exiles: Leaving Home

A series of three photo essays explores how America has treated its own people in times of crisis

Photographer Neil Ever Osborne photographed king penguins in the Falkland Islands at the height of breeding season.

Shooting Penguins in the Falkland Islands to Save Them

Photographer Neil Ever Osborne hopes that his work helps save the species

Sacel Castle was the primary home of the Nopcsa family, which traced its roots in the area to the 14th century.

History Forgot This Rogue Aristocrat Who Discovered Dinosaurs and Died Penniless

Now fallen into shadow, the Romania-born Baron Franz Nopcsa was a groundbreaking scientist, adventurer — and would-be king

Keep on the sunny side

Age of Humans

Podcast: “Warm Regards” and the Challenge of Humanizing Climate Change

Meteorologist Eric Holthaus and others seek the bright side of an often gloomy conversation

Rough diamonds from the Juina region of Brazil.

Journey to the Center of Earth

Diamonds Illuminate the Origins of Earth’s Deepest Oceans

Crystals could be the key to where our water came from, and what that means for finding life on other planets

A man walks by a botanica, a store stocking medicinal plants, in Chicago.

Age of Humans

Will Medicine Survive the Anthropocene?

Up to ten percent of major drugs contain plant-derived ingredients, but a warming world could put those—and other medicines—at risk

Charlie Morrow and dozens of others will stream video and audio of science, art and shamanism connected to their cultures as the sun passes at 5 p.m. in each of the Earth's 24 time zones.

It’s a Global Solstice Party and You’re Invited

Sound artist Charlie Morrow organized artists and scientists from around the Earth to celebrate the solstice

Prospecting for fossils in the Morrison Formation near Shell, Wyoming

Family Travel

Hunting Lost Worlds in Wyoming’s Bighorn Basin

A geology tour with Kirk Johnson, Director of the Smithsonian Natural History Museum, and Will Clyde, a geology professor at University of New Hampshire

The view looking into the Shenandoah Valley can be hugely obscured by haze.

Age of Humans

Even in ‘Pristine’ National Parks, the Air’s Not Clear

And cleaning it up might take centuries

Scientists injected more than 200 tons of dissolved carbon dioxide into this field in Iceland. Two years later, almost all the carbon had been converted into rock.

Age of Humans

Iceland Carbon Capture Project Quickly Converts Carbon Dioxide Into Stone

More than 95 percent of gas injected into the ground precipitated out as harmless carbonate, scientists calculate

Mrs. Walcott sketching a wild flower in water colors on a frosty morning in camp.

Smithsonian’s Wildflower: The Illustrious Life of the Naturalist Who Chronicled America’s Native Flora

The life and legacy of renowned Smithsonian illustrator Mary Vaux Walcott goes beyond the works that she created

A preserved specimen of the Blue Lanternfish with bioluminescent spots. New research shows that the blue lanternfish's glow isn't that unique - among ocean-dwelling fish, four out of five are bioluminescent.

Way More Fish Can Make Their Own Light Than We Thought

Bioluminescence evolved a whopping 27 separate times among finned fishes living in the open ocean

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