Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Science / Our Planet

The vast unknown deep sea floor

Why We Must Explore the Sea

Robert Ballard, the famed explorer who discovered the wreck of the Titanic, ponders what else is on the ocean floor

The Sahara, the world’s largest non-polar desert, may be at least 7 million years old.

New Research

The Sahara Is Millions of Years Older Than Thought

The great desert was born some 7 million years ago, as remnants of a vast sea called Tethys closed up

Blue crabs crawl inside a bushel on a boat off the coast of the Smith Island town of Tylerton, Maryland.

Anthropocene

In 100 Years, Maryland’s Crab Cakes Might Be Shrimp Cakes

Rising temperatures and a more acidic ocean may spell trouble for the Chesapeake Bay’s iconic crabs, oysters and fish

Curtains of light weave across the sky over Fairbanks, Alaska, on September 12.

Powerful Solar Flare Paints the Sky With Candy-Colored Auroras

Two back-to-back flares sent clouds of charged particles racing toward Earth, creating auroras that may last through the weekend

Sugar gliders, marsupials native to Australia.

Adorable Portraits Put Nocturnal Animals in the Spotlight

A new photo book showcases animals we humans rarely see—while a new study says we may have more in common with night-dwellers than thought

Cyclists Inspecting Ancient Petroglyphs, Utah, 1998: Texas-based photographer Terry Falke captures several of the exhibition's themes in this image of cyclists examining petroglyphs and bullet holes in a stratified rock face by the side of the road in Utah. "You’ve got the ultimate strata, which is man-made, so the idea is that we are impacting, we’re leaving our mark on the Earth over time as well," says Talasek.

Anthropocene

What Does “Deep Time” Mean to You?

An art exhibition at the National Academy of Sciences offers perspective on our geological past and future

An inlaid alabaster unguent jar in the form of an ibex, with one natural horn, was found in the tomb of the pharaoh Tutankhamun.

Anthropocene

Egypt’s Mammal Extinctions Tracked Through 6,000 Years of Art

Tomb goods and historical texts show how a drying climate and an expanding human population took their toll on the region’s wildlife

People take pictures of water gushing from the reservoir of China’s Three Gorges Dam, the largest hydropower station in the world.

Anthropocene

Seven Unexpected Ways We Can Get Energy From Water

It’s not all about giant dams—H2O is a surprisingly common and versatile tool for meeting the world’s energy needs

A digitally-colorized scanning electron micrograph (SEM) of Ebola virus particles.

New Research

Tracking the 2014 Ebola Outbreak Through Its Genes

Genetic detective work also revealed 395 mutations unique to the virus in West Africa

Seen in 2012, an excavator works on a road near an Indonesian oil palm plantation built on disputed lands once home to a rainforest.

The Best and Worst Places to Build More Roads

Road works today are “basically chaos”—but a new global road map could be key to protecting agriculture and nature

Pink Sands Beach, Harbour Island, The Bahamas

The World’s Most Colorful Beaches

From green sand to glass, here are some of the most eye-popping beaches around the world

The Napa Valley may be beautiful, but its fertile soil is a double-edged sword.

Why Earthquakes Make Napa Wine Taste So Good

The soil that makes Napa Valley grapes so special also makes the region vulnerable to earthquakes

Ask Smithsonian

What Are the Biggest Waves in Recorded History?

How do waves even get this big?

California’s exceptional drought has exposed the bottom of Big Bear Lake.

New Research

California’s Record Drought Is Making Earth’s Surface Rise

Lifting land shows that the U.S. West is now missing some 62 trillion gallons of water

In the public imagination, heat waves remain a B-list natural disaster.

Forecasters Will Soon Be Able to Predict Heat Waves Weeks in Advance

In the public imagination, heat waves remain a B-list natural disaster, but in reality, they are deadly

An urban spider hangs out in downtown Los Angeles.

New Research

Friendly Neighborhood Spiders Get Bigger in Cities

A study of orb-weaving spiders in Australia shows a correlation between urbanization and fatter arachnids

Scientists observed the view down the borehole via a computer at the surface as they drilled into the Antarctic ice to reach Lake Whillans.

New Research

Thousands of Microbe Species Live in This Buried Antarctic Lake

Drilling through half a mile of ice let scientists uncover the first solid evidence of life in a subglacial lake

The full moon is seen near Earth's horizon from the International Space Station.

Earth Is Making the Moon All Warm and Soft on the Inside

A new model boosts the notion that a layer of rock near the moon’s core is squishy and perhaps partially melted

Seawater contains hundreds of viruses, revealed with dye in the flask on the right. Most are harmless, but some microbes living under the sea and amid the sand aren't.

Eight Diseases To Watch Out For At the Beach

Forget sharks: These potentially deadly pathogens and parasites can lurk in sand and sea

An artist's rendering of Caiuajara dobruskii surrounded by its young in the ancient Brazilian desert.

New Research

New Desert-Dwelling Pterosaur Unearthed in Brazil

A massive bone bed is already yielding insights into the flying reptile’s lifestyle

Page 59 of 107