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Science / Our Planet

A deep chill covered much of the eastern half of the United States this winter. Winds known as the polar vortex did not blow in as tight a formation as they have in the past. When they loosened, they let Arctic air spill south, seen by the blue in this picture. Atmospheric scientist Jennifer Francis says that this pattern can be blamed on Arctic warming.

Why We Can Blame A Warm Arctic For This Winter’s Icy Chill

Arctic amplification is affecting the jet stream and letting weather systems persist longer, atmospheric scientist says

As the Planet Warms, What Happens to the Reindeer?

Ecologists are racing across the ice to find out how climate change will affect the Arctic natives

Nicaragua stands to lose around one million acres of rainforest and wetlands if the new canal is built.

New Research

Nicaragua Plans to Bisect the Country With a Massive Canal

The canal would cause “tragic devastation” to both the country’s natural heritage and indigenous communities, scientists say

Plumes of steam rise up from many spots along the Firehole River in Yellowstone National Park.

New Research

Yellowstone Belches Ancient Helium

Gas stored in the Earth’s crust for hundreds of millions of years is released by volcanic hotspot

Five years ago, a team of scientists in Iceland, drilling deep within the Earth’s crust, hit upon molten rock.

Can Volcanic Magma Power The Future?

Scientists in Iceland have figured out how to create geothermal energy from super-hot molten rock

A pair of Ammonite fossils, about 4 inches across, within a limestone bed very close to the Permian-Triassic boundary.

New Research

How Long Does Mass Extinction Take?

By figuring out the timing and rate of the world’s most massive extinction 252 million years ago, scientists hope to figure out how such lethal events work

The 13,000-foot high Grasberg mine contains the largest single gold reserve in the world, and the largest copper deposit as well.

The Environmental Disaster That is the Gold Industry

The mining industry has had a devastating impact on ecosystems worldwide. Is there any hope in sight?

Coal was once the most common source of energy in the United States, but it has been overtaken by petroleum and, more recently, natural gas.

New Research

Natural Gas Really Is Better Than Coal

If too much methane leaks during production, though, the benefits will be lost

"I began to wonder," says Smithsonian researcher Dolores Piperno, who studies the ancestor of the corn plant, "what did the plants actually look like between 10,000 and 13,000 years ago? Did they look the same?"

To Decode the Mystery of Corn, Smithsonian Scientists Recreate Earth as it Was 10,000 Years Ago

As part of a groundbreaking study, researchers built a greenhouse “time machine”

New Research

Myth Debunked: Wind Farms Don’t Alter the Climate

A model indicates that doubling Europe’s number of wind turbines would have a negligible effect on temperature and precipitation

Lake Waiau in Hawaii shrunk to the size of a pond in just a few years. Scientists still aren't sure why the lake began to dry up.

A World of Vanishing Lakes

From the Dead Sea to a Louisiana lake that was sucked into the Earth, the stories behind the disappearances are varied

Bombus flavifrons worker visiting a columbine in Grant Teton National Park

Bumblebees Can Fly Into Thin Air

Once thought to be unimpressive fliers, bumblebees may be able to summit Mount Everest, new research suggests

Ask Smithsonian 2017

Why Does This Indonesian Volcano Burn Bright Blue?

Olivier Grunewald’s dramatic photos showcase blue flames—not blue lava—that result from burning sulfur

Typical entombment poses of some of the Jehol Biota’s animals (a Psittacosaurus (a) and primitive crow-like birds (b and c))—the same poses displayed by other victims of erupting volcanoes throughout history.

New Research

The “Pompeii of Animals” Shows Dinosaurs, Mammals and Early Birds in Their Death Throes

A lethal volcanic explosion is identified as the culprit behind a mysterious mass death of creatures that took place around 125 million years ago

Tar sands are mined in Western Canada's Athabasca fields.

Mining Tar Sands Produces Much More Air Pollution Than We Thought

Research shows that emissions of a class of air pollutants are two to three orders of magnitude higher than previously calculated

Blood Falls seeps from the end of the Taylor Glacier into Lake Bonney.

Antarctica’s Blood Red Waterfall

On the southern edge of the world, a waterfall runs red as blood

Super Bowl

14 Fun Facts About Broncos

Number six: Horses once had three toes

An osprey, commonly called a sea hawk.

Super Bowl

14 Fun Facts About Sea Hawks

Number one: There’s no such thing as a “seahawk”

Narcotics operators are responsible for this stretch of deforestation, locating in a protected areas in Honduras.

New Research

As Drug Traffickers Move In, Tropical Forests Fall

Deforestation in Central America goes hand-in-hand with narcotics operations, which replace forests with airstrips, roads and money-laundering farms

Super Bowl

The Science of the First Cold Weather Super Bowl

Science shows that the cold weather will make it harder for players to grip the ball, avoid slipping and hear each other over the roar of the crowd

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