The Long, Strange History of Nitrous Oxide, a Popular Drug Users Have Been Inhaling for Hundreds of Years
Galaxy Gas has brought the drug back into the spotlight, and scientists are raising alarms about its health risks
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Why Does This Endangered Butterfly Thrive After Hurricanes?
For Schaus’ swallowtail butterflies, the powerful storms mean clear skies and bright futures
From Massive Eyes to Shark-Like Tails, Seven Amazing Adaptations That Helped Prehistoric Reptiles Thrive at Sea
The creatures cruised the world’s oceans with features we often associate with marine mammals, such as coats of blubber and the ability to birth live young
Thousands of Giant Tortoises Anchor a Thriving Ecosystem on Aldabra, a Remote Atoll in the Indian Ocean
The animals graze the vegetation into a picturesque turf, fertilize the soil with their dung and disperse seeds over large distances
Destinations Hit by Natural Disasters Need Tourists Back—but Maybe Not in the Same Way as Before
Places like Maui and Asheville, North Carolina, rebuilding after wildfires and hurricanes, are doing so with a mind to sustainable tourism
A Revealing Look Into the Surprisingly Tricky Sex Lives of Birds
Even among the most durable migratory bird pairings, sexual exclusivity is rarely part of their relationship
You Might Think of Shrimp as Bugs of the Sea. But a Remarkable Discovery Shows the Opposite: Bugs Are Actually Shrimp of the Land
A recent study suggests that insects branched out from crustaceans on the tree of life
The Long, Strange History of Nitrous Oxide, a Popular Drug Users Have Been Inhaling for Hundreds of Years
Galaxy Gas has brought the drug back into the spotlight, and scientists are raising alarms about its health risks
Smithsonian Photo Contest Galleries
See 15 Photos That Will Remind You to Appreciate the Rain
Take a look at these Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest pictures of this precious precipitation
How Do Cancer Cells Migrate to New Tissues and Take Hold?
Scientists are looking for answers about how these confounding trips, known as metastases, occur throughout the human body
Ten Exceptional Ancient Elephants, From Small Swimming Creatures to Shovel-Tusked Beasts
A wide variety of the exotic animals evolved on Earth over the past 60 million years
Carrots Can’t Help You See in the Dark. Here’s How a World War II Propaganda Campaign Popularized the Myth
The British government claimed that eating carrots helped its fighter pilots shoot down German planes at night. In truth, the Royal Air Force relied on top-secret radar
From Worlds That Look Like Cotton Candy to Others Covered in Volcanoes, These Are the Strangest and Most Captivating Exoplanets
Scientists are using an array of instruments to detect other planets, some of which may harbor life—and others that most definitely don’t
How a Forgotten Bean Could Save Coffee From Extinction
One leading botanist is scouring remote corners of the earth to find new species that could keep our mugs full
See for Yourself One of the World’s Rarest Red Diamonds at the Smithsonian’s Natural History Museum
Unraveling the surprising science that gives colorful diamonds their special allure
The Nation’s First Black Female Doctor Blazed a Path for Women in Medicine. But She Was Left Out of the Story for Decades
After earning a medical degree in 1864, Rebecca Lee Crumpler died in obscurity and was buried without a headstone
This 17-Year-Old Scientist Is Making an Acetaminophen Alternative That Is Less Damaging to the Liver
Chloe Yehwon Lee’s research could change the painkiller, known by the brand name Tylenol, for the better, ultimately reducing emergency room visits and cases of liver failure
How Do Space Programs Get Their Names? And More Questions From Our Readers
You’ve got questions. We’ve got experts
A Peculiar, Short-Lived Office at the Smithsonian Once Explored Reports of Bizarre Natural Phenomena
From surprising squirrel migrations to islands popping up out of nowhere, the organization’s scientists tracked strange events as they happened
How an 18th-Century Female Physicist Broke Boundaries and Inspired the Generations Who Followed
Cristina Roccati graduated from the University of Bologna when few other Italian women earned degrees, and she taught physics for decades
For Some Women With Serious Physical Ailments, Mental Illness Has Become a Scapegoat Diagnosis
Patients with difficult-to-diagnose conditions like endometriosis are often sent home with diagnoses like anxiety or bipolar disorder
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