Smithsonian Podcast

Sidedoor: A Smithsonian Podcast

Stories from the Institution told in an innovative audio experience

Anaxagoras, who lived in the fifth century B.C., was one of the first people in recorded history to recognize that the moon was a rocky, mountainous body.

An Ancient Greek Philosopher Was Exiled for Claiming the Moon Was a Rock, Not a God

2,500 years ago, Anaxagoras correctly determined that the rocky moon reflects light from the sun, allowing him to explain lunar phases and eclipses

The robot is a bit slow moving at about 1.5 body lengths per minute. But the new design shows promise for future hybrid systems.

Engineers Built a Robotic Lionfish With an Energetic Bloodstream

The robo-fish pumps energy-packed liquid through vein-like tubes to move its fins and swim for hours

Original Caption: Firemen stand on a bridge over the Cuyahoga River to spray water on the tug Arizona, as a fire, started in an oil slick on the river, sweeps the docks at the Great Lakes Towing Company site in Cleveland Nov., 1st. The blaze destroyed three tugs, three buildings, and the ship repair yards.

The Cuyahoga River Caught Fire at Least a Dozen Times, but No One Cared Until 1969

Despite being much smaller than previous fires, the river blaze in Cleveland 50 years ago became a symbol for the nascent environmental movement

An artist’s rendering of ancient Arctic hyenas belonging to the genus Chasmaporthetes. A new study reports that two enigmatic fossil teeth found in Yukon Territory in Canada belonged to Chasmaporthetes, making the teeth the first known fossils of hyenas found in the Arctic.

Beyond Dinosaurs: The Secrets of Earth's Past

Prehistoric Hyena’s Teeth Show Bone-Crushing Carnivore Roamed the Arctic

The only hyena to live in North America, Chasmaporthetes, had the stature of a wolf and the powerful jaws of its modern relatives

Sarah Stewart circa 1950.

Women Who Shaped History

The Woman Who Revealed the Missing Link Between Viruses and Cancer

Today, vaccinating against cervical cancer is routine. But before Sarah Stewart, scientists dismissed the idea of a cancer-preventing vaccine as ludicrous

The microbiome—a collection of organisms including bacteria, archaea, fungi and viruses that live in the human gut—has been shown to play a significant role in brain function.

How the Gut Microbiome Could Provide a New Tool to Treat Autism

A growing body of evidence suggests the behavioral symptoms of autism spectrum disorder could be linked to bacteria in the gut

The lines scribbled over this famous Georges Seurat painting come from an experiment that tracked how the human eye jerks around as it takes in the details of the scene.

Our Eyes Are Always Darting Around, So How Come Our Vision Isn’t Blurry?

Our brains manage to construct stable images even as our eyes keep jerking around. Here’s what we know about how that happens.

Using a geologist’s magnifying glass, Erin DiMaggio carefully scans a piece of volcanic ash in search of tiny minerals that hold the key to determining the age of nearby fossils.

Beyond Dinosaurs: The Secrets of Earth's Past

How Do Scientists Date Fossils?

Geologists Erin DiMaggio and Alka Tripathy-Lang explain techniques for targeting the age of a fossil find

A digitally-colorized scanning electron micrograph depiction of a Giardia lamblia protozoan caught in a late stage of cell division, producing a heart-shaped form. Most protozoa, or singled-celled eukaryotes, reproduce asexually, but there is evidence to suggest Giardia lamblia can reproduce sexually as well.

The Evolution of Sex Could Have Provided a Defense Against Cancer Cells

The first sexually reproducing organisms may have found that the energy-intensive enterprise bolstered defenses against malignant cells

An illustration by J. Troncy of savagnin grapes from Ampelographie: Traite General de Viticulture.

Ancient Grape DNA Tells the Prolific History of Wine

Grape seeds dating back to medieval and Roman periods share many similarities with the wine grapes we enjoy today

The sequoia tree slab is an invitation to begin thinking about a vast timescale that includes everything from fossils of armored amoebas to the great Tyrannosaurus rex.

Beyond Dinosaurs: The Secrets of Earth's Past

A 16-Million-Year-Old Tree Tells a Deep Story of the Passage of Time

To explain the exceedingly long life of the planet, the Smithsonian’s new fossil hall designers began with this arboreal wonder

How do parts of ancient creatures, like this fossil skull of an extinct herbivore, Miniochoerus from 33 million years ago, manage to survive and end up in a museum exhibition?

Beyond Dinosaurs: The Secrets of Earth's Past

How Do Fossils Form?

Learn from the Smithsonian’s curator of vertebrate paleontology Anna K. Behrensmeyer, a pioneer in the study of how organic remains become fossils

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What Is the Smallest Known Dinosaur and Other Questions Answered by Dr. Hans Sues

Cat-loving paleontologist answers your questions in the National Museum of Natural History’s YouTube series, “The Doctor Is In.”

Irene Peden conducted groundbreaking work in Antarctica to measure the propagation of radio waves through the ice sheets, revealing properties of the ice below.

Women Who Shaped History

Trailblazing Engineer Irene Peden Broke Antarctic Barriers for Women

Originally told she could not go to Antarctica without another woman to accompany her, Peden now has a line of cliffs on the continent named in her honor

The nuance of the new exhibition, "Fossil Hall—Deep Time," plays out in elaborate art, entertaining digital displays and magnificent fossil displays. But don't miss the small stuff.

Beyond Dinosaurs: The Secrets of Earth's Past

Here Are 12 Things You Might Miss in the Smithsonian’s New Fossil Hall

Hidden among the dinosaurs and megafauna, are these small details that make “Deep Time” all the more impressive

The spiral pattern of an Aloe polyphylla plant at the University of California Botanical Garden.

Decoding the Mathematical Secrets of Plants’ Stunning Leaf Patterns

A Japanese shrub’s unique foliage arrangement leads botanists to rethink plant growth models

An ancient population of Arctic hunter-gatherers, known as Paleo-Eskimos, made a significant genetic contribution to populations living in Arctic North America today.

Ancient DNA Reveals Complex Story of Human Migration Between Siberia and North America

Two studies greatly increase the amount of information we have about the peoples who first populated North America—from the Arctic to the Southwest U.S.

“In order to interpret the past," says Matternes (above), "you have to have a pretty good working knowledge of conditions in the present.”

Beyond Dinosaurs: The Secrets of Earth's Past

Meet the Master Muralist Who Inspired Today’s Generation of Paleoartists

The treasured Jay Matternes murals of lost Mesozoic worlds are featured in a new Smithsonian book

Artist's reconstruction of Fostoria dhimbangunmal, a newly described iguanodontian dinosaur.

Beyond Dinosaurs: The Secrets of Earth's Past

Dinosaur Bones Shimmering With Opal Reveal a New Species in Australia

A discovery in an Australian opal mine remained unexamined for three decades—it turned out to be the most complete opalized dinosaur skeleton in the world

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