Guam kingfishers tend to incubate for 21 to 23 days. This female emerged from her shell after 22.

This Royally Adorable Baby Kingfisher Perpetuates a Species Extinct in the Wild

A fine soon-to-be-feathered friend joins the menagerie at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute

It doesn’t look like a kidney, but this ‘kidney-on-a-chip’ is a breakthrough for new drug testing.

How Putting Organs on Chips Could Revolutionize Medicine

Scientists are now working to connect these ersatz “organs” together into systems

In the water, rockweed provides habitat for crustaceans, fish, and mollusks; out of the water, it’s food for people and animals, fertilizer, and a soil conditioner.

How Seaweed Connects Us All

An unlikely debate about rockweed brings together Rachel Carson, marine biology and Maine’s supreme court

Nuclear material in drums in a storage area of Tuwaitha Nuclear Research Center in 1991.

How Saddam and ISIS Killed Iraqi Science

Within decades the country’s scientific infrastructure went from world-class to shambles. What happened?

New Research

Most Parents Want to Test Their Unborn Kids’ Genes For Disease Risk

Despite the fact that they might not like what they learn

When it comes to diving, humans can't hope to keep up with flippered mammals. But an anatomist thinks she may have identified a crucial structure in dolphins that could help humans avoid the bends.

New Research

Dolphins Have a Mysterious Network of Veins That Could Be Key to Preventing the Bends

It might be possible to make an external device that protects divers from the deadly condition

The asteroid didn't just wipe out the dinosaurs—it wiped out the forests. Which meant anything that lived had to learn to live on the ground.

New Research

How the Ancestors of Birds Survived the Dino-Killing Asteroid

Forest cover was crucial to avian evolution, a new study on the mass extinction event asserts

A sinkhole from 2012 that swallowed the back of a home at Shoal Drive in Hudson. At the time the picture was taken, Pasco County Fire officials said the sinkhole is currently 40 feet wide and 20 feet deep.

The Science Behind Florida’s Sinkhole Epidemic

Reports of these ground-chasms have been swelling in the past few years. Geology helps explain why

Annual forest fires blaze on the floor of Yosemite Valley, California in 2015.

What Is the Future of Fire?

Geologist Andrew C. Scott reconstructs the sites of past blazes to look at our relationship with this elusive element

Silverman's mushroom shoe prototype is sustainable—but will it hold up in the rain?

Future of Art

Are These Baked Mushroom Sandals the Future of Fashion?

As sustainable fashion goes mainstream, multiple designers are turning to fungi for compostable attire

Scimitar-horned oryx can go for ten months without drinking water.

Future of Conservation

Smithsonian Researchers Are Bringing the Oryx Back to the Wild

Reintroducing the species back to north-central Africa shows early signs of success

This Molecule Could Explain the Origin of Life

Hydrogen cyanide is a molecule that appears to be at the heart of the creation of life. To create it, scientists need a burst of energy

For most humans, meditating in the snow would be highly uncomfortable. For Wim Hof, it's euphoric. Note: Wim Hof not pictured.

New Research

Science Explains How the Iceman Resists Extreme Cold

MRI scans reveal that Wim Hof artificially induces a stress response in his brain

The lionfish is a maroon-and-white striped creature, but once it’s cleaned, restaurant chefs and home cooks like to grill, bake and fry its firm white flesh.

The Lionfish Have Invaded, But a Ragtag Army of Divers and Chefs Are Fighting Back

Those waging the war against this devastating wave of the venomous species have taken on an ‘eat ‘em to beat ‘em’ approach

We’re All Made of Stardust. Here’s How

13.8 billion years ago, the universe began with a big bang and the atoms it created would find their way into everything

Flying Dog plans to release a seasonal beer each year with hops grown from the project.

The East Coast May Be On the Brink of a Hop Renaissance

Can a farmer and a brewer come together to bring hops back to the eastern United States?

Who needs fuzz and pudge when you have this slimy smile?

Future of Conservation

The Adorable Chinese Giant Salamander Is Slithering Toward Extinction

The amphibians could actually be five separate species, some of which may already be extinct

“Game abundant, especially rhinoceros,” explorer Henry Morton Stanley noted in the 1870s. Today is different. This blindfolded calf awaits transport.

The Dangerous Work of Relocating 5,000-Pound Rhinos

The race is on to save the species: Ride along with an armed convoy deep into the Okavango Delta

Najin, one of only two female northern white rhinos left in the world, walks in the pen where she is kept for observation.

Can the Northern White Rhino Be Brought Back From the Brink of Extinction?

One beloved African breed is extinct in the wild, but scientists still hope to rescue it from oblivion

Don't be fooled by this roly-poly furball. These mischevious creatures need constant attention and round-the-clock care.

Pandamonium

Why Photographing Pandas Is More Challenging Than You Might Think

Photojournalist Ami Vitale describes her years of work capturing the lovable furballs

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