Anti-cholera inoculation in Calcutta in 1894.

Science Still Bears the Fingerprints of Colonialism

Western science long relied on the knowledge and exploitation of colonized peoples. In many ways, it still does

“Tattooed Whale, 2016” by Tim Pitsiulak. Screen-print on Arches Cover Black.

Why Scientists Are Starting to Care About Cultures That Talk to Whales

Arctic people have been communicating with cetaceans for centuries. The rest of the world is finally listening in

Giant Panda cubs developing their tree-climbing skills at China’s Chengdu Panda Base

The Science Behind the Unbearably Cute IMAX Movie “Pandas”

Wild populations of these loveable fuzz-faced bears need help, and scientists are on the case

The tornado that touched down near El Reno, Oklahoma plowed through the region. The violent winds and subsequent floods injured 155 and killed 20 people, including the first known storm chasers to die in the twister's swirling path.

How a Legendary Storm Chaser Changed the Face of Tornado Science

In 2013, Tim Samaras died in one of the epic storms he’d spent decades chasing. A new book chronicles his harrowing last days

Awesome Con provided an opportunity for science fiction and real-life science to play off of one another. The Robot from Netflix's Lost in Space reboot (center) illustrates the former, while the NASA jacket of the con attendee on the right nods to the latter.

The Real Science Behind Your Favorite Nerd Culture at Awesome Con

Astrophysicists, vehicle technicians and biologists joined the party to bring cutting-edge research to fictional worlds

Hawking was known not only for his prodigious intellect but also for his passion in communicating what he knew to the world at large.

The Memory of Stephen Hawking Endures in Bold Black Hole Research Efforts

Smithsonian scientists hunting these supermassive objects reflect on the legacy of one of the world’s most inspiring intellects

A vintage ad for patent medicines, which usually didn't list their active ingredients. We now know that many contained morphine, cocaine, opium and more.

How Advertising Shaped the First Opioid Epidemic

And what it can teach us about the second

Primes still have the power to surprise.

Why Prime Numbers Still Surprise and Mystify Mathematicians

2300 years later, new patterns continue to show up in these indivisible tricksters

Marvin, a trailblazer in more ways than one, surveys the Antarctic terrain on her meteorite-hunting expedition of 1978-79.

Women Who Shaped History

The Rockstar Geologist Who Mapped the Minerals of the Cosmos

A professor told Ursula Marvin she should learn to cook. Instead she chased down meteorites in Antarctica

Watch a Man Snatch an Angry Cobra With His Bare Hands

How do you deal with a king cobra that’s holed up in a busy village in India? If you’re Gowri Shankar, it’s a simple matter of snake by the tail

An x-ray of a Whiskered Prowfish (Neopataecus waterhousii), which has a "lachrymal saber." One species of waspfish features a saber that glows.

New Research

Why Did a Venomous Fish Evolve a Glowing Eye Spike?

A newly discovered “lachrymal saber” could illuminate relationships between an order of deadly fishes

This past fall, astronauts harvested Mizuna mustard, Waldmann's green lettuce and Outredgeous red romaine lettuce from the Veggie plant growth chamber on the International Space Station.

Future Con

If Humans Want To Colonize Other Planets, We Need To Perfect Space Cuisine

At this year’s Future Con, researchers will describe a future of food in space that is anything but bland

Curasub commissioner/owner Adriaan Schrier and lead DROP scientist Carole Baldwin aboard the custom-built submersible.

How a Team of Submersible-Bound Scientists Redefined Reef Ecosystems

In tropical Curaçao, Smithsonian researchers are constantly confronting the unknown

A long-range autonomous underwater vehicle carrying an environmental sample processor cruises beneath the surface during field trials in Hawaii.

These Underwater Robots Offer a New Way to Sample Microbes From the Ocean

The health of forests of underwater plankton have a big impact on the environment, and oceanographers are just starting to understand it

The body-shaped sarcophagi of Karajía contained the remains of high-ranking Chachapoya ancestors.

New Research

When Genetics and Linguistics Challenge the Winners’ Version of History

New research shows that indigenous Peruvians were more resilient than the conquering Inca gave them credit for

A whale with water gushing out of its blowhole would not be smiling. It would be drowning.

How Children’s Books Reveal Our Evolving Relationship With Whales

Storybooks feature a fair amount of factual errors—and those errors can be revealing

Why We Should Test Heart Drugs On a ‘Virtual Human’ Instead of Animals

Thousands of animals are used for heart drug tests each year—but research shows that computer-simulated trials are more accurate

Jökulsárlón, Iceland

Climate Change Can Also Transform Language

As our world warms, warps and melts, metaphors of the past take on new meaning

Zoo curator Bryan Amaral expects Spike will play nice with the other elephants. "For a bull elephant," he says, "Spike's a pretty amenable guy."

Meet Spike, the Affable Asian Bull Elephant Trucked Up From Florida to Join the National Zoo

With a new male elephant in the mix, zookeepers are hopeful babies will soon be on the way

Gene editing, which uses "molecular scissors" to cut and replace pieces of DNA, could be key for curing herpes.

Can We Gene-Edit Herpes Away?

Because the virus hides out deep in our bodies and stays there for life, a vaccine has eluded scientists for decades. But there may be another way

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