This adult Rice's whale skull at the National Museum of Natural History is the only specimen of its kind.

Only 50 Rice’s Whales Are Left. Can We Do Enough to Protect Them Before It’s Too Late?

In 2021, researchers identified a new whale species and are now scrambling to save their natural habitat

The palm oil industry in Indonesia has led to widespread deforestation, making it hard to find remaining signs of archaic life.

The Search to Find the Remains of Homo Erectus in a Vanishing Landscape

A paleontologist journeys through Indonesia’s Riau Archipelago in search of our earliest ancestors, and uncovers how environmental devastation has erased much of the region’s history

With their eyes nearly front and center, owls don’t benefit much from peripheral vision, but their heads can rotate 135 degrees in any direction, giving them a great field of view.

Smithsonian Photo Contest Galleries

See 15 Stunning Photos of Superb Owls to Kick Off This Year’s Super Bowl Weekend

These snapshots of the majestic bird in flight and in trees will leave your soul soaring

None

There's More to That

Why Auroras Are Suddenly Everywhere All at Once

Auroras have long mystified humanity. Now that we know what they are and why they happen, we can better predict how best to experience them

The coast horned lizard (Phrynosoma blainvillii) depends on chaparral habitat to survive. It has declined across much of its range due to habitat loss, whether from development or invasion of non-native grasses. After fires, non-native grasses often fill in habitat and create problems for the species.

Here’s How the Los Angeles Wildfires Are Affecting Animals, From Fish to Snakes to Birds

While scientists were able to save and move some creatures in the aftermath, researchers are worried about the prospects for other species

The Tyrannosaurus at Spain’s Jurassic Museum of Asturias offer a speculative take on how dinosaurs mated.

Everything You Want to Know About Dinosaur Sexual Anatomy and Reproduction, From Their Genitalia to How They Laid Eggs

Paleontologists continue to find fossils that help revise our understanding of how dinosaurs did it

Penguins are attentive parents, with both males and females sharing the work. Here, displaying a common practice, each partner faces the other with a bowed head.

Smithsonian Photo Contest Galleries

See 15 Adorable Photos of Playful, Picture-Perfect Penguins

These images from the Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest show just why penguins have waddled into our hearts

Embers from the Eaton Fire fly down a residential street in Altadena, California, on January 8.

How A.I. Can Help Humans Battle Wildfires, From Advanced Camera Systems to Forecasting Models

A variety of new technologies aim to improve wildfire detection and help map the spread of blazes

A tiger keelback feeds on poisonous toads and stores the poison for its own use.

Six Clever Snakes to Celebrate as We Slither Into the Lunar New Year

These fascinating serpents embody acclaimed qualities including cunning and intelligence

A firefighter works as the Hughes Fire burns north of Los Angeles on January 22.

Welcome to the Pyrocene

Human use of fire has produced an era of uncontrolled burning

Laminella venusta is a state land snail endemic to Molokai.

How a Hawaiian High School Student Inspired Nine New State Animals

Researchers hope the designation of several species of land snails, or kāhuli, will lead to conservation

A skin diver swims with a sperm whale in the Caribbean off of Dominica.

Eight Natural Phenomena Worth Traveling for in 2025

You won’t regret experiencing bioluminescence, swimming with sperm whales or witnessing the rush of a horizontal waterfall

BlueGreen Water Technologies treats a harmful algal bloom in Doctors Lake in Clay County, Florida.

How Cleaning Up Harmful Algal Blooms Could Help Fight Climate Change

A company called BlueGreen Water Technologies aims to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere while also fighting algae’s toxic effects on people and the environment

None

There's More to That

How to Use Renaissance Paintings to Improve the Farming of Tomorrow

An arboreal archaeologist roots around the Italian countryside and in centuries-old frescoes for a cornucopia of fruits long forgotten—but still viable to grow and consume

Dinosaurs only started to live large after a mass extinction altered the planet in their favor.

How a Mass Extinction Driven by Ancient Volcanoes Led to the Age of the Dinosaurs

Roughly 201 million years ago, drastic changes extinguished many forms of life and led to conditions that allowed the terrible lizards to thrive

The frame of the house stands where former Australian child star Rory Sykes died in a neighboring cottage during the Palisades Fire on Rambla Pacifico Street. Sykes was 32 years old and had cerebral palsy. 

A Los Angeles Photographer Captures the Devastating Fires Threatening His Beloved Community

Ivan Kashinsky has traveled the world for Smithsonian magazine, but when disaster struck earlier this month, he rushed home to point his lens at his own neighborhood

A vast mosaic of cells, some that are identical and some that are slightly different, make up the human body.

Why Is Every Human Being Riddled With Genetic Errors?

Your body is a collection of cells carrying thousands of genetic mistakes accrued over a lifetime—many harmless, some bad and at least a few that may be good for you

The finished national anthem included the calls of 41 birds.

How Scientists and Composers Teamed Up to Create a Stunning Natural Version of Colombia’s National Anthem

A team trekked for two weeks and collected the sounds of birds, frogs, a jaguar and whales in order to make the song

Early 20th-century paleontologists wondered whether the small arms of Tyrannosaurus rex were used for grasping when the dinosaurs mated.

Everything You Want to Know About the Sex Lives of Dinosaurs, From Scratching the Ground to Battling With Horns

By evaluating fossils, scientists are learning what creature features may have been used to attract mates and fight off sexual competitors

The world’s first Covid-19 human challenge study was born in early 2021.

What Have We Learned From Intentionally Infecting People With Covid-19?

Challenge trials help researchers study immune responses. Skeptics still doubt the approach is worth the risks

Page 13 of 456