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Science

A macro photo of coralites off Malapascua Island in the Philippines.

The Top Ten Ocean Stories of 2017

From wind turbines to massive sunfish to octopus cities, the seas proved full of surprises this year

Kepler has been gazing out at the twinkle of stars since 2009, analyzing the light of hundreds of thousands of stars.

New Research

How AI Found the First Eight-Planet Solar System Beyond Our Own

Google’s neural network sifted through piles of NASA data to find a planet hiding in the spacestacks

Acinetobacter baumannii

The Next Pandemic

Instead of Killing Bacteria, Can We Just “Turn Off” Its Ability To Cause Infections?

Researchers could have an answer to antibiotic resistance, and it involves using epigenetics to reprogram bacteria

"Panama's Animal Highway" premiers on the Smithsonian Channel, December 13 at 8 p.m. ET/PT.

New Documentary Delights With Spectacular Visuals of the Panama Isthmus, A Migratory Superhighway

Scientists from all over the world come to the Smithsonian Tropical Research Center to study this unique region

To find the roots of an unlikely connection, researchers are untangling lemur microbiomes. Here, ring-tailed lemurs feast at Serengeti Park in Hodenhagen, Germany.

New Research

What Lemur Guts Can Tell Us About Human Bowel Disease

Similarities between us and the cuddly primates could help us understand the origins of human illnesses—and treat them

In a recent presentation held at the National Museum of Natural History, University of Melbourne researcher Gerald Roche called attention to 21 minority languages spoken in villages across Tibet.

The Incredible Linguistic Diversity of Tibet Is Disappearing

Thanks to national schooling and the Internet, many of the plateau’s unique languages are in danger

Apollo 17's Saturn V launch vehicle sits atop pad 39-A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Apollo 17 Was the Swan Song of Manned Space Exploration

Looking back 45 years later, is there hope humanity will once again push beyond Earth? President Donald Trump seems to think so

How can you maximize reading’s rewards for baby?

New Research

Brain Studies Suggest What Books to Read to Your Baby—and When

Psychologists looked at infant brains to find that both timing and content can impact mental development

Enrico Fermi, Italian-American physicist, received the 1938 Nobel Prize in physics for identifying new elements and discovering nuclear reactions by his method of nuclear irradiation and bombardment.

Was Enrico Fermi Really the “Father of the Nuclear Age”?

A new book takes a fresh look at the famed scientist

What's a dinosaur, anyways? The answer is in the evolutionary tree.

Ask Smithsonian

What Makes a Dinosaur a Dinosaur?

The question may sound like a “duh,” but it gets to the heart of how we categorize and define nature

An apiarist tends to beehives at Hastings Urban Farm in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside.

Can Honeybees Monitor Pollution?

The tiny pollinators are useful sentinels of what’s going on in an ecosystem, and might just be environmentalists’ best asset

Hurricane Maria, September 2017

Turning Hurricane Data Into Music

Can listening to storms help us understand them better? A meteorologist and a music technologist think so

Jane Goodall reaches out to touch hands with Flint, the first infant born at Gombe after her arrival.

New Jane Goodall Documentary Is Most Intimate Portrait Yet, Says Jane Goodall

The famed chimp researcher didn’t want yet another documentary made about her. Jane changed her mind

The Ten Best Science Books of 2017

These books not only inspired awe and wonder—they helped us better understand the machinations of our world

While highly social and cooperative among themselves, dwarf mongooses take a while to warm up to newcomers.

New Research

For Immigrant Mongooses, It Can Take Time to Earn Society’s Trust

In some species, however, deporting your own family members is the norm

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