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Science

There are many hurdles to building the proposed border wall. And skimping on any steps means that "big, beautiful" wall won't stand for long.

What Geology Has to Say About Building a 1,000-Mile Border Wall

Compared to erecting a marble palace or high-steepled church, a wall may seem relatively straightforward—it isn’t

As 19th century urban living became more cramped, some women began to reinvent the domestic sphere with technology.

Women Who Shaped History

These Four Black Women Inventors Reimagined the Technology of the Home

By designating the realm of technology as ‘male,’ we overlook key inventions that took place in the domestic sphere

Deciding when to get divorced is a difficult calculation—even for birds.

Age of Humans

Birds Struggle to Keep Their Marriages in Rapidly Changing Urban Environments

Deciding whether to get divorced is a complex calculation, even for birds

Peregrine falcons are found on every continent except Antarctica

Super Bowl

Ten Fun Facts About Falcons, the Birds

As the Atlanta Falcons prepare to play in the Super Bowl, learn about the remarkable raptors behind the name

A view into Flint drinking water pipes, showing various types of iron corrosion and rust.

New Research

Scientists Now Know Exactly How Lead Got Into Flint’s Water

New report points blames corrosion and warns that fixing lead poisoning nationwide will require more work than we hoped

A new study on grey reef sharks turned up a few surprises.

New Research

Ocean Preserves Keep Fishing Boats Away from Grey Reef Sharks

Scientists tracked hundreds of reef sharks to find that massive marine refuges can work—with one caveat

The Zoo's female bobcat was found on the property of the Zoo.

Ollie the Bobcat Is Back at the Zoo and Off the Streets of Washington, D.C.

National Zoo bobcat ends her city sojourn

Gotcha! A frog's tongue can be five times faster than the blink of a human eye.

New Research

Inside Every Frog’s Mouth Is a Sticky, Grabby Bullet

Investigating frog tongues—and some human ones!—in the name of science

Chinese researchers have harnessed the power of deep learning to help doctors identify this rare disease.

New Research

Can Eagle-Eyed Artificial Intelligence Help Prevent Children From Going Blind?

Deep learning pinpoints cataracts more accurately than humans, and could help prevent this form of vision loss in children

From top left: (A and B) The new species Pylopaguropsis mollymullerae in Bonaire; (C and E) the new species in a den with a broad banded moray (D) the new species' coral ledge habitat.

Smithsonian Scientist and a Reef-Diving Grandmother Team Up in Discovery of New Hermit Crab

A new species of hermit crab is named to honor her 7-year-old granddaughter Molly

Astrolabes were astronomical calculating devices that did everything from tell the time to map the stars. This 16th century planispherical astrolabe stems from Morocco.

Think Big

The Story of the Astrolabe, the Original Smartphone

Prosperous times likely paved the way for this multifunctional device, conceptual ancestor to the iPhone 7

The horse mandible marked by traces of stone tools, which might prove humans came to North American 10,000 years earlier than previously believed.

Humans May Have Arrived in North America 10,000 Years Earlier Than We Thought

A 24,000-year-old horse jawbone is helping rewrite our understanding of human habitation on the continent

The Experimental Lakes Area in Ontario is one of the world's leading long-term experiments tracking the effects of climate change, pollution and other factors on freshwater ecosystems.

Canadian Scientists Explain Exactly How Their Government Silenced Science

It wasn’t just climate research. Rock snot, sharks and polar bears: All were off-limits during the Harper administration

It may not be pretty, but meat eating has been a critical factor in creating the fossil record.

Why Paleontologists Should Love Meat-Eaters

… Particularly the ones that feasted on human flesh. Thanks, guys!

Who in society gets to be viewed as "brilliant"?

New Research

By Age Six, Girls Have Already Stopped Thinking of Their Gender as ‘Brilliant’

The’re more likely to assume that someone who is ‘very, very smart’ is male, new research finds

An illustration of Australia's past megafauna.

New Research

Changing Climate, Not Humans, Killed Australia’s Massive Mammals

But that mass extinction could help us predict what today’s human-wrought climate change may bring

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