The green color of the superb startling’s wing feathers is produced by microscopically structured surfaces that interfere with and scatter light.

Art Meets Science

The Extravagant Beauty of Feathers

A new book spotlights the astonishing diversity of avian plumage

How Do Butterflies Fly and More Questions From Our Readers

You asked, we answered

Giraffes make their way across the Mara River. Whether they’re ambling or galloping, giraffes maintain balance by moving their necks in synchrony with their legs.

What Elephants, Zebras and Lions Do When They Think No One’s Watching

The stunning results when a photographer uses remote cameras to capture Africa’s great beasts

Astrophysicist Kip Thorne dared to dream of a machine to find gravitational waves.

Think Big

The Detection of Gravitational Waves Was a Scientific Breakthrough, but What’s Next?

Scientists are sitting on top of the world after this monumental discovery and are eager to keep exploring the universe

When Dinosaurs Roamed the (Not Yet) Petrified Forest

Recent surprise discoveries at the national park have prompted a complete rethinking about the creatures of the Jurassic Era

The Ichthyornis is a toothed bird that links birds with reptiles.

The “Sistine Chapel of Evolution” Is in New Haven, Connecticut

Charles Darwin never visited the Yale museum, but you can, and see for yourself the specimens that he praised as the best evidence for his theory

Local actors Judy Barth, Ruth Ochsenrider and Jim Barth peer over photos of original Scopes Trial jurors during the annual Scopes Trial Festival in Dayton, Tennessee.

How Much Has the Town Where the Scopes Trial Took Place Evolved Since the 1920s?

Each July, Dayton, Tennessee, celebrates its role in the famous court case with a re-enactment and festival

Zacharia Muinde of Map Kibera Trust shows teachers and students their school's page on Open Schools Kenya, a mapping project that helps residents find information on local schools.

Age of Humans

DIY Cartographers Are Putting Slums on the Literal Map

When a community makes its way onto a map, it’s that much harder to deny, say activists.

Stalactites hang inside of Australia's Jenolan Caves, each one a record of Earth's past.

Caves Can Now Help Scientists Trace Ancient Wildfires

But the chemical clues for fire add an unexpected snarl for researchers using those same caves to track climate change

Ask Smithsonian: Why Does My Nose Run When It’s Cold?

The nose knows that runny flows are necessary in the cold

Why You Should Take the Honey Bee Shortage Seriously

Our entire agricultural system relies on the wellbeing of honey bees. And for them to do well, they need diverse vegetation, not just farmland

An artist's rendering shows what a Tully Monster might have looked like 300 million years ago.

New Research

What Is a Tully Monster? Scientists Finally Think They Know

The oddball fossil that puzzled experts for almost 60 years is probably an ancient fish akin to today’s bloodsucking lampreys

Meghan Fellows sprays flame on a patch of lesser celandine, an invasive weed, while volunteer Jim Anderson looks on. If "flaming" the plants (heating them up but not burning them) kills them reliably, the technique may replace pesticides in vulnerable stream environments.

Age of Humans

A New Weapon in the War on Weeds: Flamethrowers

Long used in agriculture, land managers are now wondering whether cooking weeds to death is better than pesticides

A nonvenomous Texas rat snake coils up in a defensive posture.

New Research

To Scientists’ Surprise, Even Nonvenomous Snakes Can Strike at Ridiculous Speeds

The Texas rat snake was just as much of a speed demon as deadly vipers, challenging long-held notions about snake adaptations

The museum has generated controversy over gentrification of Rio de Janeiro ahead of the 2016 Olympics.

Age of Humans

Imagining an Alarming Future at Brazil’s Museum of Tomorrow

The ambitious museum looks at where humankind is headed—and asks how they’ll live in a post-climate-change world

The highly regular spacing of fairy circles in Australia becomes visible in dense vegetation. The grasses in the foreground of the image are patchy as they rebounding from fire.

New Research

Mysterious Fairy Circles Have Been Found in Western Australia

Once thought to exist only in Namibia, circles spotted 6,200 miles away are helping sort out how these odd features form

A reconstruction of the horse-sized tyrannosaur Timurlengia euotica, named for the charismatic Central Asian ruler Tamerlane, shows the species' long, slender legs, large head and teeth built sharp like a steak knife.

The Discovery of a Tiny Tyrannosaur Adds New Insight Into the Origins of T. Rex

The horse-sized dino species had smarts and a keen sense of smell, setting the stage for the evolution of the enormous predator

A woman sits amid the ruins of the Great Stone Church, which collapsed in an 1812 earthquake, at Mission San Juan Capistrano.

Journey to the Center of Earth

San Andreas May Have Had Help Triggering a Historic Earthquake

New evidence about a devastating quake in 1812 hints that the San Jacinto fault may be a bigger seismic risk than anyone thought

Houses on the New Jersey shore sit in ruins in July 2013, roughly eight months after Hurricane Sandy made landfall in the area.

New Research

Twitter May Be Faster Than FEMA Models for Tracking Disaster Damage

Real-time online activity could provide speedier assessments as disaster unfolds than tools currently used by the government agency

Landscape of Change uses data lines reflecting sea level rise, glacier volume decline, increasing global temperatures and the increasing use of fossil fuels.

Art Meets Science

These Watercolor Paintings Actually Include Climate Change Data

Jill Pelto, an artist and scientist, incorporates graphs of rising sea levels and soaring temperatures in her artwork

Page 188 of 456