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Science

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

The nose knows that runny flows are necessary in the cold

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

An artist's rendering of the sweltering surface of Venus.

New Research

A Giant Planetary Smashup May Have Turned Venus Hot and Hellish

A collision with a large object may have triggered changes deep inside the planet that ultimately affected its atmosphere

The fossil skull of the human ancestor Australopithecus africanus, which had more robust teeth and jaws than modern humans.

New Research

A Taste for Raw Meat May Have Helped Shape Human Evolution

Stone tools might have let our ancestors more easily chew and digest meat, which in turn may have changed our teeth and jaws

The tule elk has been reintroduced to its native range at Point Reyes National Seashore in California, but sometimes "rewilding" landscapes brings unintended effects.

Age of Humans

It Might Be Impossible to Turn Back the Clock on Altered Ecosystems

“Rewilding” landscapes to return them to a natural state might sometimes be ineffective and even harmful

A mother bonobo and her offspring.

Age of Humans

The Surprising Way Civil War Took Its Toll on Congo’s Great Apes

Using satellite maps and field studies, scientists found that even small disturbances to the forest had big consequences for bonobos

A common wasp with the colony's brood comb in Germany.

New Research

Worker Wasps Sneak Out to Lay Their Eggs in Neighboring Nests

By cadging a free ride for their offspring, female workers may boost their chances of passing on their genes

These ancient amber fossils from Burma in Southeast Asia help complete the patchy record of lizard evolution.

New Research

Pint-Sized Lizards Trapped in Amber Give Clues to Life 100 Million Years Ago

The trove of Cretaceous reptiles includes an early relative of the chameleon—the oldest yet discovered

U.S. astronaut Scott Kelly (right) and his twin brother Mark attend a press conference ahead of NASA's "Year in Space" mission at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan in 2015.

A Brief History of Twin Studies

As NASA dives into the data from astronaut twins, take a look back at the famous, and infamous, results we’ve seen from this popular research tool

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