Chimpanzees engage in social grooming in Gombe National Park.

New Research

Social Contact Helps Beneficial Gut Bacteria Spread

A study of chimp poop suggests that social animals share a collective microbiome that might help regulate health

A Hoplophoneus pseudo-cat skull in the collections of the Natural History Museum of Utah.

The Dakota Badlands Used to Host Sabertoothed Pseudo-Cat Battles

The region was once home to a plethora of catlike creatures called nimravids, and fossils show they were an especially fractious breed

An illustration shows the record-breaking supernova ASASSN-15lh as it would appear from an exoplanet about 10,000 light-years away.

Think Big

Astronomers Have Found the Brightest Supernova Yet

The powerful blast is so weird that it could be a whole new kind of star explosion

Wooly mammoths would have been challenging but desirable prey for early humans.

New Research

Humans Were in the Arctic 10,000 Years Earlier Than Thought

Distinctive cut marks on a Siberian mammoth represent the first known evidence of human hunters this far north

Fossilized microbial mats, or stromatolites are one of the oldest fossils found on Earth. This one lurked in shallow waters 3.4 billion years ago.

Life and Rocks May Have Co-Evolved on Earth

A Carnegie geologist makes the case that minerals have evolved over time and may have helped spark life

“We’ve been raising CO2 in this marsh for 30 years, but [elevated] CO2 comes with warming,” says Pat Megonigal, lead researcher of the new study in the Global Change Research Wetland at Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC).

Age of Humans

For the World’s Wetlands, It May Be Sink or Swim. Here’s Why It Matters

One of the world’s most long-studied marshes has revealed a wealth of information, but it continues to perplex and intrigue the scientists who analyze it

Antarctica as viewed from space. The world's largest ozone hole—now shrinking—opens over Antarctica every year during local summer and shrinks in the winter.

Age of Humans

The Ozone Hole Was Super Scary, So What Happened To It?

When the ozone hole was discovered, it became a worldwide sensation. Thirty years later, what’s become of it?

A man pulls a cart full of empty PC cases that'll be broken down by recyclers in Agbogbloshie, in Accra, Ghana.

Age of Humans

The Burning Truth Behind an E-Waste Dump in Africa

Ending the toxic smoke rising from an iconic dump in Ghana will take more than curbing Western waste

Adam Steltzner celebrates the successful landing of the Curiosity rover on Mars on August 5, 2012.

What Landing a Rover on Mars Teaches You About Leadership and Teamwork

In his new book, NASA engineer Adam Steltzner shares his insights on how to inspire people to make the impossible possible

None

Ask Smithsonian: What Is Wind?

Whether arriving on a gentle breeze or a stiff gale, air moves like water responding to high and low pressures around the Earth

Microbes are now known to play many roles in the upper atmosphere: forming clouds, causing rain, and maybe even changing climates.

Age of Humans

Living Bacteria Are Riding Earth’s Air Currents

The high-flying microbes can travel across the globe, spreading disease or even changing climates

Pollutants hang in the air at a coke plant in Pennsylvania. This plant was photographed in 1973, but humans have been polluting their air for many years before that.

Age of Humans

Air Pollution Goes Back Way Further Than You Think

Thousands of years ago, humans were adding lead fumes and other pollutants to the air

What goes into a black hole never comes out. Or does it?

New Research

Stephen Hawking Thinks We Can Solve a Major Black Hole Mystery With Hair

No toupees needed, though. The “hairs” in question are minute changes in spacetime at the fringes of black holes

A mushroom cloud rises in the sky during an atomic weapons test in the 1950s.

Age of Humans

The Atomic Age Ushered In the Anthropocene, Scientists Say

Geoscientists have concluded that the Age of Humans officially began at the start of the nuclear age.

A researcher examines the mummified hand of Ötzi the Iceman.

New Research

The Iceman’s Stomach Bugs Offer Clues to Ancient Human Migration

DNA analysis of the mummy’s pathogens may reveal when and how Ötzi’s people came to the Italian Alps

Our Changing Seas III, 2014

Art Meets Science

Does This Sculpture Depict a Coral Reef Collapsing or Recovering?

Artist Courtney Mattison’s spiral-shaped piece explores the uncertain future for coral reefs

A white stork forages for food at a landfill in Beja, Portugal.

Anthropocene

These Photographs Show the Bleak New Home for the White Stork: A Landfill

Dutch wildlife photographer Jasper Doest followed the path of the white stork’s migration route, forever altered by human activity

Foot fluid may help bugs escape in a hurry.

Foot Fluids Work in Surprising Ways to Help Insects Stick to Walls

Long though to boost bug stickiness, the fluid may instead help insects mold to contours and make quick exits

These cracks hint at subsurface seas.

Does Icy Pluto Have a Hidden Ocean? New Horizons Offers New Clues

Data from the NASA probe are helping to build a solid case for a liquid ocean inside the tiny, distant world

Follow your nose, leopard shark.

New Research

Leopard Sharks Navigate With Their Noses

After being kidnapped and dropped off at sea, the sharks picked up on olfactory cues to find their way back home

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