A village nestled inside the Brazilian Amazon.

Anthropocene

Protecting Land in Brazil Reduces Malaria and Other Diseases

Areas under strict protection see the most benefit in shielding people from illness and infection

Smithsonian geologist Elizabeth Cottrell (right) helps undergraduate intern Kellie Wall examine a sample of Earth’s interior. Cottrell co-directs Natural History Research Experiences, a program funded by the National Science Foundation that trains 18 students every summer.

Commentary

Hey Scientist, Who Are You Mentoring this Summer?

The director of education at the National Museum of Natural History delivers a clarion call to all scientists: Be a Mentor. Raise Up the Next Generation

Anthropocene

Earth’s Oxygen Levels Can Affect Its Climate

Models of past eras show that oxygen can influence global temperature and humidity as its concentration changes

New research suggests hawkmoths, like the one pictured above, slow down their brain's ability to process light in order to see at night.

New Research

Hovering Hawkmoths Slow Down Their Brains to See in the Dark

The insects’ night vision appears to be finely tuned to the movement of their flower food sources

Ask Smithsonian: What Makes Skunk Spray Smell So Terrible?

When the omnivorous cat-size mammals take aim, the malodorous spray can hit with pin-point accuracy up to 20 feet away

A mosaic image shows magnetic activity on the solar disk, which is surrounded by the relatively faint corona.

New Research

A “Mangrove Forest” of Magnetism May Help Heat the Sun’s Corona

New simulations might explain why the sun’s atmosphere is bizarrely millions of degrees hotter than its surface

Six Ways to See Bioluminescence in the World’s Oceans

From shimmering squid in Japan to illuminated clams in France, here are some of the top spots for basking in nature’s glow

Scientists found what appear to be red blood cells in this claw from an unidentified theropod dinosaur.

New Research

Dinosaur Soft Tissue Recovered From Eight Cretaceous-Era Fossils

New sampling methods yielded cells and fibers from relatively ordinary fossils, broadening the possibilities for paleontology

A prison cemetery in Huntsville, Texas, where many executed inmates have been buried.

Support for the Death Penalty May Be Linked to Belief in Pure Evil

People who think evil exists in the world are more likely to demonize criminals, regardless of their character traits

The rolled electronic mesh is injected through a glass needle into a water-based solution.

New Research

A Flexible Circuit Has Been Injected Into Living Brains

Tested on mice, the rolled mesh fits inside a syringe and unfurls to monitor brain activity

Ask Smithsonian 2017

Does Dieting Actually Make Your Stomach Shrink?

Not exactly, says science—stretchiness and psychology seem to play bigger roles than size in determining how much a person can eat

A view from the cell wall of the Shanghai Natural History Museum, looking down on the north tectonic wall made of stone.

The New Shanghai Natural History Museum is Ancient, Modern and Uniquely Chinese

The nautilus-shaped building draws on Chinese traditions and 21st century design to house amazing specimens found nowhere else

The NOAA ship R/V Roger Revelle collects climate data in the Antarctic in 2008.

Anthropocene

There Is No Global Warming Hiatus After All

Improved data and better analysis methods find no slowdown in the pace of global temperature rise, NOAA scientists report

The nose knows.

New Research

Mouse Noses Can Bypass the Brain to Make Females Blind to Males

Hormones direct the nose to signal when potential mates are about—and when to erase their scent

An artistic reconstruction of the Regaliceratops peterhewsi, the newly discovered Triceratops cousin with a built-in crown.

New Research

The ‘Hellboy’ Dinosaur, a New Cousin of Triceratops, Is Fossil Royalty

The horned dinosaur wears a built-in crown and offers evidence of many more undiscovered species in North America

An artist's rendering of the Pluto system seen from the surface of one of its moons.

New Research

Weird Orbital Behaviors Offer Clues to the Origins of Pluto’s Moons

Solving the mystery of these satellites could help astronomers understand “Tatooine” exoplanets that orbit binary stars

The dusty white rock of the Las Vegas Formation, near the edge of Tule Springs National Monument, bakes in the midday heat.

Urban Explorations

Discover a Fossil Jackpot Off the Las Vegas Strip

Remains of mammoths, camels and other beasts of the Ice Age tempt visitors out of Sin City and into Tule Springs National Monument

A monarch feasting on milkweed.

Migrating Monarch Butterflies Might Actually Take to the Highway

Threatened pollinators get a trans-continental right of way

The Grevy's zebra (left) and the plains zebra may be tough to tell apart—until you examine their dietary preferences via their poop.

New Research

Big African Animals Are Pickier Eaters Than We Imagined

To the surprise of ecologists, plant-eaters manage to coexist on the savanna by each choosing different favorite foods

Texas longhorn cattle.

How “Meat Banks” Are Helping Farmers Preserve Precious Livestock

Frozen sperm and tissue are being stored to protect commercial animals and help save rare heritage breeds

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