Best Space Photos of the Week

These Spacey Treats Include a Galactic Smiley Face and an Interstellar Rose

A lucky lens and a pair of mismatched star twins feature among our picks for the week’s best space images

The World of Chocolate

What Physics Tells Us About Making the Perfect Chocolate

Like carbon, the treat can take on many crystalline forms, so a master chocolatier must know how to temper it in just the right way

An example of a pot used by the ancient Maya

Chocolate Week

What We Know About the Earliest History of Chocolate

We’ve learned things that could help today’s artisan chocolatiers improve their trade

The Cliff Palace in Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado was abandoned hundreds of years ago, probably because of a severe drought. Scientists now predict that the region could experience an even worse megadrought in the latter half of the 21st century.

Anthropocene

The Western U.S. Could Soon Face the Worst Megadrought in a Millennium

Climate models predict that the region will be drier than the droughts that likely caused ancient Native Americans to abandon their pueblo cities

Our furry friends might be able to infer our mood based on our facial expressions - just like human buddies do.

New Research

Dogs Can Tell Whether You’re Making a Happy or Mad Face

For the first time, science shows that a non-human animal can recognize the emotional state of another species

Is fine chocolate slipping through our fingers?

The World of Chocolate

How to Save the Chocolate Tree Without Sacrificing Flavor

Demand, disease and climate change are threatening cocoa, but a new breed of clones could keep the treat abundant and tasty

Imagining the future of artificial hearts.

Help for the Brokenhearted: Wearable, Biosynthetic and ‘Beatless’ Artificial Hearts

Cow-machine hybrids and continuous-flow technologies are helping people survive devastating heart failure

Adrenaline crystals (polarized light micrographs). Adrenaline, also called epinephrine, is normally present in blood in small quantities. It is a hormone produced in the adrenal glands above the kidneys. The glands are controlled by the hypothalamus, the part of the brain responsible for instinct and emotion. In times of stress, more adrenaline is secreted into the bloodstream. It widens the airways of the lungs and constricts small blood vessels. This makes the muscles work harder and produces a "fight or flight" response. Adrenaline used as a drug expands the bronchioles in acute asthma attacks and stimulates the heart in cases of anaphylactic shock.

Art Meets Science

Blood Clots, Liver Cells and Bird Flu Are Surprisingly Beautiful Under a Microscope

The brightly-colored micrographs and scans in a new book, Science is Beautiful, answer big questions about the human body

Don't try this at home.

The World of Chocolate

Healers Once Prescribed Chocolate Like Aspirin

From ancient Mesoamerica to Renaissance Europe, the modern confectionary treat has medical roots

Though threatened by adverse conditions in the Chesapeake Bay, oysters are filter feeders and may provide a much-needed solution for better water quality.

Let Oysters Get Sick to Clean Up the Chesapeake

The delicious oyster you love to slurp might be the best bet for clearing away pollutants

Dabbling around for a meal.

Ducks Help Explain How We Feel All the Feels

Highly sensitive nerves in duck bills are offering clues to the way we experience the sense of touch

A former bombe operator shows the back of a drum from the decryption machine at Bletchley Park.

Brains Make Decisions the Way Alan Turing Cracked Codes

A mathematical tool developed during World War II operates in a similar way to brains weighing the reliability of information

You can thank these Theobroma cacao flowers for your brownie sundae.

The World of Chocolate

You Wouldn’t Have Chocolate Without Invisible Flies and Extreme Yeast

It takes a wild and temperamental menagerie to bring the beloved candy to store shelves. Bon appétit!

Melts in your mouth, not in microgravity.

The World of Chocolate

The Rich and Flavorful History of Chocolate in Space

From vacuum-sealed pudding to Blue Bell ice cream, astronauts have been taking the treat into orbit since the dawn of the space age

How Long Will You Live? Ask Your Friends

A medical personality quiz started in the 1930s shows how your best pals may know more about your health than you do

The World of Chocolate

The World of Chocolate

Both within the Smithsonian and in the broader world, the story of chocolate has many fascinating morsels

The abandoned city of Machu Picchu is one legacy of the Spanish conquest of the Incas. Traces of air pollution in a Peruvian ice cap are another.

Anthropocene

Spanish Conquest of the Incas Caused Air Pollution to Spike

A sample of Peruvian ice has revealed a surge in pollution linked to mining that wasn’t exceeded until the Industrial Revolution

The sleek 11-foot model of the Enterprise had been seen in the 1966-69 television series Star Trek.

A Feisty Capt. James T. Kirk Checks in on the Starship ‘Enterprise’

When the model for the TV show Star Trek was removed for conservation at the National Air and Space Museum, the actor William Shatner weighed in

Ask Smithsonian: How Does a Satellite Stay Up?

Meet a Harvard-Smithsonian researcher who monitors all the satellites and explains why they rarely fall

Best Space Photos of the Week

These Cosmic Visions Include a Moon Parade and a Naked Nebula

Jovian giants and newly seen stars are among our picks for the week’s best space-related images

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