A chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) mother resting with her children in western Uganda.

New Research

Ebola Vaccine For Chimps Could Help Save Wild Populations

A trial of a chimp vaccine highlights debates over vaccinating wild populations and using chimps in medical research

Left to right: Kamala, Swarna, and Maharani at the Calgary Zoo in 2013.

The National Zoo May Be In For An Elephant Reunion

These three females will help the zoo develop a diverse elephant herd like those found in the wild

The American paddlefish, which makes spawning migrations up the Yellowstone and Missouri Rivers.

Trending Today

This Weekend, Celebrate the World’s Weird and Wonderful Migratory Fishes

The first annual World Migratory Fish Day is making a splash with hundreds of outdoor, fish-centric events

Noc (in 1995) strongly “wanted to make a connection,” says former naval trainer Michelle Jeffries. “I think that was part of the thing behind him mimicking speech.”

The Story of One Whale Who Tried to Bridge the Linguistic Divide Between Animals and Humans

While captive in a Navy program, a beluga whale named Noc began to mimic human speech. What was behind his attempt to talk to us?

Why Are People So Comfortable With Small Drones?

The FAA will soon allow commercial drones to fly in U.S. airspace, but researchers have found that they aren’t seen as much of a nuisance at all

Tiktaalik roseae had fish-like fins, a flattened skull (similar to a crocodile), and is thought to have lived in shallow water, using its fins to prop itself up.

Did the Evolution of Animal Intelligence Begin With Tiktaalik?

How one marvelously preserved fossil sheds light on how the vertebrate invasion of land took place

The Clarion nightsnake, brought into the scientific light at last.

New Research

Written Off as a Figment, the Mysterious Clarión Nightsnake Reemerges after Nearly 80 Years

The snake was discovered on a remote Mexican island in the 1930s, but the notes of the famous naturalist who documented it were later called into question

The crater measures almost 230 feet across.

This Hellish Desert Pit Has Been On Fire for More Than 50 Years

In the Turkmenistan desert, a crater dubbed “The Door to Hell” has been burning for decades

Kayakers paddle along the roadway of the historic waterfront of Annapolis, following Hurricane Isabel. As much as four feet of water flooded the historic capital city.

Which of America’s Most Precious Historical Sites Are Threatened By Climate Change?

A new report warns that rising sea levels could destroy many of the nation’s important—and beloved—locations

The interior of Greenland (seen here with researchers’ tents pitched) is usually covered in frozen ice and snow. In July 2012, though, 97 percent of the surface melted for the first time in more than 100 years. Scientists now know why that happened.

New Research

Nearly All of Greenland’s Surface Melted Overnight in 2012—Here’s Why

High temperatures and black carbon from forest fires and fossil fuels combined to push the huge ice sheet over the edge

This year, Smithsonian magazine's festival is themed "Science Meets Science Fiction."

Future Is Here Festival

The Future is (Still) Here: Day Two of Smithsonian’s Second Annual Conference

Instead of holding its own global fest this year, Nerd Nite descended on our nation’s capital.

Jet pack demonstration at Smithsonian magazine's 'The Future is Here' Festival

Future Is Here Festival

Watch a Man Fly a Jetpack Around D.C.’s Ronald Reagan Building at Smithsonian’s ‘The Future Is Here’ Festival

The conference’s first day ended with a bang—or should we say, a blast-off.

A combination of infrared and X-ray observations indicates that a surplus of massive stars has formed from a large disk of gas around Sagittarius A*.

Future Is Here Festival

Inside Black Holes

Three recent black hole events and how they shape our universe

Christopher Vo, a roboticist at George Mason University and drone technology educator, teaches everyday users how to build and fly drones like this one.

Future Is Here Festival

What Would You Do With A Drone?

As the potential drone applications grow, so does the build-your-own drone movement

Left, a golden record (© Nasa/National Geographic Society/Corbis) Right, the other side of the golden record shows directions to play it. Identical records carrying the story of Earth were sent into deep space on Voyager 1 and 2.

Future Is Here Festival

The Golden Record 2.0 Will Crowdsource A Selfie of Human Culture

Inspired by a similar effort in the 1970s, the project wants your help in creating a portrait of humanity to send out of the solar system

A common octopus (Octopus vulgaris) stretches out on a reef environment beneath the sea.

Why Don’t Octopus Suckers Stick To Their Own Skin?

A chemical excreted by octopus skin tells their severed arms, “Don’t grab me or eat me!”

Diver Susan Bird works at the bottom of Hoyo Negro, a large dome-shaped underwater cave on Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula. She carefully brushes the human skull found at the site while her team members take detailed photographs.

New Research

DNA From 12,000-Year-Old Skeleton Helps Answer the Question: Who Were the First Americans?

In 2007, cave divers discovered remains that form the oldest, most complete and genetically intact human skeleton in the New World

A red-winged blackbird, the males of which (pictured) feature bright red spots. Females, on the other hand, are a mottled brown.

New Research

Drab Female Birds Were Once As Flashy As Their Male Mates

Biologists always assumed that sexual selection primarily drove differences in looks between male and female birds, but a new study challenges that notion

A drawing of the West Indian or Caribbean monk seal based on a specimen collected in Matanzas, Cuba.

New Research

For the First Time in More Than 100 Years, Scientists Discover New Seal Genus

The now extinct Caribbean monk seal shares an evolutionary connection with the endangered Hawaiian monk seal—one more reason to save the species

Water extracted from beneath California’s San Joaquin Valley keeps farm fields green. But it may also be affecting earthquakes in the region.

New Research

Pulling Water Out of the Ground May Lead to Quakes on the San Andreas Fault

Ground movements linked to water extraction may change stresses on the fault famously responsible for California earthquakes

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