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Science

Leaves of the plant Plantago lanceolata infected with powdery mildew.

What the Spread Of A Plant Mildew Tells Us About Forests

Fragmenting habitats into smaller pieces may let diseases spread more easily, a new study finds

"Get away from me, get away from me!" - an anxious crawfish freaking out.

New Research

Crawfish, Like Humans, Are Anxious Worrywarts

As the first invertebrates ever found to demonstrate anxiety, crawfish might help reveal the evolutionary origins of that stressful state of mind

A green turtle.

Why Do We Have Trouble Talking About Success In Ocean Conservation?

Despite what you’ve read in the news, there’s still hope for a future with a healthy ocean

The mind-controlled exoskeleton developed by Miguel Nicolelis and his colleagues will allow a paralyzed teenager to make the ceremonial first kick of the 2014 World Cup.

World Cup 2014

Mind-Controlled Technology Extends Beyond Exoskeletons

A wearable robot controlled by brain waves will take center stage at the World Cup this week, but it’s not the only mind-controlled tech out there

Inside the semi-subterranean 19th-century burial vault, conditions had deteriorated. The wooden shelves that held the caskets of nearly two dozen individuals had disintegrated. Bones were exposed.

To Discover What Life Was Like in 19th Century D.C., a Smithsonian Scientist Investigates a Tomb

Forensic anthropologist Douglas Owsley digs into an 1835 vault and reveals the startling history of a famous Washington family

A slate sculpture of Alan Turing by artist Stephen Kettle sits at the Bletchley Park National Codes Centre in Great Britain.

The Turing Test Measures Something, But It’s Not “Intelligence”

A computer program mimicked human conversation so well that it was mistaken for a real live human, but “machine intelligence” still has a long way to go

The Silent Evolution. MUSA Collection, 2010. Depth, 8 m. Manchones Reef, Mexico.

Can Underwater Art Save the Ocean’s Coral Reefs?

Artist Jason deCaires Taylor is creating sculptures to help promote reef growth

A Japanese sea catfish, enjoying the light.

New Research

This Catfish’s Whiskers Are Like Ultra-Sensitive pH Strips

Japanese sea catfish seek out worms in the pitch dark by detecting minute changes in water chemistry caused by their prey’s breathing

Computer illustration of red blood cells in a blood vessel.

Your Blood Type is a Lot More Complicated Than You Think

There are millions of varieties—and a global network to help share them

A skull of an ancient dinosaur was digitally restored and reconstructed using new imaging tools.

Tech Watch

How New Tech for Ancient Fossils Could Change The Way We Understand Animals

X-ray topography, virtual models and 3D printing are advancing our knowledge of the ancient animals—and modern ones, too

This is the first pterosaur egg ever found that had not been flattened, discovered by paleontologists at the Turpan-Hami Basin in northwestern China.

Found: 120-Million-Year-Old Colony of Fossilized Flying Reptiles, Plus Their Eggs

The eggs were unearthed in the midst of a boneyard of pterosaurs, lending insight into the behaviors of ancient flying reptiles

Hurricane Irene caused destruction throughout the Caribbean and along the U.S. East Coast, killing more than 50 people in late August 2011.

New Research

Our Gender Biases May Be Making Hurricanes With Female Names More Deadly

Even without Katrina and Audrey, storms with feminine monikers have killed more people than those with masculine names

Anatomically Correct Hibiscus; yarn; 2005; 45" x 45" x 32"

Art Meets Science

Sowing a Garden, One Knit Flower At a Time

Providence-based artist Tatyana Yanishevsky’s sculptures of various plant species are botanically accurate in almost everything but their scale

An oil tanker makes its way to Valdez, Alaska. The Arctic’s rich stores of oil and natural gas make it an attractive destination for future voyages.

Arctic Shipping: Good For Invasive Species, Bad For the Rest of Nature

A pair of Smithsonian marine biologists argue that a warming Arctic puts the area at risk for inviting invasive species

A Cyclosa ginnaga spider perched amid its silk web decoration looks strangely like the result of a bird relieved itself in the forest understory.

New Research

This Spider Web Was Deliberately Spun to Look Like Bird Poop

It’s not artistic license. The arachnid avoids predators by masquerading as bird droppings, say scientists

Watching a movie on a DVD requires more energy than streaming it over the Internet, a new study finds.

New Research

Streaming a Movie Uses Less Energy Than Watching a DVD

Getting rid of DVD players could reduce carbon dioxide emissions, researchers find

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?

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