Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Science

Eating Breakfast Probably Won’t Help You Lose Weight

As much as researchers themselves want to believe that breakfast helps people lose weight or keep it off, the evidence is far from conclusive

What Happens When You Freeze Flowers and Shoot Them With a Gun?

With the help of a little liquid nitrogen, German photographer Martin Klimas captures the fragile chaos of flowers as they explode

President Barack Obama is left-handed, as well as at least six former presidents.

Ask Smithsonian 2017

Why Are Some People Left-Handed?

Being a righty or a lefty could be linked to variations in a network of genes that influence right or left asymmetries in the body and brain

The small hopping insect Issus coleoptratus uses toothed gears (magnified above with an electron microscope) to precisely synchronize the kicks of its hind legs as it jumps forward.

This Insect Has The Only Mechanical Gears Ever Found in Nature

The small hopping insect Issus coleoptratus uses toothed gears on its joints to precisely synchronize the kicks of its hind legs as it jumps forward

Cerro Prieto Geothermal Power Station, Baja, Mexico 2012

Aerial Views of Our Water World

In a new book, documentary and exhibition, photographer Edward Burtynsky looks at humans’ dramatic relationship with water

None

Video: A Drone Mates With a Queen Bee in Glorious Slow-Motion

For the new documentary More Than Honey, filmmakers captured the insects mating in midair

The wise long-eared owl keeps his cool under pressure.

Bigger-Brained Birds Keep Their Cool Under Pressure

Birds with high ratios of brain size to body size maintain lower levels of stress hormones in their blood compared to their less intellectual counterparts

New research shows that a molecule in Szechuan peppers activates your cells’ touch receptors, making them feel like they’ve been vibrated rapidly.

Why Szechuan Peppers Make Your Lips Go Numb

Research shows that a molecule in the peppers activates your cells’ touch receptors, making them feel like they’ve been rapidly vibrated

None

Energy Innovation

Could Panda Poop Be the Secret to More Efficient Biofuel?

Unique microbes in a panda’s gut efficiently break down bamboo—mass producing these microbes could help scientists make sustainable biofuels

The smokiness behind your favorite whiskey might all be thanks to chemistry.

How Chemistry Can Explain the Difference Between Bourbon and a Tennessee Whiskey

The unique flavor of a whiskey or scotch might be more than pure luck—it might be a science

None

This Next-Generation Bug Spray Could Make You Invisible to Mosquitoes

Researchers are analyzing chemicals naturally present on human skin that disrupt mosquitoes’ ability to smell us

Blackboard Jungle

Crossing the Line Between Art and Science

New York artist Steve Miller melds the computer models and scientific notes of a Nobel-winning biochemist into a series of paintings now on display in D.C.

When the heart’s electrical system fails, death is imminent.

Why Does Cardiac Arrest Often Strike in the Morning?

Studies show that the amount of a specific molecule in human hearts fluctuates on a daily cycle, helping to explain the decades-old observation

Hydraena ateneo, a millimeter-long water beetle, was found living in the forested creeks of Ateneo de Manila University’s forested campus.

A New Beetle Species Was Just Discovered Right Outside the World’s Densest City

Hydraena ateneo, a previously unknown water beetle, was found living in the forested creeks of a university’s campus near Manila, Philippines

In a rare collaboration, a team of Western scientists recently went to study North Korea’s Mount Paektu, an active volcano with a crater lake.

On Conducting Science Atop a Volcano in North Korea

A team of Western scientists recently helped local researchers set up monitoring instruments on North Korea’s Mount Paektu, an active volcano

Every 11 years, as part of the solar cycle, the Sun’s magnetic field flips, coinciding with a maximum in activity such as solar flares.

The Sun’s Magnetic Field Is About to Reverse

Every 11 years as part of the solar cycle, the Sun’s magnetic field flips. What’s in store for Earth when the field reverses a few months from now?

Cuban Emerald (Chlorostilbon ricordii), Western Foundation of Vertebrate Zoology, Collected from Andros Island, Bahamas, on January 22, 1988.

The Art of the Bird’s Nest

The architectural masterpieces of numerous bird species are the subject of Sharon Beals’ latest photo series—on display at the National Academy of Sciences

A colorized microscopic image of a viral particle of the Ebola virus. The virus, which scientists believe originates in non-human primates, causes Ebola hemorrhagic fever, a deadly disease in humans, monkeys, gorillas and chimpanzees.

Cracking the Code of the Human Genome

A Minimum of 320,000 Mammalian Viruses Await Discovery

If we invested just $1.4 billion, we could discover 85 percent of all mammalian viruses, potentially lessening the impact of the next emerging disease

QBotix robots adjust solar panels for maximum sun exposure—making solar power cheaper and more efficient.

Energy Innovation

WALL-E Goes to Work for Cheaper Solar Power

A startup in California has engineered robots to squeeze more juice from solar panels, bringing new efficiencies to a costly process

A young Maasai stands in front of a wind turbine on the Ngong Hills in Kenya.

Energy Innovation

Can Kenya Light the Way Toward a Clean-Energy Economy?

The absence of a robust fossil fuel infrastructure makes the African nation ripe for energy innovation

Page 255 of 457