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Science

A composite false-color image of fire in space. The bright yellow traces the path of a drop of fuel, shrinking as it burns, producing green soot.

In Space, Flames Behave in Ways Nobody Thought Possible

Combustion experiments conducted in zero gravity yield surprising results

Dr. Oliver Sacks dives deep into the brain to find the greatest adventures.

Why Oliver Sacks is One of the Great Modern Adventurers

The neurologist’s latest investigations of the mind explore the mystery of hallucinations – including his own

Sir Dr. NakaMats is one of the greatest inventors of our time; his biggest claim to fame is the floppy disk.

Dr. NakaMats, the Man With 3300 Patents to His Name

Meet the most famous inventor you’ve never heard of – whose greatest invention may be himself

Pardis Sabeti's many talents range from music to genetics.

Pardis Sabeti, the Rollerblading Rock Star Scientist of Harvard

The recipient of the Smithsonian American Ingenuity Award for natural sciences blazed a new view of how to treat infectious diseases via genetics

Only a sophomore in high school, Jack Andraka may have invented a new test for a deadly form of cancer.

Jack Andraka, the Teen Prodigy of Pancreatic Cancer

A high school sophomore won the youth achievement Smithsonian American Ingenuity Award for inventing a new method to detect a lethal cancer

Elon Musk is a man of all trades when it comes to technology.

Elon Musk, the Rocket Man With a Sweet Ride

The winner of the Smithsonian Ingenuity Award for technology hopes to launch a revolution with his spaceship and electric car

With the help of spy planes and B-57 bombers, Jim Anderson discovered the link between climate change and ozone loss.

The Ozone Problem is Back – And Worse Than Ever

James Anderson, the winner of a Smithsonian American Ingenuity Award, has discovered the alarming link between climate change and ozone loss

A cautious Camptosaurus approaches a resting Allosaurus. Even though the carnivore undoubtedly hunted the herbivore at times, the two weren’t constantly at war with each other.

How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Dinosaurian Oddities

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Ask Smithsonian 2017

Why Does the Durian Fruit Smell So Terrible?

Scientists examine what chemicals make the Asian fruit smell like “turpentine and onions, garnished with a gym sock”

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The Insane Amount of Biodiversity in One Cubic Foot

David Liittschwager travels to the world’s richest ecosystems, photographing all the critters that pass through his “biocube” in 24 hours

The doodle that became Twitter

8 Ways People Are Taking Twitter Seriously

Born in desperation and long mocked, the social media platform has become a popular research and intelligence-gathering tool

Flipping a coin isn't as fair as it seems.

Gamblers Take Note: The Odds in a Coin Flip Aren’t Quite 50/50

And the odds of spinning a penny are even more skewed in one direction, but which way?

After decades of uncertainty, a new study confirms that both polar ice sheets are melting.

Confirmed: Both Antarctica and Greenland Are Losing Ice

After decades of uncertainty, a new study confirms that both polar ice sheets are melting

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Why Did Plant-Munching Theropods Get So Big?

Were these Late Cretaceous dinosaurs just the culmination of an evolutionary trend towards ever-larger body size or was something else at work?

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The 2012 Smithsonian American Ingenuity Awards Liveblog

Follow along as we award the best innovators of the year

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Why Do We Hiccup? And Other Scientific Mysteries—Seen Through the Eyes of Artists

In a new book, 75 artists illustrate questions scientists haven’t fully answered yet

Archaeopteryx had a wing that was different from that of modern birds, and, as seen here, might have been a glider more than a powered flyer.

Feathers Fuel Dinosaur Flight Debate

Was the early bird Archaeopteryx more of a glider than a flier?

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Primate Origins Tied to Rise of Flowering Plants

Scientists argue that grasping hands and feet, good vision and other primate adaptations emerged because the mammals plucked fruits from the ends of tree branches

An artist’s rendering of the matter ejected from the quasar SDSS J1106+1939 surrounding a black hole.

Astronomers Discover the Most Explosive Black Hole Yet

The newly discovered quasar spews an amount of energy equivalent to more than two million suns

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Shopping Gets Personal

Retailers are mining personal data to learn everything about you so they can help you help yourself to their products.

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