Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Science

The high-tech arms race between cheaters and testers has pushed both sides to the cutting edge of science.

The Future of Cheating in Sports

As technology advances, so will access to ingenious—and troubling—new techniques

Olympic organizers plan to conduct 5,000 drug tests—an unprecedented number—during the London Games.

The Top Athletes Looking for an Edge and the Scientists Trying to Stop Them

Behind the scenes there will be a high-tech, high-stakes competition between Olympic athletes who use banned substances and drug testers out to catch them

Robert Soliz, a 31-year-old former Army Specialist, participates in Paws for Purple Hearts, one of four experimental programs nationwide that pair veterans afflicted by PTSD with Labrador and golden retrievers.

How Dogs Can Help Veterans Overcome PTSD

New research finds that “man’s best friend” could be lifesavers for veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan

None

Your Brain, By the Numbers

Somehow, the brain is greater than the sum of its parts

Choking may be most painful in sports, where athletes bungle moves they've spent a lifetime perfecting.

The Science of Choking Under Pressure

With amateurs and pros clamoring for answers, a psychologist who studies screw-ups comes through in the clutch

None

Man or Computer? Can You Tell the Difference?

Could you be fooled by a computer pretending to be human? Probably

Scientists are finding the mind gets sharper at a number of vitally important abilities as you get older.

What is So Good About Growing Old

Forget about senior moments. The great news is that researchers are discovering some surprising advantages of aging

Children who are better at pretending could reason better about counterfactuals—they were better at thinking about different possibilities.

Let the Children Play, It’s Good for Them!

A leading researcher in the field of cognitive development says when children pretend, they’re not just being silly—they’re doing science

As a child diagnosed with autism, Temple Grandin assumed that everybody thought in photo-realistic pictures.

Temple Grandin on a New Approach for Thinking About Thinking

The famed author and advocate for people with autism looks at the differences in how the human mind operates

The system detects patients’ thoughts via an fMRI machine and translates these into specific letters.

New Mind-Reading Device Lets Paralyzed People Type

Using an fMRI machine and innovative software, researchers have figured out how to enable typing without moving a muscle

None

Will We Ever Find Dinosaurs Caught in the Act?

Is there any chance that paleontologists will one day find mating dinosaurs?

Most corn grown in the U.S. is genetically modified.

Food, Modified Food

In a recent experiment, researchers used directed evolution to create enzymes that make silicon dioxide, used in semiconductors and computer chips.

Can Evolution Make the Next Generation of Computer Chips?

In a recent experiment, genetic mutation and artificial selection were harnessed to make semiconductors

A reconstructed Acrocanthosaurus at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences.

In the Steps of a Hungry Acrocanthosaurus

A special set of footprints may record a dinosaur attack in progress

The dental plaque on Australopithecus sediba teeth reveals the species ate wood or bark.

Australopithecus Sediba: The Wood-Eating Hominid

For the first time, researchers have discovered that a hominid dined on wood or bark

Photinus pyralis, a species of firefly found in the eastern United States

14 Fun Facts About Fireflies

Fact number 3: In some places at some times, fireflies synchronize their flashing

None

You Say Tyrannosaurus, I Say Tarbosaurus

Was the million-dollar dinosaur a species of Tyrannosaurus, or was it a different sort of dinosaur?

None

Spanx on Steroids: How Speedo Created the New Record-Breaking Swimsuit

After Olympic officials banned the swimsuit that caused records to fall at the 2008 games, scientists are back with a new outfit that might break even more

A series of studies indicates that we can reinforce existing memories during deep sleep.

Experiments Show We Really Can Learn While We Sleep

Our minds are surprisingly active during deep sleep, capable of cementing memories we learned while awake

None

Prepare to Go Underground

Upside down skyscrapers. Vacuum tubes whisking away trash. Welcome to the future of cities as they begin exploring the next urban frontier

Page 299 of 457