Microbes can grow in clouds and even divide in two.

A Brief and Amazing History of Our Search for Life in the Clouds

By collecting samples after climbing a high peak and firing rockets with special traps into the upper atmosphere, scientists have found microbes living in thin air

The curious qualities of laughter can surprise, delight or even silence.

Why Does Laughter Have Such a Strange Power Over Us?

An anthropologist explores why the phenomenon has the ability to delight, disturb and disrupt

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The Truth About the Sex Lives of Dinosaurs

Fossils are providing more and more clues about how dinosaurs attracted one another and reproduced, which contributed to their remarkable ability to populate much of the Earth

A pangolin emerges from an underground tunnel at night at Save Vietnam’s Wildlife, a group that runs a pangolin conservation program inside the Cuc Phuong National Park in Vietnam.

Will the Traditional Chinese Medicine Industry End the Pangolin?

The creature is being trafficked across Africa and Asia to fuel a steady demand for their scales, an ingredient in unproven remedies

An albino squirrel peeks out from within a tree.

Can a Small Town’s Protections for Albino Squirrels Inspire Other Cities to Guard Wildlife Against Cats?

Olney, Illinois, has taken steps to protect an iconic mammal from domesticated felines, setting a possible model for other places to follow

Cuddly lovebirds have come to represent Valentine's Day, and their name is even used to refer to two people who are infatuated with one another.

14 Fun Facts About Lovebirds, From Their Lifelong Devotion to Surprising Aggression

The cuddly, colorful parrots have become a symbol of Valentine’s Day. Here’s what to know about the famously affectionate birds

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Five Unusual Ways People Used Lead—and Suffered For It

Cultures throughout history have put lead to use for wacky and often deeply poisonous purposes

The scientists recorded dozens of scents, which they broke down into four categories, including embalming ingredients and odors from plant oils used by modern museum conservators.

Discover the Aromas of Ancient Egyptian Mummies, From Orange Peels to Pine to Incense

A new, first-of-its-kind analysis of the scents of nine mummies detected woody, spicy, herbal and rancid notes, among other odors

The Punta Medanosa colony of Magellanic penguins on the coast of Argentina has nearly 8,000 breeding pairs. Other colonies number in the hundreds of thousands.

What Did Scientists Learn After Thousands of Penguins Were Slaughtered by Mountain Lions?

The thriving bird colonies likely grew over several decades because local shepherds had temporarily eliminated pumas

The crusading physician pictured circa 1915, just a few years after she began her game-changing research among industrial workers. 

How Alice Hamilton Waged a One-Woman Campaign to Get the Lead Out of Everything

At first a crusader for workplace safety, the trained physician railed against the use of the toxic and ubiquitous material

SATED can cook a perfectly crisp pizza in a low- to no-gravity environment.

Could This Space Oven Allow Astronauts to Finally Cook in Space?

An aerospace engineer has invented an appliance that can whip up quiches, pizzas and more in a zero-gravity environment

Apollo Lunar Sample Container No. 1008, triple-sealed, in which the Apollo 12 astronauts transported invaluable samples of moon back to Earth.

The Otherwise Unremarkable ‘Rock Boxes’ That Brought Pieces of the Moon Back to Earth

Far from ordinary, it took a cutting-edge NASA design to safeguard these treasures during the Apollo missions

Are humans the only species to drive another to extinction?

Are Humans the Only Species to Drive Others to Extinction? And More Questions From Our Readers

You’ve got questions. We’ve got experts

The MeerKAT radio telescope, part of a 64-antenna array located in South Africa, was used in the recent detection of long-wavelength gravitational waves.

Astronomers Suspect Colliding Supermassive Black Holes Left the Universe Awash in Gravitational Waves

Radio telescopes tracking signals from spinning, ultra-dense stars point to ripples in the fabric of space

This adult Rice's whale skull at the National Museum of Natural History is the only specimen of its kind.

Only 50 Rice’s Whales Are Left. Can We Do Enough to Protect Them Before It’s Too Late?

In 2021, researchers identified a new whale species and are now scrambling to save their natural habitat

The palm oil industry in Indonesia has led to widespread deforestation, making it hard to find remaining signs of archaic life.

The Search to Find the Remains of Homo Erectus in a Vanishing Landscape

A paleontologist journeys through Indonesia’s Riau Archipelago in search of our earliest ancestors, and uncovers how environmental devastation has erased much of the region’s history

With their eyes nearly front and center, owls don’t benefit much from peripheral vision, but their heads can rotate 135 degrees in any direction, giving them a great field of view.

Smithsonian Photo Contest Galleries

See 15 Stunning Photos of Superb Owls to Kick Off This Year’s Super Bowl Weekend

These snapshots of the majestic bird in flight and in trees will leave your soul soaring

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Why Auroras Are Suddenly Everywhere All at Once

Auroras have long mystified humanity. Now that we know what they are and why they happen, we can better predict how best to experience them

The coast horned lizard (Phrynosoma blainvillii) depends on chaparral habitat to survive. It has declined across much of its range due to habitat loss, whether from development or invasion of non-native grasses. After fires, non-native grasses often fill in habitat and create problems for the species.

Here’s How the Los Angeles Wildfires Are Affecting Animals, From Fish to Snakes to Birds

While scientists were able to save and move some creatures in the aftermath, researchers are worried about the prospects for other species

The Tyrannosaurus at Spain’s Jurassic Museum of Asturias offer a speculative take on how dinosaurs mated.

Everything You Want to Know About Dinosaur Sexual Anatomy and Reproduction, From Their Genitalia to How They Laid Eggs

Paleontologists continue to find fossils that help revise our understanding of how dinosaurs did it

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