Science

Meet Lucy Jones, “the Earthquake Lady”

As part of her plan to prepare Americans for the next “big one,” the seismologist tackles the dangerous phenomenon of denial

February 2012

T. rex Trying…

A new cartoon series counts the many things tiny-armed Tyrannosaurus couldn’t do: cross-country ski, eat from a buffet, count to five

January 31, 2012

What Robot Fish Can Tell Us About Parallel Evolution

When housed in an aquarium with a swirling robotic school, what determines whether a fish will join the crowd?

January 31, 2012

Boa Constrictors Get a Feel for Their Prey

What makes a snake stop squeezing? We do science to prove ourselves wrong, because the answer people predicted is not the correct answer

January 30, 2012

How an Ankylosaur Went Out to Sea

How did a heavily armored dinosaur wind up at the bottom of Alberta’s Cretaceous sea?

January 30, 2012

Best of the Worst Roadside Dinosaurs

From New York to California, America’s roads are haunted by bad dinosaurs

January 27, 2012

Stephen Fry Inside the World of Dinosaurs

British actor Stephen Fry narrates a new interactive dinosaur encyclopedia

January 26, 2012

Space Garbage: The Dark Cloud Above

A mass of debris from satellites and space missions is orbiting our planet—and it may be growing all the time

January 26, 2012

This Week’s Breathtaking Aurora Borealis

Recent solar storms have triggered northern lights of unprecedented color and intensity

January 25, 2012

Paleontologists Uncover Oldest Known Dinosaur Nest Site

The “lay ‘em and leave ‘em” strategy might not have been the ancestral state for these dinosaurs

January 25, 2012

Fearsome Dinosaur Had Ridiculously Short Arms

The forelimbs of this animal look like an evolutionary joke

January 24, 2012

Ask Smithsonian 2017

Where Did Dragons Come From?

In honor of the Year of the Dragon, we take a look at some potential inspirations for the dragon myth

January 23, 2012

Some Dinosaurs Used Natural Heat for Their Nests

The sauropod site may have resembled Yellowstone National Park, with geysers, hot springs and mud pots

January 23, 2012

A Comet’s Death Caught on Camera

Comets dive into the sun frequently, but previous ones had been too small and dim to be seen against the glaring backdrop

January 20, 2012

What Are the Worst Roadside Dinosaurs?

The concrete and plastic dinosaurs beside America’s highways are often sad, malformed creatures. What do you think is the best of the worst?

January 20, 2012

The Largest Ceratosaurus

How many species of this rare, ornamented genus were there?

January 19, 2012

Inside Dr. Who’s Dinosaur Invasion

Dr. Who sported some of the worst dinosaurs on television. This video explains why

January 18, 2012

Nine Ways to Lure a Lover, Orchid-Style

Beauty, mystery and deceit—the Smithsonian’s collection of nearly 8,000 live orchids has it all

January 18, 2012

Dinosaur Division is All in the Hips

Thanks to one 1888 paper, paleontologists still divide dinosaurs between the bird-hips and lizard-hips

January 17, 2012

Dinosaurs of a Feather

Some researchers insist that birds are not dinosaurs, but do they have any evidence?

January 13, 2012