An African forest elephant makes its way out into the open.

How Humans Benefit From a Highway of Trails Created by African Forest Elephants

The paths the pachyderms make aid plants, other animals, and local people—whose way of life is threatened by the species’ decline

This image shows the stratification of Lake Kivu, with its lower, warmer waters separated from its higher, cooler waters.

The Explosive Hazard Hiding in an African Lake

Rwanda’s Lake Kivu has dense depths packed with methane and carbon dioxide gas

The Pacific bigfin squid Magnapinna pacifica in the Smithsonian collections that Mike Vecchione and Richard E. Young used to describe the deepest-known species of squid.

Smithsonian Voices

The Wonderfully Weird World of Deep-Sea Squids

For this month’s “Meet a SI-entist,” the Smithsonian’s curator of cephalopods says these are the “intelligent invertebrates”

Hundreds of sockeye salmon spawn in a spring-fed pond in Iliamna Lake, Alaska

Seven Natural Phenomena Worth Traveling to Alaska For

From salmon spawning to the dancing lights of the aurora borealis, Alaska has some of the country’s most impressive natural wonders

A reintroduced swift fox outfitted with a GPS collar looks out across the shortgrass prairie of the Fort Belknap Reservation in northern Montana. The tribes on the reservation are bringing the species back to Fort Belknap after an absence of more than 50 years.

Tribes Reintroduce Swift Fox to Northern Montana’s Fort Belknap Reservation

After absence of more than 50 years, the pint-sized predator returns to the prairie

A woman with anorexia gets ready to weigh herself.

Covid-19

How Patients With Eating Disorders Have Been Affected by the Pandemic

A recent study suggests that worries related to Covid-19 may exacerbate conditions including anorexia and binge eating

NASA's new $23 million Universal Waste Management System

NASA Just Sent a New $23 Million Space Toilet to the International Space Station

Astronauts will test out the expensive commode, which is better designed for “dual ops,” before its eventual use on deep space missions

This month's picks include Mantel Pieces, The Dead Are Arising and A Series of Fortunate Events.

Books of the Month

How the Alphabet Got Its Order, Malcolm X and Other New Books to Read

These five October releases may have been lost in the news cycle

Ken Jennings, known to millions as a game show champion, is also is a fan of Alexander von Humboldt, a Prussian naturalist with an endless curiosity.

Smithsonian Voices

‘Jeopardy!’ Champion Ken Jennings on Lessons Learned From Alexander von Humboldt

“I’ll take Alexander von Humboldt for $500, Alex”

A Galápagos tortoise specimen from the California Academy of Sciences

How an Expedition to the Galápagos Islands Saved One of the World’s Largest Natural History Museums

A soon-to-be digitized and publicly accessible collection of specimens helped resurrect the California Academy of Sciences

As countries in the Northern Hemisphere enter flu season, experts are looking to patterns from Southern Hemisphere nations as a source of cautious optimism.

Covid-19

What to Expect When Covid-19 and the Flu Season Collide

Experts weigh in on the necessary steps to ensure a mild flu season during the pandemic

Sea turtle eggs, rumored to have aphrodisiac properties, are frequently poached from Costa Rican beaches

3-D Printed Sea Turtle Eggs Reveal Poaching Routes

Scientists put GPS locators inside plastic eggs to find trafficking destinations in Costa Rica

It's a boy! DNA taken from a cheek swab of the 3.6-pound giant panda cub confirms the animal's sex.

Pandamonium

Why It Takes a DNA Test to Determine a Panda Cub’s Sex

The National Zoo announces the 6-week-old giant panda is a boy

A female megalodon model, based on a set of teeth discovered in the Bone Valley Formation in Florida, hangs in The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.

How Cannibalism in the Womb May Have Made Megalodon a Titanic Terror

A new analysis of shark body size offers clues as to why the 50-foot-long prehistoric shark grew so large

The moon at night, as seen from Germany

Why Astronomers Want to Build a SETI Observatory on the Moon

Researchers say the location would offer a quiet spot from which to hear a signal from an intelligent civilization

The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is name after NASA's first chief of astronomy.

How NASA’s New Telescope Will Help Astronomers Discover Free-Floating Worlds

The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will be able to detect small, distant planets without stars

These six video webinars presented by the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History explore the life cycle of modern outbreaks.

Smithsonian Voices

Six Videos From the Natural History Museum That Put the Pandemic in Context

Explore the life cycle of modern outbreaks, from infection to immunity and vaccines to combat them

The Tokay gecko is a species native to Southeast Asia, where a large percentage of traded reptiles come from

A Quarter of All Reptile Species, Many of Them Endangered, Are Sold Online

A new study finds 75 percent of the species sold are not regulated by any trade agreement

The Yonahlossee salamander is a woodland species from the southern Appalachian Mountains in the United States

Smithsonian Voices

Here’s How You Can Help Amphibians in the Fight Against Extinction

We now know that the killer chytrid fungus originated in Asia and that humans unintentionally spread it around the world

Historical pressings of seaweeds, such as this kelp, have proved to be a scientific boon for researchers.

Scientists Use Century-Old Seaweed to Solve a Marine Mystery

A treasure trove of data trapped in pressed seaweed helps explain the collapse of Monterey Bay’s sardine fishery in the 1950s

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