Changing temperatures affect how quickly wine grapes ripen, how sweet they are, and how much acid they have, all of which influences the quality of the end product.

English Sparkling Wines Challenge the Supremacy of Champagne, France—Thanks to Climate Change

As average temperatures rise and extreme weather events become more common, vintners are forced to adapt year to year

A Jamaican fruit bat (Artibeus jamaicensis), one of the species that contributed to the guano researchers used to study the climates of the past.

Ancient Bat Guano Reveals Thousands of Years of Human Impact on the Environment

Like sediment cores, ice samples and tree rings, bat excrement can be used to study the climate of the past

Coyotes are about to enter South America, a move that could soon make the species, native to North America, one of the most widespread carnivores in the western hemisphere.

Coyotes Poised to Infiltrate South America

The crab-eating fox and the coyote may soon swap territories, initiating the first American cross-continental exchange in more than three million years

Each year, people need to get a new flu shot to protect against the latest version of the influenza virus, which rapidly mutates. A universal flu vaccine could protect people for life.

As the World Faces One of the Worst Flu Outbreaks in Decades, Scientists Eye a Universal Vaccine

A universal flu vaccine would eliminate the need for seasonal shots and defend against the next major outbreak

A fossil of Parioscorpio venator, a 437-million-year-old scorpion that resembles modern species.

World’s Oldest Scorpions May Have Moved From Sea to Land 437 Million Years Ago

A pair of pristinely preserved fossils suggest scorpions have looked mostly the same since they first crawled onto land

To 17th-century scholars, it made perfect sense that fossils on mountain sides and deep in the ground had been left there in the wake of the biblical flood (above The Subsiding of the Waters of the Deluge by Thomas Cole, 1829).

Why This 18th-Century Naturalist Believed He’d Discovered an Eyewitness to the Biblical Flood

Smithsonian paleontologist Hans Sues recounts a colossal tale of mistaken identity

Clam shells, likely collected from live clams, would have made for naturally sharp cutting tools.

To Craft Cutting Tools, Neanderthals Dove for Clam Shells on the Ocean Floor

Clam shell knives from a cave on the Italian coast suggest Neanderthals dove underwater for resources

A drone captured the ice circle that formed on the Presumpscot River in Westbrook, Maine, last January.

The Science Behind Snow Rollers, Ice Circles and Other Winter Phenomena

A meteorologist explains how bizarre snow and ice formations take shape—and where you’re most likely to see them

2020 is shaping up to be a great year for sky watching.

Ten Celestial Events You Don’t Want to Miss in 2020

Whether you are a telescope enthusiast or just want to step outside to enjoy the night sky, these are the phenomena to look out for this year

Dust-rich outflows of evolved stars similar to the pictured Egg Nebula are plausible sources of the large presolar silicon carbide grains found in meteorites like Murchison.

Meteorite Grains Are the Oldest Known Solid Material on Earth

The oldest dust sample, perhaps 7 billion years old, predates the formation of our planet and the sun

A "living machine" containing frog stem cells in a new configuration designed by a computer algorithm. Parts shown in green are made up of frog skin cells, while parts in red are frog heart cells.

Scientists Assemble Frog Stem Cells Into First ‘Living Machines’

The so-called ‘xenobots’ could replace traditional metal or plastic robots without polluting the planet, but they raise ethical questions

African grey parrots are highly social, and may benefit from establishing reputations for generosity.

Parrots Will Share Currency to Help Their Pals Purchase Food

Animals often share food, but these birds understand that metal rings can be exchanged for treats, and they share the rings with no promise of reward

The hypothetical dream spacecraft flies over Uranus and past its rings and moons, too.

Astronomers Prepare a Mission Concept to Explore the Ice Giant Planets

NASA scientists imagined some innovative technologies that could enhance a future mission to Uranus or Neptune

Cuttlefish are calculating hunters, and need depth perception to efficiently snare their prey.

Scientists Velcroed 3-D Glasses to Cuttlefish to Study Their Depth Perception

The results of the eye-popping study suggest cuttlefish see the world in surprisingly human ways

Iron-rich dust launched into the air by winds swirls around the Southern Ocean. Understanding how iron’s chemistry shifts during its journey from earth to air to sea will be important for developing better climate models.

The Complicated Role of Iron in Ocean Health and Climate Change

Iron dust may have played a significant role in the last ice age, and it could be an important factor in mitigating future global temperature increases

Aerial view of deforested area of the Amazon rainforest.

The Amazon Has Lost More Than Ten Million Football Fields of Forest in a Decade

The Royal Statistical Society’s stat of the decade is 24,000 square miles of deforestation in the Amazon rainforest

These are ten of the biggest strides made by scientists in the last ten years.

The Top Ten Scientific Discoveries of the Decade

Breakthroughs include measuring the true nature of the universe, finding new species of human ancestors, and unlocking new ways to fight disease

Scientists seeking extraterrestrial life in the universe (above: a radio observatory in New Mexico) seek the answer to what is called the Fermi paradox: “Where is everybody?”

If Aliens Existed Elsewhere in the Universe, How Would They Behave?

In a new offering from Smithsonian Books, James Trefil and Michael Summers explore the life forms that might exist on a dizzying array of exoplanets

The Pompeiian sorceress' kit contained about 100 different objects.

Cool Finds

Twelve Fascinating Finds Revealed in 2019

The list includes a sorceress’ kit, a forgotten settlement, a Renaissance masterpiece and a 1,700-year-old egg

Nearly a century ago, archaeologists started to shift the focus of human origins research from Europe to Africa’s ‘cradles of humankind’ like Oldupai (Olduvai) Gorge in Tanzania.

Archaeologists Are Unearthing the Stories of the Past Faster Than Ever Before

Recent research helps reveal the origins of humans, determine what ancient people ate and monitor historical sites from the sky

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