Smart News Science

Two of the last remaining wolves on Isle Royale

Trending Today

Park Service May Boost Wolf Pack on Isle Royale

The NPS has proposed a plan to boost the wolf population on the island where currently only two inbred canines remain

Dendrite Star snowflake

Cool Finds

This Historical Figure Wore the Label "Snowflake" With Pride

Wilson Bentley became the first person to photograph a single snowflake in 1885

The Bay of Naples, with Mount Vesuvius in the center and the Campi Fleagri Caldera on the far left

New Research

The Volcano That May Have Killed Off the Neanderthals Is Stirring Once Again

Responsible for Europe's largest eruption, the volcano is showing signs of another pending explosion

Cool Finds

The Fight to Save Thousands of Heirloom Apple Trees

There’s more to apples than the supermarket selection may suggest

This Strad's wood is different from modern-day maple.

New Research

Mineral Baths May Have Given Stradivari Their Signature Sound

Turns out the famous violins really are different from modern instruments

Score was a tiny communications satellite attached to a really big rocket.

Cool Finds

Celebrate Christmas With the First Voice Ever Broadcast in Space

Eisenhower kicked off the space race with a goodwill wish

This image from the Landsat 7 satellite depicts snow near the border of Morocco and Algeria, south of the city of Bouarfa and southwest of Ain Sefra.

Trending Today

Snow Falls in the Sahara for the First Time Since 1979

A cold snap in the Algerian city of Ain Sefra led to a snowfall that covered the area's distinctive orange dunes

A compressed view of the entire visible sky from the Pan-STARRS1 Observatory

New Research

Massive Survey Catalogues the Night Sky

Over four years, the Pan-STARRS telescope collected 2 petabytes of photos of the night sky, creating the most complete astronomical atlas yet

Cool Finds

Check Out NASA's Picks for This Year's Best Images of Earth

From sunsets to city lights, the images capture the beauty of our ever-changing planet

Shell's Polar Pioneer drilling platform

Trending Today

Obama and Trudeau Protect Millions of Acres From Drilling in the Arctic and the Atlantic

But questions remain about the permanency of the act in the arctic

Dwarf minke whale

New Research

Unidentified Complex Sound From Earth's Deepest Trench May Be New Whale Call

Known as the Western Pacific Biotwang, researchers believe it may be a previously unrecoreded call from a dwarf minke whale

Phuket Horned Tree Agamid, Acanthosaura phuketensis, found in Phuket,Thailand

Cool Finds

Meet the Klingon Newt, Ziggy Stardust Snake—Two of the 163 New Species Discovered in the Mekong

A new reports details the dozens of new animal and plant species scientists found in Southeast Asia's Greater Mekong in 2015

The Westinghouse Atom Smasher in its prime.

The Strange Story of the Westinghouse Atom Smasher

The giant bulb was an important part of early American nuclear history. Now it’s part of a miniature railroad

Flickering images can induce seizures in people with epilepsy.

Ask Smithsonian 2017

Why Do Flashing Images Cause Seizures?

For people with epilepsy, a flashing screen can be more than a passing annoyance

Trending Today

Watch Rare Footage of the Mysterious Ghost Shark Gliding Through the Deep

Researchers spotted the grey-blue creature off the coast of California—far from its usual haunts in the Southern hemisphere

Barbara Sherwood Lollar sampling dissolved hydrogen and sulfate found in the oldest-known pool of water.

New Research

Scientists Discover the Oldest-known Pool of Water

But you wouldn’t want to drink from it

Trending Today

Most Expensive Science Book Sells for $3.7 Million

An anonymous buyer paid triple the estimated sale price for this first-edition copy

New Research

The Pokémon GO Craze Had Health Benefits—For a Little While

Though avid players walked about 11 extra minutes per day, the boost only lasted around six weeks

Bei Bei, the National Zoo's youngest giant panda cub, during a veterinary exam when he was less than three months old.

The Long, Adorable History of Pandas in America

Su Lin was the first giant panda to come to America, landing in San Francisco in 1936

New Research

Caesarean Births Could Be Affecting Human Evolution

But it’s too soon to know for sure

Page 288 of 449