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Science / Wildlife

After just moments in the air, flight 1549 collided with a flock of geese.

Smithsonian Expert Fills in the Missing Science Behind the Movie “Sully”

Forensic ornithologist Carla Dove shares her story of analyzing the bird remains or “snarge” scraped from the engines of flight 1549

Like humans, captive Komodo dragons tend to impose their microbes upon their environments.

Captive Komodo Dragons Share Their Teeming Microbiome with Their Environment, Just Like Us

Komodos could be the perfect model for studying host-microbe interactions

Dennis Wiist inspects an eagle's foot at the National Eagle Repository in Commerce City, Colorado.

Inside a Remarkable Repository that Supplies Eagle Parts to Native Americans and Science

The repository, which has long provided feathers to tribes for traditional uses, also helps bird conservation researchers

These glow-in-the-dark roaches have the goods.

I Am Officially in Love With Cockroaches

And after you read this, you will be too

The Dog Aging Project Wants to Help Your Pet Live Longer

Biologists at the University of Washington are launching a long-term study that involves testing medications that could enhance dogs’ life spans

In the past few weeks, thousands of fish have gone belly-up.

The Massive Yellowstone Fish Die-Off: A Glimpse Into Our Climate Future?

This unprecedented kill reveals why we need to keep rivers resilient

Bei Bei visits the vet.

A Beary Happy First Birthday to Bei Bei. Unbearably Cute Celebrations Are in Store

America’s sweetheart celebrates his birthday this weekend at the National Zoo

Canada

This 400-mile Trail Between the U.S. and Canada Was Planned by a Moose

The new trail will stretch from the Adirondacks in New York to Algonquin Provincial Park in Ontario

Just a handful of key animals—mostly charismatic megafauna and a few economically important species—make up the bulk of conservation research efforts.

Scientists Know They Should Really Study Important Bugs but OMG a Baby Cheetah

In conservation science, the cutest animals still get all the attention

Ostrich Feather Hat, 1910-1912

100 Years Later, the First International Treaty to Protect Birds Has Grown Wings

The U.S. and Canada celebrate the centennial of an agreement recognizing that birds see no borders

A nesting male with a female in his nest.

New Research

Give it Up, Sneaky Males: These Lady Fish Have You Outwitted

Female ocellated wrasses have developed a surprising trick to control who fathers their offspring

The fossil Arktocara yakataga (resting on an 1875 ethnographic map of Alaska) belonged to a dolphin that swam in subarctic marine waters around 25 million years ago.

Smithsonian Researchers Uncover Extinct, Ancient River Dolphin Fossil Hiding in Their Own Collections

Sometimes, paleontologists don’t have to go into the field to discover a tantalizing new species

Captive Bactrian deer at The Wilds, a conservation center in Cumberland, Ohio. Until recently, the deer was feared locally extinct in Afghanistan.

Rare Afghan Deer Endures Two Major Wars, Is Ultimate Survivor

Researchers feared the endangered ungulate had gone locally extinct. The Bactrian deer proved them wrong

Age of Humans

These Microbe-Coated Seeds Could Help Us Thrive in a Dark, Dry Future

A Massachusetts-based startup is prepping for your basic apocalyptic scenario

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