/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/Collage-Alkaline-Lake.jpg)
Photographer Nick Brandt captures haunting images of calcified animals, preserved by the extreme waters of Tanzania's Lake Natron
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/Surprising-Science-Naked-Mole-Rat.jpg)
The rodents' usual cellular structure is good at taking information from DNA and making proteins—these proteins may help extend their lifespans
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/20130926103021Osmia-chalybea-Sam-Droege-USGS-Bee-Inventory-web.jpg)
Biologist Sam Droege's sharply-focused photographs of bees, used for identifying different species, make for fine art
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/20130925121149fossil-copy.jpg)
The ancient fossil, just discovered in China, could upend our understanding of how all vertebrates evolved over time
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/20130925100020Earwig-tattoo-on-model-Samantha-Dempsey-web.jpg)
To overcome how people tend to care only about cute endangered animals, Samantha Dempsey designed and distributed temporary tattoos of ugly extinct species
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/20130924103144parasite-resized.jpg)
The more eggs a parasitic cuckoo finch lays in its host's nest, the more likely a discerning foster parent will accept the finch's young as its own
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/20130920094151bat-copy.jpg)
Bertholdia trigona, a moth native to the Arizona desert, emits ultrasonic clicks at a rate of 4,500 times per second to blur bats' acoustic vision
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/Collage-Arts-Sciences-paper-birds.jpg)
We are not talking origami here. The Colombian artist has created paper sculptures of more than 100 species, and they are startlingly realistic
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/20130917021037Panda-cub-cute-1-470.jpg)
Today the Zoo's veterinarians gave the giant panda cub a full exam and pronounced the cub healthy and thriving
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/White-whale-631.jpg)
White whales, such as the recently spotted humpback nicknamed Migaloo, are rare and elusive creatures. How many are there and why are they white?
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/Surprising-Science-blue-whale-earwax.jpg)
Earwax collected from a beached whale shows that the creature ingested a host of toxins, such as DDT and mercury, throughout its life
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/20130916114019LH5_Front_0261-470.jpg)
Cornelia Kavanagh's sculptures magnify tiny sea butterflies—ocean acidification's unlikely mascots—hundreds of times
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/Surprising-Science-nature-gears.jpg)
The small hopping insect <i>Issus coleoptratus</i> uses toothed gears on its joints to precisely synchronize the kicks of its hind legs as it jumps forward
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/Surprising-Science-Video-Bee-631.jpg)
For the new documentary More Than Honey, filmmakers captured the insects mating in midair
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/20130911094152rsz_owl.jpg)
Birds with high ratios of brain size to body size maintain lower levels of stress hormones in their blood compared to their less intellectual counterparts
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/20130910121124panda-470.jpg)
Unique microbes in a panda's gut efficiently break down bamboo--mass producing these microbes could help scientists make sustainable biofuels
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/mosquito-biting-631.jpg)
Researchers are analyzing chemicals naturally present on human skin that disrupt mosquitoes' ability to smell us
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/new-beetle-631.jpg)
Hydraena ateneo, a previously unknown water beetle, was found living in the forested creeks of a university's campus near Manila, Philippines
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/20130905090038panda-girl-470.jpg)
The National Zoo confirmed that Mei Xiang's cub is female
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/art-of-birds-nest-631.jpg)
The architectural masterpieces of numerous bird species are the subject of Sharon Beals' latest photo series—on display at the National Academy of Sciences
Page 82 of 131
