Love These Stories? Give 11 Issues of Smithsonian This Holiday for Only $12

Prepare to be amazed.

Ask Smithsonian: What’s a Stone Baby? (1:07)

Green ants build their grand nests out of leaves, which they pull and join together with silk. Amazingly, this silk is produced by their newborn larvae.

Magnificent Leaf Homes Woven by Australian Green Ants (2:50)

One highly influential ancient Middle Eastern civilization established some of the essential systems we still use today. Think you know which it is?

Who Decided to Put 60 Seconds in a Minute? (2:33)

Green tree vipers can kill in the dark. With special heat-sensing abilities, they can find prey that's all but invisible.

A Pit Viper's Sixth Sense (2:03)