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Animals

Eurasian lynx playing in the snow in Germany.

New Research

Europe Is a Great Place to Be a Large Meat-Eater

In a rare success story for wildlife, bears, lynx, wolverine and wolves are increasing in numbers across the continent

How to Create a Virtual Organism

Through OpenWorm, scientists are hoping to allow anyone with a computer to unlock the secrets of animal behavior

Why the Leatherback Turtle Has a Skylight in its Head

How do animals with poor vision see in dark locales?

New Research

The Cutest Climate Change Culprits: Arctic Ground Squirrels

By digging burrows in permafrost, Arctic ground squirrels help destabilize the vast stores of carbon in the soil

Singer and plastic-clothing designer Pharrell Williams at the "Raw For The Oceans" event at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.

The Top 12 Ocean Stories That Made Waves in 2014

The seas served up some compelling headlines this year, from celebrity fashion to solving the mystery of the melting starfish

7th Place: Butter daisy (Melampodium divaricatum) flower at 2x magnification. Fluorescence. Oleksandr Holovachov, Ekuddsvagen, Sweden.

Some of the Most Beautiful Things in Nature Come in the Tiniest of Packages

The winners of the 2014 Olympus BioScapes Digital Imaging Competition capture a rat brain, the mouthparts of a vampire moth and other small wonders

Only 5 Northern White Rhinos remain. A powerful image of three of them under guard by Kate Brooks.

Trending Today

There Are Probably Just Five Northern White Rhinos Left

The death of a captive rhino at the San Diego Zoo brings the species closer to imminent extinction

New Research

Conserving Tigers Could Hurt Leopards

When one predator returns, another can be displaced

Lab-grown beef—it could be dinner.

Five Animal Products Scientists Can Now Grow In a Lab

In early experiments, scientists are growing meat in vitro and bioengineering yeast for dairy

New Research

By Absorbing Smells From Its Food, This Fish Gets Scent Camouflage

The harlequin filefish is a master of camoufalge

The Shape of Things to Come, Antarctic Sound, February 2010: "As we sailed with the land to our backs, I saw this bright, jagged iceberg with a dark-blue sea," writes Seaman.

Art Meets Science

These Photos Capture a Decade of Change at Earth’s Poles

From courting penguins to moody icebergs, photojournalist Camille Seaman shares her personal journey through polar habitats

A bleached coral reef

New Research

Listen to the Sounds of a Dying Coral Reef

Healthy coral reefs produce a medley of sounds that ocean creatures use as homing beacons

New Research

Bats Have Specific Brains Cells for Tracking Their Location While in Flight

Humans likely carry the same kind of cells in our own brains

Thanks to millions of microscopic hair-like structures, a gecko's foot can resist pulling forces up to 20 times the lizard's own weight.

New Research

Geckos Have a Surprisingly Strong Death Grip

Gecko toes remain firmly stuck in place even after the animal dies, implying that the lizards do not actively control their clinginess

This Plant-Based Gel Stops Bleeding in Seconds

A salve that seals severe wounds is making its way to veterinary clinics. Military and trauma testing may soon follow

A brown bear in a private park near Brasov.

The Deadly Dilemma Facing Romania’s Brown Bears

Around the Carpathian Mountains, frustrated farmers and high-paying sport hunters are helping to set the highest bear hunting quotas yet allowed

The quantum realm can seem to defy common sense.

Five Practical Uses for “Spooky” Quantum Mechanics

Fifty years after Bell’s Theorem, tools that harness the weird properties of quantum mechanics are at work all around you

Cool Finds

Lemmings Do Not Explode Or Throw Themselves Off Cliffs

A popular myth about these arctic rodents has its roots in faked documentary footage from Disney

2014 Holiday Gift Guide

Best Gifts of 2014 for Nature Lovers

Smithsonian editors, gardeners and scientists offer ideas to give the gifts that keep wildlife thriving

A rufous hummingbird.

Cool Finds

One Hummingbird’s Unusual Flight: From Minnesota to Texas, on a Plane

Rufous hummingbirds have no business being in St. Paul amid freezing temperatures

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