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Biology

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Virtual Pigeon Attracts, Baffles Randy Males

Hemingway’s Old Man Inspires Shark Oil for HIV Vaccine

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Not All Calories Are the Same, Says Harvard Study

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Recessions Lead to Lipstick Lead to Babies, Says Science

Bacteria, Plants Turn Garbage Dump into Beautiful Park

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Movie of the Inside of a Woman’s Body as She Gives Birth

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The Last of His Kind, Tortoise Lonesome George Dies, Leaving No Offspring

‘World’s Rarest Toad’ Not Extinct After All

Wind turbines in Pennsylvania

Scientists Save Bats and Birds from Wind Turbine Slaughter

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Want to Be Healthy? Manage Your Microbes Like a Wildlife Park

The ocean sunfish is the heaviest bony fish in the world; it can grow more than 10 feet long and pack on a whopping 5,000 pounds, and yet its flat body has no real tail to speak of.

Unraveling the Mysteries of the Ocean Sunfish

Marine biologist Tierney Thys and researchers at the Monterey Bay Aquarium are learning more about one of the largest jellyfish eaters in the sea

Better Feet Through Radiation: The Era of the Fluoroscope

The common marmoset may be a suitable model for human obesity.

How Marmosets Can Teach Us About Obesity

A new study indicates the small monkeys may help us understand what leads us to put on weight

After playing a sad movie scene for a group of women, researchers collected their tears and placed the unidentified fluid under men's noses. The result was a reduced sexual arousal and testosterone levels.

The Truth About Pheromones

Yes, scientists say, your airborne compounds send signals about your moods, your sexual orientation and even your genetic makeup

Whalers pursued sperm whales for the rich oil in their oversized heads. Now biologists are on the tail of these deep-diving, long-lived, sociable and mysterious sea creatures.

The Sperm Whale’s Deadly Call

Scientists have discovered that the massive mammal uses elaborate buzzes, clicks and squeaks that spell doom for the animal’s prey

Weighing up to several tons, whale sharks are also notable for their markings. Each pattern of spots is unique and scientists identify individual fish using computer programs first developed to study star constellations.

Swimming With Whale Sharks

Wildlife researchers and tourists are heading to a tiny Mexican village to learn about the mystery of the largest fish in the sea

With the rise of information theory, ideas were seen as behaving like organisms, replicating by leaping from brain to brain, interacting to form new ideas and evolving in what the scientist Roger Sperry called "a burstwise advance."

Ask Smithsonian 2017

What Defines a Meme?

Our world is a place where information can behave like human genes and ideas can replicate, mutate and evolve

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Robots Inspired by Biology

Henrietta Lacks' cells were essential in developing the polio vaccine and were used in scientific landmarks such as cloning, gene mapping and in vitro fertilization.

Cracking the Code of the Human Genome

Henrietta Lacks’ ‘Immortal’ Cells

Journalist Rebecca Skloot’s new book investigates how a poor black tobacco farmer had a groundbreaking impact on modern medicine

Researchers search for Asian longhorned beetles among Worcester's hardwoods.

Invasion of the Longhorn Beetles

In Worcester, Massachusetts, authorities are battling an invasive insect that is poised to devastate the forests of New England

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