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Biology

Burket's warbler

New Research

This Rare Warbler Is Three Species in One

A warbler discovered in Pennsylvania is the offspring of a hybrid female and a male from a completely different genus

Trending Today

Ambitious Project to Sequence Genomes of 1.5 Million Species Kicks Off

The Earth BioGenome Project promises to revolutionize biology

Trending Today

Why Fall Color Has Been So Meh in Parts of the U.S. This Year

A hot fall and excess rain robbed much of the East Coast of its annual leaf show

Cool Finds

Never-Before-Seen Colony of 1,000 Brooding Octopuses Found Off California Coast

The deep sea creatures are raising their eggs on the Davidson Seamount in Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary

New Research

Male Gorillas That Babysit End Up With Larger Brood of Their Own

Male gorillas that participated in child-rearing were also more successful breeders

Agglutinated walls in Palaeopascichnus linearis from the khatyspyt formation

Oldest Known Macroscopic Skeletal Organism Was Masquerading as Fossilized Feces

Some researchers initially dismissed the remains of Palaeopascichnus lineari as teeny turds from a bygone era

In the Pheidole genus of ants, some insects grow into soldiers with disproportionately large heads, while others grow to be smaller workers.

This “Useless” Organ Determines Which Ants Grow Into Large Soldiers

Rudimentary wing discs in ant larvae, which only grow to wings in queens, appear to influence growth into a soldier or worker

Katmai National Park and Preserve has a ton of chubby cubbies. But which bear's bulk will bury the competition in the 2018 Fat Bear Week?

Trending Today

Time to Get Jiggily With it, Fat Bear Week Is Upon Us

Your vote will determine which fish-chomping ursine competitor in Katmai National Park and Preserve is the chubbiest cubby of them all

The test, called TimeSignature, can come within an hour and a half of assessing a person’s biological time.

A New Blood Test Can Determine Your Biological Clock

Scientists say it could help pinpoint the best time to take medicine, and also predict disease risk

New Research

Researchers Studied Cute Pictures of Baby Giraffes to Learn About Their Spots

A new study shows giraffes’ iconic puzzle-piece markings aren’t random, and the size and shape may help little ones survive their first months of life

Researchers produced the immature egg cells (seen in pink) out of stem cells created using human blood

Scientists Create Immature Human Eggs Out of Blood Cells For the First Time

The lab-grown eggs were not advanced enough for fertilization, but researchers say this next step in the future of reproduction could arrive soon

How Wireless Water-to-Air Communication Could Revolutionize Marine Research

Solving a longstanding puzzle, MIT researchers have developed a way of sending signals from underwater to airborne devices

In 2017, scientists identified 2,189 new species of fungi, including the Galapagos Island lichen pictured here

Fungi Call Oil Paintings, Cockroach Guts Home Sweet Home

Scientists say they have identified a fungus species that could aid the fight against plastic pollution

A mesmerizing murmuration of starlings

New Research

Your Hysterical Tweet About That Spider in Your Sink Could Prove Useful for Science

A new study suggests mining social media for phenology data is fairly reliable and could assist researchers tracking how rapidly the world is changing

Spix's macaw.

New Research

In the Last Decade, Four Birds Went Extinct and Four More Are Likely Gone

Habitat loss is the main culprit in killing off the birds, including Spix’s macaw, the star of the popular 2011 film Rio

How Scientists Can Learn About Human Behavior From Closed-Circuit TV

While researchers used to rely on interviews and experiments, raw video reveals subtle, previously hidden reactions

Mosquito researcher Kelly Bennett, turkey baster in hand, is on the prowl, collecting specimens for study

Hunting Deadly Mosquitoes in Panama

The latest podcast “Sidedoor” travels with Smithsonian experts on the trail of the buzzing beasts known as the Aedes

New Research

Genome Reveals When Opium Poppy Became a Painkiller

A combination of two genes over 7.8 million years ago was the first step to producing morphine and other narcotic compounds

Cool Finds

Meet the Rosehip Neuron: A Newly Discovered Cell in the Human Brain

The neuron is not found within lab mice, possibly explaining why mouse studies often do not translate to human brains

Blue-and-yellow macaws are capable of blushing (left).

Like Humans, Some Birds Blush to Communicate

Blue-and-yellow macaws are capable of the feathered equivalents of facial expressions, new research shows

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