Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Cool Finds

Biswamoyopterus gaoligongensis

Cool Finds

New Species of Giant Flying Squirrel Discovered in China

Weighing 3 to 4 pounds, the Mount Gaoligong flying squirrel was recently found in Yunnan province

Cool Finds

The First Investigation Into the Allied Waterloo Field Hospital Is Unearthing Cannonballs—and Limbs

The dig, conducted by military veterans and service members, suggests just how close Napoleon’s forces might have come to victory in the epic battle

Future of Space Exploration

First Moon-Forming Disk Detected Swirling Around an Exoplanet

Telescope observations suggest that a cloud of gas and dust around a planet 370 light-years away may be coalescing into planet-sized moons

New Research

Mussels’ Sticky Threads Could Inspire Ways to Clean Up Oil Spills, Purify Water and More

A new review shows the sticky threads the bivalves used to cling to rocks could have lot of potential engineering applications

New Research

Little, Transparent Fish Show Sleep Is at Least 450 Million Years Old

Imaging of sleeping zebrafish reveal their pattern of Zzz’s is similar to that of mammals and other animals, meaning snoozing has been around a long time

Cool Finds

Remains of Napoleonic General Believed to Have Been Found in Russian Park

Charles Étienne Gudin, whose name appears on the Arc de Triomphe, was hit by a cannonball during the Battle of Valutino

Cool Finds

Rare Lava Lake Found on Top of Sub-Antarctic Volcano

Satellite data located the persistent pool of liquid rock on top of Mt. Michael on Saunders Island, part of the South Sandwich Islands

The little fox that could

A Young Arctic Fox Traveled From Norway to Canada in 76 Days

The animal trekked an average of 28 miles per day, covering a distance of 2,175 miles during her journey from Spitsbergen to Ellesmere Island

Your Old Bra Clasps Can Save Injured Turtles

The clasps are glued on either side of a shell fracture, then pulled together with a zip tie to stabilize the injury

The coffinfish can inflate its body volume by up to 30 percent upon inhaling a significant quantity of water

New Research

Coffinfish Can Hold Their Breath for Up to Four Minutes on the Ocean Floor

This evolutionary adaptation may help the deep-sea dwellers conserve energy or defend against predators

Ancient shipwreck in the sea off Protaras, Cyprus.

Found: An ‘Undisturbed’ Roman Ship Near Cyprus

The vessel is still packed with amphorae, and may testify to Cyprus’ importance in ancient maritime trade routes

Tell that crocodile, if he says he's got beef that I'm a vegetarian and I'm not scared of him.

Cool Finds

Prehistoric Crocodiles Preferred Plants Over Prey

A study of croc teeth show many species during the time of the dinos were herbivores and omnivores, not strict meat eaters

Cool Finds

Fear of Foreign Food May Have Led to the Death of This Crusader King

A new analysis shows France’s Louis IX and much of his army suffered from advanced scurvy during the Eighth Crusade in Tunisia

Cool Finds

Listen to the First Known Song of the North Pacific Right Whale

Researchers spent years trying to trace the source of the rhythmic, gunshot pattern to the endangered whale species

French gallerist Philippe Mendes poses next to Eugene Delacroix's lost preliminary painting of “Women of Algiers in Their Apartment."

Cool Finds

Lost Version of Delacroix Masterpiece Goes on View After Being Found in Paris Apartment

The painting, made in preparation for 1834’s ‘Women of Algiers in Their Apartment,’ went missing in 1850

Boaty McBoatface, awaiting orders.

New Research

Results of Boaty McBoatface’s First Research Mission Published

The little yellow submarine named by the internet explored the Southern Ocean, finding surface winds drive mixing in the deep abyss

Cool Finds

Scotland’s Tiny Artificial Islands Date to the Stone Age

Five crannogs in the Outer Hebrides were built 5,000 years ago, perhaps for ritual purposes

The specimen is the first (partial) carcass of an adult Pleistocene steppe wolf—an extinct lineage distinct from modern wolves—ever found

Cool Finds

A Perfectly Preserved 32,000-Year-Old Wolf Head Was Found in Siberian Permafrost

Given the head’s state of preservation, researchers are hopeful that they can extract viable DNA and use it to sequence the wolf’s genome

Some of the charred Cheerios.

Cool Finds

Ancient, Inedible ‘Cheerios’ Found in Austrian Archaeological Site

Made from wheat and barley, researchers believe the dough rings were likely ritual objects, not breakfast cereal

When you're sad, it makes your dog sad.

Keep Calm and Don’t Stress Out the Dog

When humans feel anxious, their dogs do too, according to new study

Page 77 of 282