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Drones

Students at Anne Wien Elementary School in Fairbanks pilot test the Fresh Eyes on Ice data collection protocol with project team member Allen Bondurant in 2019.

‘Fresh Eyes on Ice’ Teaches Kids to Collect Vital Ice Data in Remote Alaskan Communities

Students measure ice thickness and monitor spring break-up to help save lives in areas where frozen rivers are used as roadways

A gentoo penguin peers up from its colony’s nesting grounds on Booth Island, in the Antarctic Peninsula. The species, an adaptable forager that can switch prey when krill are scarce, has expanded into parts of the Antarctic Peninsula that were once too icy to inhabit.

The Penguins That Thrive—and the Ones Left Behind—as Antarctica Warms

A new decade-long study tracked 37 penguin colonies and found that the birds are breeding earlier. The shift marks one way among many that climate change is transforming life at the bottom of the world

Our most-read stories of the year spotlighted a Eugène Delacroix painting, horseshoe crabs, the Dionne quintuplets and more.

Ten Top Smithsonian Stories of 2025, From Eerie Clay Puppets With Detachable Heads to a New Look at the American Revolution

The magazine’s most-read articles of the year included a deep dive on the Scopes “monkey trial,” an interview with award-winning documentarians and a profile of quintuplets who found fame during the Great Depression

The new world of information supplied by drones hovering above is allowing researchers to more easily measure whale size, body condition and health; to identify individual animals from features on their bodies; and more.

From Collecting Whale Snot to Capturing Surprising Behaviors, Aerial Drones Are Giving Scientists a New View of Sea Life

The robots can hover over marine mammals and gather all sorts of information in a way that’s less invasive to the animals than researchers trying to approach them by boat or plane

The earwig’s delicate, paper-thin wings open to more than ten times their folded size, thanks to its origami-like creases.

Studying Clever Creases in Nature May Inspire Foldable Structures for Drones and Robots

Engineers are turning to animal origami, from insects that tuck away wings to a protist with an accordion-like neck, for design help

Scientists filmed the way killer whales hunt together. These images show one of the animals turning toward the other after a tail slap delivers a shock to herring.

Killer Whales Hunt Fish in Highly Coordinated Pairs and Perfect Their Movements With Practice, Drone Videos Reveal

Footage taken off the coast of Norway reveals that orcas team up to maximize their prey, according to a new study

Gilad Topaz's "Drifting In Space" captures the moment that passengers onboard an icebreaker in the frozen Baltic Sea took a short break to swim.

See Ten Stunning Images From the International Aerial Photographer of the Year Awards

Breathtaking views of glaciers, volcanoes and animals were celebrated in the competition’s inaugural year

A composite image of Tugunbulak created using lidar scans

New Research

Archaeologists Map Two Forgotten Medieval Cities That Flourished Along the Silk Road in the Mountains of Central Asia

The new research could change history’s understanding of the sprawling trade network that connected Europe and the Middle East to East Asia

A high-resolution synthetic aperture sonar image of the USS Stewart, also known as the "Ghost Ship of the Pacific"

Cool Finds

This Newly Discovered Sunken Warship Served on Both Sides of World War II

The USS Stewart was purposefully sunk off the coast of California after the war

Orcas are the oceans’ apex predator, even outranking the great white shark, but their hunting behaviors are still not fully understood by scientists.

Rare Drone Footage Captures Orcas Feeding on Dusky Dolphins

The predatory pod hunts off the coast of Chile and is led by a matriarch called Dakota

Cinnamon, the escaped capybara, was born at Hoo Zoo, along with her twin brother, Churro. They live there with their parents, Chimu and Chincha.

A Runaway Capybara Is Evading Capture and ‘Living Her Best Life’ in England

The “beloved” rodent named Cinnamon was spotted this week with help from drones. She has been wandering and eating grass after escaping her zoo enclosure last Friday

L to R: John F. Kennedy, Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. and Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. in London in 1937

The Top-Secret World War II Mission That Killed Joseph P. Kennedy Jr., the Heir Apparent to the Political Dynasty

In August 1944, the older brother of Robert and John F. Kennedy died while piloting a drone aircraft over England, leaving his younger siblings to fulfill their father’s dreams

American oystercatchers use their orange bills to pry open shellfish.

Nesting Shorebirds Are Mobbing Drones on New York City Beaches

The drones, equipped with inflatable life rafts, were intended to help improve public safety for humans this summer—but they’re also upsetting orange-beaked birds called American oystercatchers

Two X-wing CAVs flew over the opening ceremony of an attraction at Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Walt Disney World Resort in December 2019. 

How Engineers Created a Flying ‘Star Wars’ X-Wing

The starfighter-outfitted drone was the first remotely piloted aircraft of its kind and size approved by the Federal Aviation Administration for public demonstration

A dugong, also known as a sea cow, in a protected marine reserve in the Philippines. On the mammal’s underside, remora fish snack on parasites—and dugong poop.

The Dugong, a Huggable, Seagrass-Loving Sea Cow, Has a New Best Friend: Drones

Keeping tabs on the species’ populations is surprisingly hard. A new aerial effort tracks the marks they leave behind

Monarch butterflies' signature white spots could help them fly—and inspire better drones.

Seven Scientific Discoveries From 2023 That Could Lead to New Inventions

Biologists learned lots about animals and plants this year, and their findings could inspire better robots, medicine and environmental technologies

A tornado churns up dust at dusk near Traer, Iowa.

How and Why Do Violent Tornadoes Form?

Scientists hope new technology and computing power will help them understand destructive twisters

Tank convoy through the Ardennes, Belgium, during the Battle of the Bulge in January 1945

New Research

Drone Scans Reveal New Details About the Battle of the Bulge

Researchers used lidar to uncover nearly 1,000 previously unknown features of the famous battlefield

A drone made from a taxidermy bird.

Scientists Are Making Drones From Taxidermy Birds

They want to use the devices for less disruptive wildlife monitoring and to learn more about avian flight

The government in Queensland, Australia, is testing whether drones can be used to detect sharks near beaches.

Drones Spot Sharks That Wander Too Close to Busy Beaches

Ongoing tests show that the technology is an effective way to track the animals and monitor for threats

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