Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

New Research

To some, beets' soil-like smell is so strong that eating the vegetable holds the same appeal as dining on a chunk of dirt.

New Research

New Study Reveals How One Person’s ‘Smellscape’ Can Differ From Another’s

A single genetic mutation could determine whether you perceive beets’ soil-like smell, whiskey’s smokiness and lily of the valley’s sweetness

New Research

This New Plastic Can Be Endlessly Recycled

The new material, dubbed PDK, can be deconstructed down to the molecular level

New Research

How Do You Educate Climate Change Skeptics? Empower Their Kids to Teach Them

A new study shows that educating children may be the best way to reach parents who don’t seem to care about climate change

Pandamonium

Bamboo Is Basically ‘Fake Meat’ for Giant Pandas

A new study shows the bears have a nutritional profile looks more like that of wolves and cats rather than herbivores

Even large equines can get a little hoarse.

New Research

Even Mild Cases of Asthma Can Slow Down Elite Racehorses

Researchers found 80 percent of racehorses surveyed suffered from airway inflammation that impacts performance

New Research

Climate Change Has Made Droughts More Frequent Since 1900

Tree ring data from various parts of the world shows that greenhouse gas increases have impacted soil moisture for over 100 years

Researchers looked at smell tests taken by more than 2,200 people between the age of 71 and 82 years old.

New Research

Impaired Sense of Smell in the Elderly Is Linked With Risk of Death

A new study finds older people who score poorly on a sniff test are 46 percent more likely to die over the next 10 years, but researchers don’t know why

A plastic bag submerged in soil for three years could still hold a full load of shopping.

Do ‘Biodegradable’ Plastic Bags Actually Degrade?

A new study has found that the bags could still hold weight after being buried in water and soil for three years

Future of Space Exploration

One-Third of Exoplanets Could Be Water Worlds With Oceans Hundreds of Miles Deep

A new statistical analysis suggests seas hundreds of miles deep cover up to 35 percent of distant worlds

That so  totally rocks, dude.

New Research

Green Sea Turtles Are Bouncing Back Around U.S. Pacific Islands

Surveys show the species increasing 8 percent near Hawaii and 4 percent elsewhere, though hawksbill turtles aren’t faring as well

Artistic reconstruction of Callichimaera perplexa, the "strangest crab that has ever lived."

Fossil Discovery Has Scientists Questioning: What Makes a Crab a Crab?

The newly described C. perplexa seems to have retained larval features into adulthood

Surf's WAY up.

New Research

Ocean Wind and Waves Have Grown Stronger Over the Last Three Decades

Decades of satellite data show changes in the ocean that could lead to more destructive storm surges and coastal erosion

The SEIS instrument on the surface of Mars.

Future of Space Exploration

NASA Detects First ‘Marsquake’

A 2 to 2.5 magnitude quake on the Red Planet is the first seismic activity detected outside the Earth and the Moon

Cool Finds

North Carolina’s Famed Shipwrecks Are Now Home to a Shark Conservation Research Study

Unwitting citizen-scientists discovered evidence that vulnerable species return to the same ships, which could help in their recovery

New Research

The Rich Get Richer Under Climate Change, 50 Years of Data Shows

According to a new study, rising temperatures have reduced the GDP of many poor nations and boosted economic output of wealthier countries

New Research

Beer Fueled Diplomacy in This Ancient Empire

Analysis shows a brewery at a Wari outpost in the mountains of southern Peru strengthened bonds with friends and neighbors

Orcas kill great white sharks, then eat their calorie-dense livers.

New Research

Great White Sharks Are Completely Terrified of Orcas

A new study shows the apex predators will flee their hunting grounds and won’t return for up to a year when killer whales pass by

Elusive River Dolphins Caught Chatting Up a Storm

Researchers previously thought the acoustic repertoire of Araguaian river dolphins was relatively limited

New Research

Scientists Revived Cells in Dead Pig Brains

The accomplishment challenges how we ethically, legally and philosophically define death

An average of 365 plastic particles fell each day on a square meter collector at the Bernadouze meteorological station over the course of five months.

Microplastics Found in Remote Region of France’s Pyrenees

A new study shows just how far the pollutants can travel–and suggests that it is not only city dwellers who are at risk of exposure

Page 118 of 295