Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

New Research

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

Cool Finds

Scientists Find a Tiny Speck of Comet Inside a Meteorite

The little fragment found in Antarctica was protected from the elements and preserves the chemical signature of the early solar system

New Research

New Analysis of Depression-Era Fossil Hunt Shows Texas Coast Was Once a ‘Serengeti’

Over 11 million years ago, the area was full of animals

New Research

Eating Your Veggies Is a Better Way to Get Your Vitamins Than Taking Supplements, Study Shows

Vitamins in some supplements were actually harmful at high doses, while exceeding the daily nutritional limit in food didn’t show the same risk

New Research

A World War I Soldier’s Cholera Seemed Odd. 100 Years Later, Researchers Have Sequenced His Bacteria’s Genome

The cholera bacteria in his body may not have even been the cause of his symptoms after all, the new analysis found

New Research

Computer Analysis Says ‘Beowulf’ Is the Work of a Single Author

Academics have argued about the origins of the Old English epic for two centuries

Desert kites, stone structures used for hunting, discovered in the U2 images.

Cool Finds

U-2 Spy Plane Images Reveal Ancient Archaeological Sites in the Middle East

Two patient archaeologists organized and scanned the images to find structures destroyed or covered up over the last 60 years

That's some bad news for hay fever sufferers.

New Research

Allergy Season Is Getting Longer and Nastier Each Year

An extended and intensified allergy season is one of the most visible effects of climate change

Page 124 of 301