Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

New Research

The hyper-realistic busts are on display at the Moravian Museum in Brno, Czech Republic.

New Research

See the Faces of Two Sisters Who Toiled Away in a Neolithic Mine 6,000 Years Ago

Archaeologists created 3D reconstructions of the women’s faces based on an analysis of their teeth and bones. Found in the Czech Republic, the siblings “did not have an easy life,” the new research suggests

A patient with the new prosthesis walks over an obstacle. 

This New Bionic Knee Is Changing the Game for Lower Leg Amputees

Scientists have developed a prosthesis that is directly integrated with muscle and bone in order to improve movement

Digital 3D models of the female Pazyryk individual, using visible-spectrum photographs (A) and near-infrared photography (B).

Gorgeous, Hidden Animal Tattoos Discovered on a More Than 2,000-Year-Old ‘Ice Mummy’ by Using Digital Imaging

The ancient tattoos, which would have required trained artistry and hours of work, would be difficult for even modern tattooists to produce, a new study suggests

New research suggests Neanderthals ate rotten flesh and maggots, explaining why the levels of nitrogen-15 found in their remains are so high.

Neanderthals Might Have Eaten Maggot-Infested, Putrefying Meat, Explaining a Mysterious Chemical Signature in Their Remains

Maggots might have helped our long-extinct relatives avoid protein poisoning by providing a nutritious source of fat, a new study suggests

A fateful meeting between ancestors of tomatoes and potatoes allowed for the growth of tubers, the edible part of potatoes today, according to a new study.

The Potato May Have Evolved From a Tomato Ancestor Nine Million Years Ago, Genetic Study Suggests

A genome analysis indicates wild tomatoes and a potato-like plant called Etuberosum hybridized to create the modern potato

A glacier in Greenland, pictured in June 2025.

24 Billion Gallons of Water Burst Through Greenland’s Ice Sheet From a Hidden Lake in 2014. Scientists Just Pieced Together What Happened

A new study suggests ice sheet meltwater doesn’t always move downward—sometimes, it can erupt

In the 1950s, archaeologists found bronze jars in an underground shrine (left). They contained a mysterious sticky residue (right).

Scientists Found Sticky Goo Inside a 2,500-Year-Old Jar. Seventy Years Later, They Finally Know What It Is

By studying the mysterious substance’s chemical makeup, scientists determined the pot was once full of honey

Piper betel leaf, the areca nut, limestone paste, tobacco and bark filaments are often combined to get a high.

Were Humans in Thailand Getting High Off Betel Nuts 4,000 Years Ago?

Scientists believe they have found the earliest biochemical evidence of people chewing the popular psychoactive plant

Megaflashes travel horizontally, but they also produce five to seven cloud-to-ground bolts, on average.

515-Mile-Long ‘Megaflash’ of Lightning Sets a New World Record, Spanning Eastern Texas to West-Central Missouri

In October 2017, lightning stretched across multiple Great Plains states, and a weather satellite captured the event

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

The whole Pulaosaurus qinglong skeleton

Cool Finds

Rare Fossil Suggests Some Dinosaurs May Have Sounded Like Birds and Shared Similar Vocal Anatomy

Pulaosaurus qinglong is only the second non-avian dinosaur to be discovered with a preserved bony voice box

Due to conservation efforts, more than 240 kākāpō live on sanctuary islands, but the species remains critically endangered.

New Zealand’s Massive Green Parrots Have Narrowly Avoided Extinction. But Many of Their Parasites Did Not Survive

A study examining fossilized droppings reveals the kākāpō has faced a decline in the diversity of its parasites—and that might not be a good thing

Researchers used a laser to superheat a sample of gold past its theoretical limit and directly measured its temperature.

Physicists Superheated Gold to Hotter Than the Sun’s Surface and Disproved a 40-Year-Old Idea

A thin piece of gold reached 33,740 degrees Fahrenheit, which is more than 14 times higher than its melting point, by being rapidly heated—and it didn’t melt

Aspen trees are making a comeback at Yellowstone National Park.

Reintroduced Wolves Are Helping Baby Aspen Trees Flourish in Northern Yellowstone for the First Time in 80 Years, Study Suggests

The apex predators, restored to the park in 1995, appear to be keeping the local population of plant-eating elk in check, which allows aspen saplings to grow tall and healthy

New research suggests a large crocodile-like creature attacked a "terror bird" 12 million years ago.

Even Apex Predators Like ‘Terror Birds’ Had Enemies, Research Suggests

Bite marks on a fossilized leg bone found in South America suggest a crocodile-like creature attacked a massive, meat-eating bird 12 million years ago

Researchers collect soil samples in Tierra del Fuego, Chile.

More Than 90 Percent of the World’s Fungal ‘Hotspots’ Are Not Protected, New Study Suggests

Mycorrhizal fungi play an essential role in climate regulation and ecosystem health, and researchers have used A.I. to predict the locations that host a high diversity of these underground organisms

An ancient fragment of a bronze military diploma from Sardinia dating to the second century C.E.

New Research

Google Just Released an A.I. Tool That Helps Historians Fill in Missing Words in Ancient Roman Inscriptions

Known as Aeneas, the tool was trained on an extensive dataset of Latin epigraphy. Experts hope it will help decipher segments of text that have been lost to history

Early detection cancer tests are showing signs of promise, but some researchers still have reservations.

Cancer DNA Can Be Detected in the Bloodstream Up to Three Years Before Diagnosis, Study Suggests

For a few individuals, scientists found genetic material from cancerous tumors in blood samples taken years before they were diagnosed through traditional methods

A new study reveals that optimists show similar brain activity when they think about the future, while pessimists' neural patterns are more individual.

Optimists Really Are on the ‘Same Wavelength’ When They Think About the Future, New Study of Brain Activity Suggests

As the research participants thought about future scenarios, optimists displayed similar neural patterns, but pessimists showed more individualized brain activity

A screenshot from the CCTV footage reveals the moment when the ground moved.

CCTV Footage Captures the First-Ever Video of an Earthquake Fault in Motion, Shining a Rare Light on Seismic Dynamics

A clip recorded in Myanmar in March reveals a curved path of the fault slip, which can help scientists better understand the physics of such events

Page 25 of 296