Scientists

Seeking transparency in the scientific literature.

Biomedical Science Studies Are Shockingly Hard to Reproduce

Limited access to research details and a culture that emphasizes breakthroughs are undermining the credibility of science

A relative unknown, Werner Forssmann won the 1956 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for inventing the cardiac catheter. Some of his equally qualified peers have not been as fortunate.

How Not to Win a Nobel Prize

A search through the Nobel archives shows how the history of the famous prize is filled with near misses and flukes

Smithsonian geologist Elizabeth Cottrell (right) helps undergraduate intern Kellie Wall examine a sample of Earth’s interior. Cottrell co-directs Natural History Research Experiences, a program funded by the National Science Foundation that trains 18 students every summer.

Hey Scientist, Who Are You Mentoring this Summer?

The director of education at the National Museum of Natural History delivers a clarion call to all scientists: Be a Mentor. Raise Up the Next Generation

Science on a Shoestring: How Cuba’s Researchers Survived the Embargo

Will normalized U.S.-Cuban relations make science easier in the once-isolated country?

Americans See Scientists As Smart, But Not Trustworthy

Scientists, along with lawyers and engineers, are viewed as competent but lacking in warmth

Inside the semi-subterranean 19th-century burial vault, conditions had deteriorated. The wooden shelves that held the caskets of nearly two dozen individuals had disintegrated. Bones were exposed.

To Discover What Life Was Like in 19th Century D.C., a Smithsonian Scientist Investigates a Tomb

Forensic anthropologist Douglas Owsley digs into an 1835 vault and reveals the startling history of a famous Washington family

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Decades of Political Strife Have Left Myanmar's Jungles Unexplored and Unchartered

Now as the country opens up, what will happen to its endangered species? A new three-part series on the Smithsonian Channel explores the issue

An illustration of the large, feathered Anzu wyliei depicts several striking anatomical features—its long tail, feathered arms, toothless beak and a tall crest on the top of its skull.

Scientists Discover a Large and Feathered Dinosaur that Once Roamed North America

The 'Anzu wyliei' species looks like a cross between a chicken and a lizard

Great White Sharks Swim Up, Down, Far, Wide—All Over the Place, Really—And We Had No Idea

Satellite tags map great white shark movements

Valentina Tereshkova, first woman in space, and Yuri Gagarin

Soviet Russia Had a Better Record of Training Women in STEM Than America Does Today

Perhaps it's time for the United States to take a page from the Soviet book just this one time

Blackboard Jungle

Crossing the Line Between Art and Science

New York artist Steve Miller melds the computer models and scientific notes of a Nobel-winning biochemist into a series of paintings now on display in D.C.

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Nobel Prize Winners Are Put to the Task of Drawing Their Discoveries

Volker Steger photographs Nobel laureates posing with sketches of their breakthrough findings

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From the Editor

From the Editor

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Origami: A Blend of Sculpture and Mathematics

Artist and MIT professor Erik Demaine makes flat geometric diagrams spring into elegant, three-dimensional origami sculptures

Only a sophomore in high school, Jack Andraka may have invented a new test for a deadly form of cancer.

Jack Andraka, the Teen Prodigy of Pancreatic Cancer

A high school sophomore won the youth achievement Smithsonian American Ingenuity Award for inventing a new method to detect a lethal cancer

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Painting Portraits With Bacteria

Microbiologist Zachary Copfer has created detailed portraits of famous artists and scientists in petri dishes

A new study indicates that fraud in the biomedical sciences occurs but is exceedingly rare.

How Often Do Scientists Commit Fraud?

The evidence says scientists are pretty honest. New techniques could make it easier for scientific fabricators to be caught

A woolly mammoth sinks into the tar at the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles.

Annalee Newitz of io9: Why I Like Science

Best of all, science is a story with an open ending. Every discovery ends with more questions

While Marie Curie dominates the conversation, there have been many other brilliant women who have pursued science over the years.

Ten Historic Female Scientists You Should Know

Before Marie Curie, these women dedicated their lives to science and made significant advances

Hummingbirds can bend their beaks in the middle using muscles in their head, but no one has checked to see whether other birds can do the same thing.

Biologist Rob Dunn: Why I Like Science

Because in biology most of what is knowable is still unknown

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