Ask Smithsonian: Why Does My Nose Run When It’s Cold Outside?

Even by primate standards, cotton-top tamarins have highly complex communication abilities. Adults produce 40 distinct sounds–each with their own meaning. They even have one for humans! And while tasks are shared, including raising a family, it’s the alpha female that makes all the big decisions.

These Monkeys Have Complex Communication Skills (2:18)

The great diving beetle is a fast underwater swimmer and a voracious hunter. It can stay submerged for periods of up to 30 minutes a time—thanks to a makeshift oxygen tank in its wing case.

The Great Diving Beetle Is an Impressive Underwater Hunter (2:19)

A male Arctic Fox is searching for his mate amid the snow-cloaked landscape. Arctic foxes separate and unite every year–but their bonds are lifelong.

Arctic Fox Couple Reunites in the Freezing Cold (2:26)

It takes a special breed of animal to handle the Michigan winter—and the river otter is better prepared than most. But preparation is half the battle, and it starts with a roll in the snow to keep its fur coat insulated. The waters in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan freeze over fast in winter–and river otters need to work just as fast to keep holes open in the ice. If they close, the otters lose access to fish.

This River Otter Is Bracing for a Harsh Michigan Winter (3:10)

A pair of leopard cubs chase, pounce and play among the craggy rocks. Their mother is away searching for food, and it’s a great opportunity for them to hone their own hunting skills.

A Pair of Leopard Cubs Take Advantage of Mom's Absence (3:04)

For the female lesser long-nosed bats in the Pinacate Desert, food is scarce. One possible source of nutrients: pollen from the saguaro cactus, whose milk-white petals open up only one night a year.

This Cactus Opens Its Petals Only One Night a Year (2:32)

Sled dogs, such as the Canadian Inuit, are capable of traveling long distances in some of the iciest regions of the planet. It’s a trait that they inherited from their wolf ancestors.

Canadian Inuits Get Their Wilderness Chops From Wolves (3:08)

With a dense coat, a powerful mass of muscle and a large head ideally suited for clearing away snow and locating buried grass, bison are built for frigid conditions in Yellowstone. If it wasn’t for a hidden herd in the deepest reaches of this National Park, bison would have been wiped out in the late 1800s. Today, thousands of them thrive.

Yellowstone Bison Are Built for Winter Survival (3:55)

In just a few months in 2018, the landscape of Mars seemed to disappear, as a thick, red cloud enveloped the planet. It was one of Mars’ signature sand storms–obscuring the entire surface.

How a Powerful Dust Storm Made Mars 'Disappear' In 2018 (2:06)