The mammals' return to the region represented a conservation success story, but their appetite for endangered fish is upsetting the balance of a delicate ecosystem

Smithsonian Magazine

17.05.2025

This Elusive Snake's Habitat Is Under Threat in Ecuador. Here's How Conservationists Are Fighting Back

How do you protect an endangered serpent with a special talent for hiding in plain sight?

Smithsonian Magazine

17.05.2025

Climate Change Is Threatening Eye Health in Disturbing Ways

Cataracts, pinkeye and other ocular disorders are linked to heat, air pollution and higher UV exposure

Smithsonian Magazine

15.05.2025

A Trove of Ice Age Fossils Buried in a Wyoming Cave Is Rewriting Our Understanding of Prehistoric Animals

At a site known as Natural Trap Cave, a team of scientists are rappelling down to uncover the secrets of what the Earth was like during the Pleistocene

Smithsonian Magazine

13.05.2025

Can Scientists Harness the Magic of Mushrooms to Clean Up Polluted Landscapes?

Researchers and grassroots activists are working with fungi to restore damaged environments

Smithsonian Magazine

10.05.2025

Be Blown Away by These 15 Images of Beautiful Butterflies

These shots from the Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest show just why butterflies have floated into our hearts

Smithsonian Magazine

10.05.2025

Welcome to the Weird and Wondrous World of Sea Cucumbers

These spiny or slimy ocean creatures display an astonishing diversity of appearances, behaviors and lifestyles—and many are increasingly threatened

Smithsonian Magazine

08.05.2025

In Order to Unravel the Many Mysteries of Squids, Scientists Dive Into Their Mating Frenzies

Marine biologists hope to find out more about a creature that is vital to a healthy ecosystem and the state’s fishery

Smithsonian Magazine

07.05.2025

Why Have Birds Never Gotten as Big as T. Rex?

Even the most massive birds have never reached the sizes of their dinosaur relatives

Smithsonian Magazine

03.05.2025

To Safeguard Threatened Plants, Scientists Must Master the Tricky Art of Seed Banking

Researchers are working to unravel the hidden biology of often-persnickety seeds as they age, sleep and awaken

Smithsonian Magazine

02.05.2025

Looking Back on the L.A. Wildfires Through the Lens of Two Photographers

As wildfire becomes an increasingly lethal force that’s remaking broad swaths of California, people and animals alike are in the hot seat

Smithsonian Magazine

01.05.2025

What Free Diving in a Kelp Forest Taught Me About an Overlooked but Incredibly Valuable Ecosystem

A photographer shares the epiphanies she has had while chronicling underwater jungles off the California coast

Smithsonian Magazine

26.04.2025

What Does the Future Hold for Psychiatric Brain Surgery?

For some patients, removing brain tissue can help treat OCD and other disorders. But ethical concerns remain

Smithsonian Magazine

25.04.2025

Why Have European Wolves Recovered So Much in the Past Decade?

The predators have increased by almost 60 percent on the continent

Smithsonian Magazine

22.04.2025

As Norway Considers Deep-Sea Mining, a Rich History of Ocean Conservation Decisions May Inform How the Country Acts

In the past, scientists, industry and government have worked together in surprising, tense and fruitful ways

Smithsonian Magazine

19.04.2025

Why Does This Endangered Butterfly Thrive After Hurricanes?

For Schaus’ swallowtail butterflies, the powerful storms mean clear skies and bright futures

Smithsonian Magazine

18.04.2025

From Massive Eyes to Shark-Like Tails, Seven Amazing Adaptations That Helped Prehistoric Reptiles Thrive at Sea

The creatures cruised the world’s oceans with features we often associate with marine mammals, such as coats of blubber and the ability to birth live young

Smithsonian Magazine

16.04.2025

Thousands of Giant Tortoises Anchor a Thriving Ecosystem on Aldabra, a Remote Atoll in the Indian Ocean

The animals graze the vegetation into a picturesque turf, fertilize the soil with their dung and disperse seeds over large distances

Smithsonian Magazine

12.04.2025

A Revealing Look Into the Surprisingly Tricky Sex Lives of Birds

Even among the most durable migratory bird pairings, sexual exclusivity is rarely part of their relationship

Smithsonian Magazine

10.04.2025

You Might Think of Shrimp as Bugs of the Sea. But a Remarkable Discovery Shows the Opposite: Bugs Are Actually Shrimp of the Land

A recent study suggests that insects branched out from crustaceans on the tree of life

Smithsonian Magazine

09.04.2025

The Long, Strange History of Nitrous Oxide, a Popular Drug Users Have Been Inhaling for Hundreds of Years

Galaxy Gas has brought the drug back into the spotlight, and scientists are raising alarms about its health risks

Smithsonian Magazine

05.04.2025

How Do Cancer Cells Migrate to New Tissues and Take Hold?

Scientists are looking for answers about how these confounding trips, known as metastases, occur throughout the human body

Smithsonian Magazine

04.04.2025

Ten Exceptional Ancient Elephants, From Small Swimming Creatures to Shovel-Tusked Beasts

A wide variety of the exotic animals evolved on Earth over the past 60 million years

Smithsonian Magazine

02.04.2025

How a Forgotten Bean Could Save Coffee From Extinction | Smithsonian

One leading botanist is scouring remote corners of the earth to find new species that could keep our mugs full

Smithsonian Magazine

02.04.2025

From Worlds That Look Like Cotton Candy to Others Covered in Volcanoes, These Are the Strangest and Most Captivating Exoplanets | Smithsonian

Scientists are using an array of instruments to detect other planets, some of which may harbor life—and others that most definitely don’t

Smithsonian Magazine

27.03.2025

How an 18th-Century Female Physicist Broke Boundaries and Inspired the Generations Who Followed | Smithsonian

Cristina Roccati graduated from the University of Bologna when few other Italian women earned degrees, and she taught physics for decades

Smithsonian Magazine

26.03.2025

For Some Women With Serious Physical Ailments, Mental Illness Has Become a Scapegoat Diagnosis | Smithsonian

Patients with difficult-to-diagnose conditions like endometriosis are often sent home with diagnoses like anxiety or bipolar disorder

Smithsonian Magazine

25.03.2025

Astronomers Suspect Colliding Supermassive Black Holes Left the Universe Awash in Gravitational Waves | Smithsonian

Radio telescopes tracking signals from spinning, ultra-dense stars point to ripples in the fabric of space

Smithsonian Magazine

25.03.2025

The Truth About the Sex Lives of Dinosaurs | Smithsonian

Fossils are providing more and more clues about how dinosaurs attracted one another and reproduced, which contributed to their remarkable ability to populate much of the Earth

Smithsonian Magazine

25.03.2025

Will the Traditional Chinese Medicine Industry End the Pangolin? | Smithsonian

The creature is being trafficked across Africa and Asia to fuel a steady demand for their scales, an ingredient in unproven remedies

Smithsonian Magazine

25.03.2025

Why Does Laughter Have Such a Strange Power Over Us? | Smithsonian

An anthropologist explores why the phenomenon has the ability to delight, disturb and disrupt

Smithsonian Magazine

25.03.2025

What Happens to a Tree That Dies in a Forest? | Smithsonian

Rotting logs turn out to be vital to forest biodiversity and recycling organic matter

Smithsonian Magazine

25.03.2025

What Did Scientists Learn After Thousands of Penguins Were Slaughtered by Mountain Lions? | Smithsonian

The thriving bird colonies likely grew over several decades because local shepherds had temporarily eliminated pumas

Smithsonian Magazine

25.03.2025

Five Unusual Ways People Used Lead—and Suffered For It | Smithsonian

Cultures throughout history have put lead to use for wacky and often deeply poisonous purposes

Smithsonian Magazine

25.03.2025

Can a Small Town’s Protections for Albino Squirrels Inspire Other Cities to Guard Wildlife Against Cats? | Smithsonian

Olney, Illinois, has taken steps to protect an iconic mammal from domesticated felines, setting a possible model for other places to follow

home›Smithsonian Magazine›Science & Technology

Smithsonian Magazine - Science & Technology

Did Water Form in the Earliest Years of the Universe?

Once in Dire Straits, Atlantic Sturgeon Are Staging a Comeback on the East Coast

Should Scientists Inject Saturn’s Moon Enceladus With Life?

To Reduce Human and Grizzly Bear Conflicts, Both Species Must Change Their Behavior

A Century Ago, a High School Teacher From a Small Tennessee Town Ignited a National Debate Over Human Evolution

Salmon in the Pacific Northwest Are Facing a New Threat: Booming Populations of Seals and Sea Lions

This Elusive Snake's Habitat Is Under Threat in Ecuador. Here's How Conservationists Are Fighting Back

Climate Change Is Threatening Eye Health in Disturbing Ways

A Trove of Ice Age Fossils Buried in a Wyoming Cave Is Rewriting Our Understanding of Prehistoric Animals

Can Scientists Harness the Magic of Mushrooms to Clean Up Polluted Landscapes?

Be Blown Away by These 15 Images of Beautiful Butterflies

Welcome to the Weird and Wondrous World of Sea Cucumbers

In Order to Unravel the Many Mysteries of Squids, Scientists Dive Into Their Mating Frenzies

Why Have Birds Never Gotten as Big as T. Rex?

To Safeguard Threatened Plants, Scientists Must Master the Tricky Art of Seed Banking

Looking Back on the L.A. Wildfires Through the Lens of Two Photographers

What Free Diving in a Kelp Forest Taught Me About an Overlooked but Incredibly Valuable Ecosystem

What Does the Future Hold for Psychiatric Brain Surgery?

Why Have European Wolves Recovered So Much in the Past Decade?

As Norway Considers Deep-Sea Mining, a Rich History of Ocean Conservation Decisions May Inform How the Country Acts

Why Does This Endangered Butterfly Thrive After Hurricanes?

From Massive Eyes to Shark-Like Tails, Seven Amazing Adaptations That Helped Prehistoric Reptiles Thrive at Sea

Thousands of Giant Tortoises Anchor a Thriving Ecosystem on Aldabra, a Remote Atoll in the Indian Ocean

A Revealing Look Into the Surprisingly Tricky Sex Lives of Birds

You Might Think of Shrimp as Bugs of the Sea. But a Remarkable Discovery Shows the Opposite: Bugs Are Actually Shrimp of the Land

The Long, Strange History of Nitrous Oxide, a Popular Drug Users Have Been Inhaling for Hundreds of Years

How Do Cancer Cells Migrate to New Tissues and Take Hold?

Ten Exceptional Ancient Elephants, From Small Swimming Creatures to Shovel-Tusked Beasts

How a Forgotten Bean Could Save Coffee From Extinction | Smithsonian

From Worlds That Look Like Cotton Candy to Others Covered in Volcanoes, These Are the Strangest and Most Captivating Exoplanets | Smithsonian

How an 18th-Century Female Physicist Broke Boundaries and Inspired the Generations Who Followed | Smithsonian

For Some Women With Serious Physical Ailments, Mental Illness Has Become a Scapegoat Diagnosis | Smithsonian

Astronomers Suspect Colliding Supermassive Black Holes Left the Universe Awash in Gravitational Waves | Smithsonian

The Truth About the Sex Lives of Dinosaurs | Smithsonian

Will the Traditional Chinese Medicine Industry End the Pangolin? | Smithsonian

Why Does Laughter Have Such a Strange Power Over Us? | Smithsonian

What Happens to a Tree That Dies in a Forest? | Smithsonian

What Did Scientists Learn After Thousands of Penguins Were Slaughtered by Mountain Lions? | Smithsonian

Five Unusual Ways People Used Lead—and Suffered For It | Smithsonian

Can a Small Town’s Protections for Albino Squirrels Inspire Other Cities to Guard Wildlife Against Cats? | Smithsonian

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