A neurologist shares her thoughts and research about “ecstatic epilepsy” in a wide-ranging conversation on how we perceive the world—and create the world we perceive

Smithsonian Magazine

02.10.2025

The Life, Loss and Lore of the Sea Mink

It might be among the first mammals to go extinct in North America after colonization. But can scientists prove it was even a distinct species?

Smithsonian Magazine

02.10.2025

Jane Goodall, Legendary Primatologist and Anthropologist, Dies at 91

She was considered the world’s leading expert on chimpanzees and was renowned for her global conservation efforts

Smithsonian Magazine

01.10.2025

Gulls’ Spit-Up Gunk Can Help Ecologists Understand Human Pollution

Researchers and student volunteers pick up what seabirds throw up, then examine it for clues about our impact on the environment

Smithsonian Magazine

30.09.2025

A.I. Is on the Rise, and So Is the Environmental Impact of the Data Centers That Drive It

The demand for data centers is growing faster than our ability to mitigate their skyrocketing economic and environmental costs

Smithsonian Magazine

27.09.2025

This Invasive Vampire Fish Is Helping Researchers Understand the Human Nervous System in Jaw-Dropping Ways

The sea lamprey looks like it’s from another planet, but this ancient creature has a surprising amount in common with humans

Smithsonian Magazine

25.09.2025

Can Scientists Help Oysters Thrive Again?

Dredging and pollution devastated the once-bountiful reefs. Careful science may help bring them back

Smithsonian Magazine

25.09.2025

The Curious Case of 'Old Thom,' an Orca Traveling Alone in the North Atlantic

Sightings of the marine mammal captivate the public and baffle scientists

Smithsonian Magazine

20.09.2025

In Prisons Across Ohio, These Inmates Are Finding Meaning by Saving Orphaned and Injured Animals

The Ohio Wildlife Center’s hospital sends critters to five facilities for care before eventual release

Smithsonian Magazine

19.09.2025

How Prepared Are We for a Rare and Powerful Solar Event?

A coronal mass ejection could knock out power and disrupt communication on Earth

Smithsonian Magazine

18.09.2025

A Deep Look Into the Wild and Not-So-Wild World of Bumblebees

Over the past several decades the lives of the domesticated and native pollinators have increasingly overlapped

Smithsonian Magazine

13.09.2025

Can You Really ‘Rot’ Your Brain by Scrolling Too Much on Your Smartphone?

While that message has been spread on social media, researchers are just beginning to understand how the devices affect the mind

Smithsonian Magazine

13.09.2025

What Led Life to Flourish Roughly 520 Million Years Ago?

Changes to the world’s oceans and the rise of certain predators may have driven diversification

Smithsonian Magazine

09.09.2025

Five Dramatic Ways Animals Respond to Human Noise, From Mimicking Car Alarms While Wooing Mates to Calling Higher Over the Din of Traffic

As human-caused sound gets louder around the world, some animals change their behavior and many creatures suffer health issues

Smithsonian Magazine

06.09.2025

Could Aardvark Burrows Be Ground Zero for the Next Pandemic?

Animals of all kinds mix and mingle in the underground refuges, offering troubling opportunities for diseases to jump species

Smithsonian Magazine

04.09.2025

From Dinosaur Scratches to Insects in Amber, How Paleontologists Uncover Prehistoric Courtship

Researchers have found fossil evidence of varied creatures wooing and mating, as they continue to search for the telltale signs of dinosaurs copulating

Smithsonian Magazine

03.09.2025

The New Science of Aeroecology Reveals So Much About the Amazing Creatures That Populate the Skies and How Humans Can Ensure Their Survival

The sky above us is a complex ecosystem, just like the land and sea. A new field of research is bringing a fresh understanding of the birds, bugs and other species that live there

Smithsonian Magazine

02.09.2025

An Orangutan Sanctuary in Borneo Is Giving the Endangered Primates a Second Chance, Just When They Need It Most

The critically endangered species gets a helping hand from an Indonesian facility as the island's human population is about to explode

Smithsonian Magazine

02.09.2025

Telescopes Reveal Surprising Chemistry of a Rare Interstellar Object Passing Through Our Solar System

Called 3I/ATLAS, the object is only the third of its kind known to astronomers, and it’s likely been heading our way for billions of years, carrying pristine material from another star system

Smithsonian Magazine

26.08.2025

Why Is Tetepare the South Pacific’s Largest Uninhabited Island?

Descendants of the island’s former inhabitants struggle to balance environmental conservation with sustaining their community’s livelihoods

Smithsonian Magazine

25.08.2025

Before Whales Took to the Sea, These Ten Species Walked on Land

The creatures, which ranged in size from that of a fox to more than 50 feet long, divided their time between the coast and the water

Smithsonian Magazine

25.08.2025

These Cavefish Lost Their Eyes, but They Gained Some Pretty Nifty Traits

Mexican tetras that got swept into pitch-black caverns had no use for the energetically costly organs

Smithsonian Magazine

25.08.2025

Understanding the Gaps in Africa's Archaeological Record

Sites and artifacts are revealing clues to the continent’s recent history. An archaeologist explains the findings and threats to this heritage

Smithsonian Magazine

25.08.2025

Five Astounding Ways Humans Are Driving Animal Evolution, Including Causing Lizards to Grow Longer Legs and Leading Moth Populations to Become Darker

When people build cities and introduce invasive creatures, resident critter populations sometimes adapt

Smithsonian Magazine

13.08.2025

Inside the Quest to Understand the Link Between Cannabis and Schizophrenia

Recent studies have examined the relationship between the drug and psychoses and looked at how the brain responds to the substance

Smithsonian Magazine

09.08.2025

Jim Lovell, Apollo 13 Commander Who Thrived Under Pressure, Dies at 97

The space explorer was determined throughout his life, says Teasel Muir-Harmony, the curator of the Apollo Collection at the National Air and Space Museum

Smithsonian Magazine

09.08.2025

Through Much of Human History, Women Have Shaped Evolution Through Food Processing

An anthropologist highlights the revolutionary role of the practice, which was often led by women, and was just as crucial to surviving and thriving as hunting

Smithsonian Magazine

08.08.2025

What Happened to the Bone-Crushing Dogs That Once Hunted Across North America?

Before going extinct roughly two million years ago, canids known as borophagines took down and consumed much larger prey

Smithsonian Magazine

08.08.2025

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

Smithsonian Magazine

02.08.2025

Celebrate Man’s Best Friend With These 15 Photographs of Good Dogs

Delight in dogs with snapshots from the Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest

Smithsonian Magazine

02.08.2025

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

Smithsonian Magazine

01.08.2025

Can A.I. Help Revitalize Indigenous Languages?

Indigenous researchers and roboticists are crafting innovative tools to help save endangered dialects

Smithsonian Magazine

01.08.2025

These Super-Resolution Microscopes Are Revealing the Inner Lives of Cells

Advanced light microscopy techniques are giving scientists a new understanding of human biology and what goes wrong in diseases

Smithsonian Magazine

29.07.2025

How Cancer Research for Dogs Is Helping Improve Treatment for Pets and Humans Alike

Canine and human cancers bear many similarities, and studies on dogs are helping advance care for our furry friends and for us

Smithsonian Magazine

29.07.2025

See 15 Photos of Sensational, Slithering Snakes

These reptiles often get a bad rap, but there are plenty of reasons to celebrate snakes

Smithsonian Magazine

29.07.2025

As Interest in Deep-Sea Mining Grows, Scientists Raise Alarms About the Possible Ecological Consequences

Gathering minerals such as nickel, cobalt, manganese and lithium from the seabed could affect everything from sponges to whales. The long-term effects of these extractions remain uncertain

Smithsonian Magazine

29.07.2025

Why Fire Island Has Seen an Explosion of Feral Cats

In New York’s only federal wilderness area, the loss of a key predator has led to the rise of a new one—with dire consequences for the island’s native birds

Smithsonian Magazine

29.07.2025

Meet Ten Tyrannosaurs That Came Before T. Rex, From Small, Feathery Creatures to 30-Foot-Long Bone-Crushers

Everyone knows the famous tyrant lizard king, but its relatives amaze, too

Smithsonian Magazine

15.07.2025

Why Did a Large Harpy Eagle Attack an Adult Woman?

The incident, which took place in the forest in French Guiana, was an extremely rare occurrence

Smithsonian Magazine

12.07.2025

Giant Sloths and Many Other Massive Creatures Were Once Common on Our Planet. With Environmental Changes, Such Giants Could Thrive Again

If large creatures like elephants, giraffes and bison are allowed to thrive, they could alter habitats that allow for the rise of other giants

home›Smithsonian Magazine›Science & Technology

Smithsonian Magazine - Science & Technology

Some People Experience Blissful Ecstasy Right Before a Seizure. Could Understanding This Feeling Help Treat Depression?

The Life, Loss and Lore of the Sea Mink

Jane Goodall, Legendary Primatologist and Anthropologist, Dies at 91

Gulls’ Spit-Up Gunk Can Help Ecologists Understand Human Pollution

A.I. Is on the Rise, and So Is the Environmental Impact of the Data Centers That Drive It

This Invasive Vampire Fish Is Helping Researchers Understand the Human Nervous System in Jaw-Dropping Ways

Can Scientists Help Oysters Thrive Again?

The Curious Case of 'Old Thom,' an Orca Traveling Alone in the North Atlantic

In Prisons Across Ohio, These Inmates Are Finding Meaning by Saving Orphaned and Injured Animals

How Prepared Are We for a Rare and Powerful Solar Event?

A Deep Look Into the Wild and Not-So-Wild World of Bumblebees

Can You Really ‘Rot’ Your Brain by Scrolling Too Much on Your Smartphone?

What Led Life to Flourish Roughly 520 Million Years Ago?

Five Dramatic Ways Animals Respond to Human Noise, From Mimicking Car Alarms While Wooing Mates to Calling Higher Over the Din of Traffic

Could Aardvark Burrows Be Ground Zero for the Next Pandemic?

From Dinosaur Scratches to Insects in Amber, How Paleontologists Uncover Prehistoric Courtship

The New Science of Aeroecology Reveals So Much About the Amazing Creatures That Populate the Skies and How Humans Can Ensure Their Survival

An Orangutan Sanctuary in Borneo Is Giving the Endangered Primates a Second Chance, Just When They Need It Most

Telescopes Reveal Surprising Chemistry of a Rare Interstellar Object Passing Through Our Solar System

Why Is Tetepare the South Pacific’s Largest Uninhabited Island?

Before Whales Took to the Sea, These Ten Species Walked on Land

These Cavefish Lost Their Eyes, but They Gained Some Pretty Nifty Traits

Understanding the Gaps in Africa's Archaeological Record

Five Astounding Ways Humans Are Driving Animal Evolution, Including Causing Lizards to Grow Longer Legs and Leading Moth Populations to Become Darker

Inside the Quest to Understand the Link Between Cannabis and Schizophrenia

Jim Lovell, Apollo 13 Commander Who Thrived Under Pressure, Dies at 97

Through Much of Human History, Women Have Shaped Evolution Through Food Processing

What Happened to the Bone-Crushing Dogs That Once Hunted Across North America?

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

Celebrate Man’s Best Friend With These 15 Photographs of Good Dogs

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

Can A.I. Help Revitalize Indigenous Languages?

These Super-Resolution Microscopes Are Revealing the Inner Lives of Cells

How Cancer Research for Dogs Is Helping Improve Treatment for Pets and Humans Alike

See 15 Photos of Sensational, Slithering Snakes

As Interest in Deep-Sea Mining Grows, Scientists Raise Alarms About the Possible Ecological Consequences

Why Fire Island Has Seen an Explosion of Feral Cats

Meet Ten Tyrannosaurs That Came Before T. Rex, From Small, Feathery Creatures to 30-Foot-Long Bone-Crushers

Why Did a Large Harpy Eagle Attack an Adult Woman?

Giant Sloths and Many Other Massive Creatures Were Once Common on Our Planet. With Environmental Changes, Such Giants Could Thrive Again

home
›
Smithsonian Magazine
›
Science & Technology