Smithsoniamag

Three veteran aurora chasers and a NASA scientist share everything you need to know to check these dazzling displays off your bucket list

The basic urge is surprisingly complex and can go awry as we age

Researchers are examining more than 4,200 New England documents to turn descriptions of the wind into data

A new paper suggests that plants may use slow seed years to prevent the spread of disease

Tromelin Island became a safe place for birds once the invasive mammals were eliminated

These shots from the Smithsonian Magazine Photo contest show why turtles are so terrific

New research suggests Viking-age hunters took down the biggest animal on Earth

The giant planet is a world of extremes

The virus has killed tens of millions of birds and infected hundreds of species of animals, including dairy cattle in the United States. Her...

Some make nests inside seashells, while others tote bubbles of air on their backs

What Iceland's volcanoes are revealing about early life on our planet

When Lulu Hunt Peters brought Americans a new method for weighing their dinner options, she launched a century of diet fads that left us hun...

Camouflaged by the sand, these threatened shorebirds aim to hide from predators. Now conservationists are trying to give their breeding effo...

Mammals aren’t the only animals that provide nutritious secretions for their young

On February 7, 1984, astronaut Bruce McCandless ventured out into space and away from shuttle Challenger using only a nitrogen-propelled, ha...

After scientists documented the flying mammals in the Piusa Sand Caves, dug by miners a century ago, conservationists strove to protect the...

The predators, which were made famous in the Jurassic World franchise, likely arose at least three times

Roughly 3,000 animals now roam the state's mountain ranges

From frogs to orchids, many organisms go dormant or move underground for lengthy stints

To prepare you for the movie “Twisters,” we’ve compiled some jaw-dropping details about the powerful phenomenon

Driven by a childhood marked by war and environmental devastation, marine scientist Dyhia Belhabib developed an innovative technology to com...

Sixty years ago, the largest earthquake in U.S. history shocked geologists. It’s still driving scientific discoveries today

These Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest images feature the captivating creatures that live beneath the waves

Research suggests that experience may matter more than innate ability when it comes to a sense of direction

Our byways are an unnatural incursion into the natural world, especially when they’re allowed to fall into disuse. Meet a roadkill scientist...