News
Pigeon Bones Found at an Ancient Cyprus Settlement Reveal That Our Relationship With These Birds Began Earlier Than We Thought
1+ day, 17+ hour ago (427+ words) Sara Hashemi | Daily Correspondent If you live in a city, pigeons are probably part of your daily life. But before they were considered an urban nuisance, humans domesticated them and used them as messengers, as a source of meat and…...
Giant, Destructive Hail Is Becoming More Common with Climate Change, Study Says
19+ hour, 35+ min ago (324+ words) Rudy Molinek | Reporter This spring, massive thunderstorms swept across the upper Midwest. Along with destructive winds and tornados, these storms brought record-sized hail. In Illinois, one meteorologist, Victor Gensini, found a 16-inch diameter hailstone that weighed over a pound. "It…...
Young Blue Crabs Have Been Mysteriously Dwindling in the Chesapeake Bay for Years. This Winter, They Saw a Boost in Numbers. What's Driving These Trends?
23+ hour, 25+ min ago (1113+ words) Carlyn Kranking | Associate Web Editor, Science Life isn't exactly easy for a young blue crab in the Chesapeake Bay. For one, the crustaceans must dodge predators'they have to avoid invasive blue catfish and even thwart'cannibalism by their elders. But these…...
NASA Unveils New Details About the Future Moon Base and the Missions Laying the Groundwork to Build It
1+ day, 17+ hour ago (507+ words) More from Smithsonian magazine Margherita Bassi | Daily Correspondent Humans are heading back to the moon, and this time, they want to maintain a long-term presence there. That means future lunar visitors will need a place to stay. On May 26, NASA…...
A Tiny Endangered Creature That 'Moves Like Greased Lightning' Has Been Found in an Unexpected Place
11+ mon, 3+ week ago (743+ words) More from Smithsonian magazine Sarah Kuta | Daily Correspondent "It jumped right out at me," says Fred Ford, a senior threatened species officer with the New South Wales government, to the Australian Associated Press. "You have to be out there looking…...
Scientists Used A. I. to Redesign a Microbe's Machinery to Function Without a Key Ingredient of Life
1+ day, 22+ hour ago (502+ words) Sara Hashemi | Daily Correspondent Almost all life on Earth builds its proteins from the same set of 20 building blocks, called amino acids. Some organisms have an extra one or two, but none have fewer. Now, researchers have used artificial intelligence…...
A Shipwreck, but Make It Fashion: Researchers Transformed Wooden Fragments From a 17th-Century Shipwreck Into a Pair of Stylish Maxi Dresses
2+ day, 17+ hour ago (757+ words) More from Smithsonian magazine Sarah Kuta | Daily Correspondent In 2019, crews renovating a hotel in Oulu, Finland, made a surprising discovery: the remains of a 17th-century cargo ship beneath the hotel's parking lot. The long-hidden vessel'was named the "Hahtiper" wreck" after…...
Scientists Detect an Elusive Giant Squid and Many Other Surprising Marine Animals Near Western Australia Thanks to DNA in the Water
2+ day, 18+ hour ago (395+ words) More from Smithsonian magazine Margherita Bassi | Daily Correspondent Comparing the gathered e DNA to genetic reference data revealed that a surprising ocean neighbor had recently swum by: a rare giant squid. These massive marine creatures can grow to about 43 feet…...
A Sudden Landslide Triggered Alaska's 2025 'Mega-Tsunami.' Now, Scientists Have Identified Warning Signs to Predict Similar Events
2+ day, 20+ hour ago (561+ words) More from Smithsonian magazine Sara Hashemi | Daily Correspondent Despite being the second-largest landslide-induced tsunami on record, the event went largely unreported at the time. Luckily, no one was injured. "Normally, with these gigantic rock avalanches, they often give some sort…...
The Mere Presence of Humans'Not Just Our Changes to the Land'Can Alter Wild Animals' Behaviors, a New Study Suggests
6+ day, 15+ hour ago (616+ words) More from Smithsonian magazine Sarah Kuta | Daily Correspondent The world is in the throes of a'biodiversity crisis, with numerous animal species declining or disappearing altogether. Scientists know that much of this turmoil stems from human development'physical changes to the landscape…...