Science | smithsonianmag.comhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/rss/science-nature/RSS feed for ScienceenMon, 29 Jun 2026 16:02:32 +0000A Rare Comet Made History as the Third Known Interstellar Object to Fly Through Our Solar System. Studies Are Now Revealing the Mysterious Conditions in Which It Formedhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/a-rare-comet-made-history-as-the-third-known-interstellar-object-to-fly-through-our-solar-system-studies-are-now-revealing-the-mysterious-the-mysterious-conditions-in-which-it-formed-180989037/In the latest research, telescope observations of 3I/ATLAS examine its chemical structure and suggest that it took shape in a peripheral region of a relatively calm planetary systemMon, 29 Jun 2026 16:02:32 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/a-rare-comet-made-history-as-the-third-known-interstellar-object-to-fly-through-our-solar-system-studies-are-now-revealing-the-mysterious-the-mysterious-conditions-in-which-it-formed-180989037/Speed Limits for Ships Protect Endangered Right Whales From Vessel Strikes. Could the Animals Survive Without Them?https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/speed-limits-for-ships-protect-endangered-right-whales-from-vessel-strikes-could-the-animals-survive-without-them-180989013/Since 2008, rules requiring ships to slow down to avoid collisions with North Atlantic right whales have reduced fatalities of the critically endangered animals. Now, NOAA is calling the regulations into question, raising concerns for the mammals’ futureFri, 26 Jun 2026 18:00:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/speed-limits-for-ships-protect-endangered-right-whales-from-vessel-strikes-could-the-animals-survive-without-them-180989013/A Vietnam Veteran Collected Fossils for 66 Years. One, Mislabeled 'Baby Lamprey,' Made Paleontologists Reconsider How Vertebrates Moved From Water to Landhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/a-vietnam-veteran-collected-fossils-for-66-years-one-mislabeled-baby-lamprey-made-paleontologists-reconsider-how-vertebrates-moved-from-water-to-land-180988981/The fossil turned out to be a hatchling of a crocodile-like creature, and it suggests, according to a new study, that early animals did not use metamorphosis to evolve to dwell on landThu, 18 Jun 2026 18:15:32 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/a-vietnam-veteran-collected-fossils-for-66-years-one-mislabeled-baby-lamprey-made-paleontologists-reconsider-how-vertebrates-moved-from-water-to-land-180988981/When a Team of Meteorologists and Combat Pilots Set Out to Understand Thunderstorms, They Made Flying Safer for Everyonehttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/when-team-meteorologists-combat-pilots-set-out-understand-thunderstorms-made-flying-safer-everyone-180988841/The sky was a very dangerous place in the early days of commercial aviation. By flying into storms to learn how they worked, these experts made air travel and weather forecasting much more predictableMon, 15 Jun 2026 12:00:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/when-team-meteorologists-combat-pilots-set-out-understand-thunderstorms-made-flying-safer-everyone-180988841/The Operating Room Where Anesthesia Was First Demonstrated Is Now a Landmark. But for the Men Who Claimed Credit, There Was Much Miseryhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/operating-room-where-anesthesia-first-demonstrated-now-landmark-men-claimed-credit-much-misery-180988842/Medical procedures used to be a scream-filled endurance test until doctors at this Boston institution learned to tame the pain of patientsThu, 11 Jun 2026 10:00:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/operating-room-where-anesthesia-first-demonstrated-now-landmark-men-claimed-credit-much-misery-180988842/'Stupid Hot': Heat Waves Muddle the Minds of Animals and Humans as Confusion and Aggression Seem to Rise With the Temperaturehttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/stupid-hot-heat-waves-muddle-the-minds-of-animals-and-humans-as-confusion-and-aggression-seem-to-rise-with-the-temperature-180988902/Wide-ranging research suggests that as temperatures increase, some creatures pick fights while others struggle to learn. The findings hint at consequences that may ripple through ecosystemsFri, 05 Jun 2026 17:52:22 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/stupid-hot-heat-waves-muddle-the-minds-of-animals-and-humans-as-confusion-and-aggression-seem-to-rise-with-the-temperature-180988902/In the Early 1900s, a Young Ecologist Shot a Wolf and Watched the Life Leave Its Eyes. That Changed His Position on Conservationhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/early-1900s-member-forestry-service-shot-wolf-watched-life-leave-its-eyes-that-changed-position-convservation-forever-180988809/Aldo Leopold’s writing reconsidered the place of humans in the natural world and challenged people to be less conquerors of the land and more citizens of itFri, 05 Jun 2026 11:00:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/early-1900s-member-forestry-service-shot-wolf-watched-life-leave-its-eyes-that-changed-position-convservation-forever-180988809/A Blip on a Telescope in a Colorado Parking Lot Bolstered a Space Mission That Has Found Thousands of Planets … and Countinghttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/blip-telescope-colorado-parking-lot-bolstered-space-mission-found-thousands-planets-counting-180988801/The Kepler telescope changed how we saw the sky. It’s just one of the devices we’ve sent out beyond the reach of humans to search our solar systemThu, 04 Jun 2026 13:00:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/blip-telescope-colorado-parking-lot-bolstered-space-mission-found-thousands-planets-counting-180988801/What Was the Biggest Dinosaur? Fragmentary Fossils Make It Hard to Tellhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/what-was-the-biggest-dinosaur-fragmentary-fossils-make-it-hard-to-tell-180988840/Pinning down the most titanic of the large sauropod dinosaurs is not an easy task, since the odds were generally against the biggest ones being buried and preservedThu, 28 May 2026 14:58:30 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/what-was-the-biggest-dinosaur-fragmentary-fossils-make-it-hard-to-tell-180988840/Brazil Lost 80 Percent of Its National Museum Collection in One Night. Here's How It's Fighting to Rebuildhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/brazil-lost-80-percent-of-its-national-museum-collection-in-one-night-heres-how-its-fighting-to-rebuild-180988796/Ever since a 2018 blaze destroyed priceless artifacts and scientifically important specimens, museum staff have devoted themselves to reopening its doors to the publicTue, 26 May 2026 11:00:49 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/brazil-lost-80-percent-of-its-national-museum-collection-in-one-night-heres-how-its-fighting-to-rebuild-180988796/Melting Mountain Ice Is Bringing Ancient Secrets to the Surface. Archaeologists Are Racing to Find the Artifacts Before They're Lost to Timehttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/melting-mountain-ice-is-bringing-ancient-secrets-to-the-surface-archaeologists-are-racing-to-find-the-artifacts-before-theyre-lost-to-time-180988777/In Norway’s highest mountains, experts are scouring perilous terrain for pieces of the past, long stored in mint condition in ice patches. As temperatures rise across the world, glacial archaeologists must find the emerging artifacts before they degrade foreverThu, 21 May 2026 18:52:04 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/melting-mountain-ice-is-bringing-ancient-secrets-to-the-surface-archaeologists-are-racing-to-find-the-artifacts-before-theyre-lost-to-time-180988777/Does the Experience of Beauty Show Up in the Brain? With Electrodes and a Museum Collection of Artifacts, These Neuroscientists Aim to Find Outhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/does-the-experience-of-beauty-show-up-in-the-brain-with-electrodes-and-a-museum-collection-of-artifacts-these-neuroscientists-aim-to-find-out-180988737/Researchers are tracing the brain and body’s response to aesthetic expression in search of a scientific value to artFri, 15 May 2026 11:30:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/does-the-experience-of-beauty-show-up-in-the-brain-with-electrodes-and-a-museum-collection-of-artifacts-these-neuroscientists-aim-to-find-out-180988737/