Science | smithsonianmag.comhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/rss/science-nature/RSS feed for ScienceenTue, 28 Jul 2026 20:40:00 +0000A Little-Known Photographer Captured the First Clear Image of a Total Solar Eclipse 175 Years Ago. Today, These Celestial Events Still Reveal the Mysteries of the Sunhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/a-little-known-photographer-captured-the-first-clear-image-of-a-total-solar-eclipse-175-years-ago-today-these-celestial-events-still-reveal-the-mysteries-of-the-sun-180989208/Ever since that first daguerreotype on a light-sensitive metal plate, eclipse observations have continued to unveil the star's corona and bring people together to experience the solar system's majestyTue, 28 Jul 2026 20:40:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/a-little-known-photographer-captured-the-first-clear-image-of-a-total-solar-eclipse-175-years-ago-today-these-celestial-events-still-reveal-the-mysteries-of-the-sun-180989208/Predatory Sharks Grew to Enormous Sizes in Prehistoric Times. These Five Strategies Helped Them Get So Bighttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/predatory-sharks-grew-to-enormous-sizes-in-prehistoric-times-these-five-strategies-helped-them-get-so-big-180989199/By cannibalizing their siblings in the womb or avoiding meat-eating pliosaurs, fearsome carnivores like the megalodon ballooned to proportions that would dwarf any shark alive todayMon, 27 Jul 2026 18:22:30 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/predatory-sharks-grew-to-enormous-sizes-in-prehistoric-times-these-five-strategies-helped-them-get-so-big-180989199/A Massive Flow of Rock and Mud Tumbled Down Mount Rainier Centuries Ago. Scientists Pinpointed Its Date to Better Understand the Volcano's Complex Threatshttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/a-massive-flow-of-rock-and-mud-tumbled-down-mount-rainier-centuries-ago-scientists-pinpointed-its-date-to-better-understand-the-volcanos-complex-threats-180989162/In a recent study, researchers dated a historic lahar called the Electron Mudflow to the summer of 1507, establishing a way to determine when past geologic events around the Puget Sound occurredTue, 21 Jul 2026 16:48:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/a-massive-flow-of-rock-and-mud-tumbled-down-mount-rainier-centuries-ago-scientists-pinpointed-its-date-to-better-understand-the-volcanos-complex-threats-180989162/A 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/