All Stories
- Life
Some of these Smithsonian secrets might just blow your mind
Millions of treasures stashed in this museum storage site — open only to select visitors — tell the history of Earth's inhabitants.
- Tech
Nature-inspired rocket-nozzle redesign stands by for liftoff
At the 2026 Regeneron ISEF competition, teens showed how they blasted past a problem that has limited use of super-efficient aerospike rocket engines.
- Humans
Some people use echolocation to get around. Here’s how it works
As expert echolocators make multiple clicking sounds, their brains process the echoes to help them perceive their surroundings.
- Plants
Scientists Say: Superbloom
These massive wildflower blooms create colorful carpets over desert landscapes during unusually rainy years.
- Archaeology
These 12,000-year-old Native American dice are the oldest in the world
A study of ancient artifacts suggests Native American dice games began thousands of years earlier than previously documented.
- Environment
Hawaii is turning fishnets and other plastic trash into roads
Scientists are testing whether plastic pollution from the ocean can be transformed into safe and durable highways.
- Earth
How hot can our planet get? Earth’s climate history holds clues
Learning from the Earth's past climate swings — what happened to life and when — can help us understand where we might be headed.
- Earth
Clouds come in all shapes and sizes
Here’s a basic breakdown of the different cloud types, as well as how clouds form and why they float.
- Chemistry
Tabletop lightning helps make an alcohol used for fuels and more
Methanol is used in plastics, paints and as a race car fuel. It’s been hard to make. But engineers have found a simple trick: Add lightning to methane.
- Animals
Watch the first sperm whale birth caught on video by scientists
The footage shows other sperm whales huddled around the mother, helping lift the newborn calf to the surface until it’s ready to swim.
- Materials Science
Scientists Say: Metal-Organic Framework
Special pockets in these molecular structures make them useful in medicine, climate science and more.
- Humans
Experiment: Can humans recognize AI-generated images?
An AI-made picture of an animal or flower might seem harmless, but fake images of people or events can spread misinformation.
