Life
- Animals
Meet Bruce, the disabled kea parrot who is the boss of his flock
With half a beak, Bruce has developed a unique fighting style that has won him top status in his flock, videos and documented interactions reveal.
- Genetics
Caffeine may dial down genes crucial for brain development, teen finds
Data from animal studies point to a troubling possibility: Caffeine may alter brain development.
- Animals
Like living mood rings, these bees change color when it turns humid
Humidity makes North American sweat bees change color. This trait could be widespread among shiny insects, some biologists now suspect.
- Brain
Imagination is not just replaying what we’ve seen and heard
New brain scans are helping sort out how our brains process imagined thoughts versus real sensations.
- Brain
Scientists Say: Synesthesia
This is a trait in which one kind of sensory input, such as sound, can trigger another sense, such as sight.
- Oceans
Explainer: What are corals?
Though they can look like rocks or plants, corals are animals. Most are made up of colonies of individuals called polyps.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Health & Medicine
Positive thinking could help boost your immune system
With real-time feedback, people can learn to turn on a part of the brain that helps rev up the immune system, new data show.
- Life
Scientists Say: Spore
Patience is a virtue of these crafty, resilient little reproductive cells. Some bacterial spores have grown after lying dormant for a millennium.
