Science / Video
These Grizzly Cubs Don’t Know What to Do With Their Food
Grizzly bear cubs have a natural instinct for fishing—but it will still take them some time to get to grips with the slippery salmon they’ve caught in the shallow summer …
Einstein’s Life in America Shown in Stunning Home Movies
Albert Einstein’s life in Long Island, New York, was an idyllic one. But he continued to harbor a tremendous amount of empathy for his compatriots who had remained in Nazi …
Did the Spanish Flu Impact America’s Ability to Fight in WWI?
By late September 1918, in a bid to contain the spread of the flu, the U.S. had made the decision to cancel the draft. It was too little, too late—in …
This Leopard Is Waiting for the Perfect Moment to Strike
A wily old leopard is hiding in a gully waiting for the perfect moment to strike. Nearby, zebras and antelope graze contentedly, unaware of the threat they’re under
This 1935 Florida Hurricane Had a Devastating Impact
On September 2, 1935, Florida was hit by the most intense hurricane ever recorded—a category 5. Despite early warnings by the weather authorities, a calamitous loss of life shocked the …
The Terrifying Physics of WWII Dive Bombing
The act of dive bombing during World War II was a death defying trial of skill and nerve. You aimed your plane down, four miles above the ocean and plummeted …
Why Iceland Offers a Perfect Picture of Our Geological Past
Formed over 20 million years ago, Iceland is the world’s largest volcanic island. It’s also an ideal window for anyone looking to take a peek into our geological past
The Dazzling Marine Life of the Salt Pier in Bonaire
A trumpet fish swims along in its unusual vertical pose, while a stoplight parrotfish performs its reef-cleaning duties—just some of the dazzling marine life that inhabits Salt Pier
Is This Rock Fragment the Oldest Object in the World?
The Canyon Diablo may be one of the oldest objects you’ll ever see on our planet. It’s a meteor fragment that radiometric dating has estimated to be about 4.5 billion …
A Brand New Humanoid Species Is Discovered In a Cave
A series of skeletons discovered in a cave complex in South Africa are threatening to change everything we thought we knew about human evolution. It’s a new species which researchers …
Smithsonian American Ingenuity Awards 2019: Ewelina Mamcarz and Stephen Gottschalk
Medical researchers Ewelina Mamcarz and Stephen Gottschalk detail the science behind the gene therapy they invented to help children with “bubble boy disease,” or severe combined immunodeficiency. Video by Adam …
Smithsonian American Ingenuity Awards 2019: Alex Kipman
“In our world, nothing really is impossible. Everything at best is improbable,” says Alex Kipman, as he discusses the holographic, augmented reality technology his team at Microsoft is pioneering.
A Fox’s Joy in Finding Fresh Meat Is Short-lived
A red fox stumbles across a treasure trove of nutrition: the carcass of a freshly killed yak. But nearby tracks reveal that its killer isn’t far away—and wouldn’t take kindly …
The Intricate Skill That Goes Into Tracking a Rhino
A team of researchers are on the trail of a black rhino bull whose transmitter has failed. To find him, they’ll rely on his spoor: clues such as urine trails, …
This Hairy Frogfish’s Bite Is Too Fast for Slow-motion
The speed of a hairy frogfish’s bite is the result of a vacuum in its mouth that can suck in its prey in just 1/6000th of a second. It’s so …
Bouncing Baboons Navigate Tall Grass
A troop of Kinda baboons traverse across grassy plains to get to a nearby woodland. Because the grass is too high for them to see over, they rely on a …
How Ecotourism Can Save Both Gabon’s Forests and Its Gorillas
In Gabon, a local group of conservationists are sowing the seeds of ecotourism. Their goal is to finance the protection of not just the local gorillas, but also the rain …
Young Orangutan Learns How to Scoop Water
A class to teach orphan orangutans how to forage in flooded areas sees every orangutan develop his or her own technique. One enterprising adolescent even figures how to use a …
A Hunting Ban Is Finally Helping Green Sea Turtles Thrive
For five centuries, hunters would camp out on the beaches of Ascension Island to hunt green sea turtles. Today, with a hunting ban in place, the island has become a …
How a ‘Non-Hazardous’ NASA Mission Turned Deadly
In 1967, a horrific fire broke out during a routine pre-launch test for the Apollo 1 mission at Cape Kennedy, Florida. It would claim the lives of three NASA astronauts
How Science Helps Preserve Longmen Grottoes
The Buddhist statues of the Longmen Grottoes are a Chinese heritage—one in urgent need of preservation. To do this, archaeologists use advanced scanning technology to pinpoint the vulnerable areas in …
How the Common Cold Affected the Crew of Apollo 7
Things were not going well aboard Apollo 7: The astronauts felt stressed by the confines of the command module, and to top it off, astronaut Wally Schirra developed a painful …
How Fast Can Gibbons Swing Through the Forest?
Gibbons are incredible tree swingers, thanks to their long forearms, mobile joints and wrists that enhance fluid movement
Why Bush Dogs Are So Different From Other Dogs
With the muzzle of a bear, the webbed feet of an otter and a bizarre looking tail, it’s hard to believe that bush dogs are actually dogs. On top of …
Lava From Kilauea Reaches the Ocean
As the 2018 eruption of Hawaii’s Kilauea progressed, the lava reached the ocean, producing clouds of laze as the molten rock hit cold seawater
The First Fissures of the 2018 Kilauea Volcanic Eruption Open
The Smithsonian Channel documentary Volcanoes: Dual Destruction relates how, in early May of 2018, volcanic activity at Hawaii’s Kilauea kicked off months of lava issuing through deep cracks in the …
Apollo 13’s Intense Comms Blackout
A damaged Apollo 13 was about to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere amid a communications blackout. It would become the longest re-entry blackout in the history of the space program
A Moon Sample Reveals a Surprising Link to Earth
“Big Bertha” was one of the moon rocks brought back by the Apollo 14 crew for geological analysis. What it revealed stunned scientists
These Atomic Bomb Tests Used U.S. Troops as Guinea Pigs
Operation Desert Rock was the codename for a series of military tests in the 1950s aimed at understanding the effects of atomic radiation on ground troops. In total, over 50,000 …
Why Plague Doctors Wore Strange Masks
It’s the beak that lends the attire of the medieval plague doctor its surreal quality, but it wasn’t there just to scare
Baby Orangutans Learn How to Crack Coconuts
It’s fruit-gathering time for these orphan orangutans—one of their favorite pastimes. But can they follow the lead of their human carers and learn how to crack open a coconut for …
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