When the weather gets muggy, iridescent bees shift their metallic hue, a new study finds. The insects are a rich blue-green when the humidity is low. But as moisture levels…

When you imagine a waterfall, what comes to mind? Maybe a misty cascade into a blue pool surrounded by trees. Perhaps the roar of water splashing down, as well. It’s…

For the first time, humankind has changed a space rock’s orbit around the sun. Four years ago, NASA rammed its DART spacecraft into the asteroid Dimorphos. The goal was to…

Synesthesia (noun, “sin-es-THEE-jah”) Synesthesia is a trait that some people have in which one kind of sensory input triggers other senses. To someone with synesthesia, different colors may have different…

Take a plunge into Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, and you’ll come face to face with a what looks like a gorgeous rocky garden. This dazzling array of corals is the…

Meteorites that are billions of years old. Alienlike worms. A blue whale’s massive jaw bones. These are just some of the millions of marvels at the Smithsonian Institution. Most are…

When it comes to rockets, bell-shaped engines are the norm. But they’re not the most efficient shape. Engineers have relied on this design only because it avoids a known overheating…

Many blind people navigate the world using a cane, guide dog or wearable GPS. But some have something more in their toolkit: echolocation. That’s the ability to sense nearby objects…