The overpass will provide safe passage for mountain lions, coyotes, deer, lizards, snakes and other wild animals crossing the 101 Freeway…The overpass will provide safe passage for mountain lions, coyotes, deer, lizards, snakes and other wild animals crossing the 101 FreewayWW…

INNOVATION These trailblazers are dreaming up a future with cell-cultured breastmilk, energy-saving windows and more…INNOVATION These trailblazers are dreaming up a future with cell-cultured breastmilk, energy-saving windows and moreWW…

As far as archaeologists know, Asian monkeys weren’t trotting the globe during the Bronze Age. That’s why a millennia-old Greek painting of a gray langur—a primate native to the Indian subcontinent—was surprising enough to stop researchers dead in their tracks.Archaeologists and primatologists re-analyzing wall paintings found in Akrotiri, a Minoan settlement on Thera (modern-day Santorini) buried by volcanic ash around 1600 B.C., have uncovered evidence that Bronze Age Greek artists knew of—and may have even seen—monkeys whose native habitat was thousands of miles away. Their findings,...…As far as archaeologists know, Asian monkeys weren’t trotting the globe during the Bronze Age. That’s why a millennia-old Greek painting of a gray langur—a primate native to the Indian subcontinent—was surprising enough to stop researchers dead in their tracks.Archaeologists and primatologists re-analyzing wall paintings found in Akrotiri, a Minoan settlement on Thera (modern-day Santorini) buried by volcanic ash around 1600 B.C., have uncovered evidence that Bronze Age Greek artists knew of—and may have even seen—monkeys whose native habitat was thousands of miles away. Their findings,...WW…

Three newly released images of Mars’ moon Phobos resemble brightly colored candies—and could lead to some sweet discoveries, too.NASA’s spacecraft captured these new images, with rainbow hues indicating temperature variations on the planet, according to a from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Using Odyssey’s infrared camera—a device known as is Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS)—scientists took three pictures of the small moon in December 2019, and February and March 2020.The December image captures Phobos at full-moon phase, when a large part of its surface is exposed to the sun and...…Three newly released images of Mars’ moon Phobos resemble brightly colored candies—and could lead to some sweet discoveries, too.NASA’s spacecraft captured these new images, with rainbow hues indicating temperature variations on the planet, according to a from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Using Odyssey’s infrared camera—a device known as is Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS)—scientists took three pictures of the small moon in December 2019, and February and March 2020.The December image captures Phobos at full-moon phase, when a large part of its surface is exposed to the sun and...WW…

In 2018, scientists launched an antenna into space dedicated solely to tracking the world’s animals. From its perch 240 miles above Earth on the International Space Station, the antenna receives signals from tiny transmitters attached to more than 800 species of animal ranging from elephants to bats, reports Katharine Gammon for . After some early setbacks, the tracking system was switched on in March. Data from the project may be available to researchers on Earth as early as this fall, according to a ."The sensors allow animals to be our eyes and ears and noses in the world, and we are...…In 2018, scientists launched an antenna into space dedicated solely to tracking the world’s animals. From its perch 240 miles above Earth on the International Space Station, the antenna receives signals from tiny transmitters attached to more than 800 species of animal ranging from elephants to bats, reports Katharine Gammon for . After some early setbacks, the tracking system was switched on in March. Data from the project may be available to researchers on Earth as early as this fall, according to a ."The sensors allow animals to be our eyes and ears and noses in the world, and we are...WW…

Around this time of year, hosts dozens of houseguests in her basement. Far from using camping equipment or cots, they sleep upside-down, clinging to a curtain. The entomologist at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has collected cicadas, those bizarre and misunderstood cyclical insects, for four years.“In Illinois, we have 20 species, and hardly anything is known about them,” Alleyne says. “We know very little about what they’re doing underground.”Cicadas have a longstanding reputation as loud, swarming pests that keep obnoxiously particular schedules. In the United States, they...…Around this time of year, hosts dozens of houseguests in her basement. Far from using camping equipment or cots, they sleep upside-down, clinging to a curtain. The entomologist at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has collected cicadas, those bizarre and misunderstood cyclical insects, for four years.“In Illinois, we have 20 species, and hardly anything is known about them,” Alleyne says. “We know very little about what they’re doing underground.”Cicadas have a longstanding reputation as loud, swarming pests that keep obnoxiously particular schedules. In the United States, they...WW…

As a young naturalist growing up in the Deep South, I feared kudzu. I’d walk an extra mile to avoid patches of it and the writhing knots of snakes that everyone said were breeding within. Though fascinated by the grape-scented flowers and the purple honey produced by visiting bees, I trembled at the monstrous green forms climbing telephone poles and trees on the edges of our roads and towns.Introduced from Asia in the late 19th century as a garden novelty, but not widely planted until the 1930s, kudzu is now America’s most infamous weed. In a few decades, a conspicuously Japanese name has...…As a young naturalist growing up in the Deep South, I feared kudzu. I’d walk an extra mile to avoid patches of it and the writhing knots of snakes that everyone said were breeding within. Though fascinated by the grape-scented flowers and the purple honey produced by visiting bees, I trembled at the monstrous green forms climbing telephone poles and trees on the edges of our roads and towns.Introduced from Asia in the late 19th century as a garden novelty, but not widely planted until the 1930s, kudzu is now America’s most infamous weed. In a few decades, a conspicuously Japanese name has...WW…

In the past decade, tales of art “restorations” gone wrong have alternatively delighted and horrified social media users. Many of these fiascos have happened in Spain: Take, for instance, a disfigured fresco of Jesus, now known as the , that went viral in 2012, or a that underwent “unrestoration” after a failed attempt left its subject looking more like than a legendary dragon slayer.Now, another ill-fated artistic endeavor has surfaced in Spain. As Spanish news agency reports, a private collector in Valéncia paid €1,200 (around $1,350 USD) to have a painting of the Virgin Mary cleaned and...…In the past decade, tales of art “restorations” gone wrong have alternatively delighted and horrified social media users. Many of these fiascos have happened in Spain: Take, for instance, a disfigured fresco of Jesus, now known as the , that went viral in 2012, or a that underwent “unrestoration” after a failed attempt left its subject looking more like than a legendary dragon slayer.Now, another ill-fated artistic endeavor has surfaced in Spain. As Spanish news agency reports, a private collector in Valéncia paid €1,200 (around $1,350 USD) to have a painting of the Virgin Mary cleaned and...WW…

A Smithsonian magazine special report|Raging bushfires. Devastated wildlife. And the compassionate souls who went to the rescueA young koala recovers at the wildlife park hospital.I ​arrived on Kangaroo Island bracing myself for the sight of acres of blackened trees and white ash, but I had not expected the parasitic bright green vines wrapped around almost every charred trunk, glowing phosphorescent in the sunlight. This was no parasite, I learned. It was epicormic growth, bursting directly from the burnt trunks themselves, a desperate bid for photosynthesis in the absence of a leaf...…A Smithsonian magazine special report|Raging bushfires. Devastated wildlife. And the compassionate souls who went to the rescueA young koala recovers at the wildlife park hospital.I ​arrived on Kangaroo Island bracing myself for the sight of acres of blackened trees and white ash, but I had not expected the parasitic bright green vines wrapped around almost every charred trunk, glowing phosphorescent in the sunlight. This was no parasite, I learned. It was epicormic growth, bursting directly from the burnt trunks themselves, a desperate bid for photosynthesis in the absence of a leaf...WW…

An exhibition centered on the “Master of the Blue Jeans” is opening in Paris this month—and the work on display is not that of Levi Strauss, founder of the eponymous clothing company, but rather a 17th-century Italian painter. The upcoming show at Galerie Canesso features two paintings by the mysterious artist, who was active in northern Italy in the 1600s and is known only by his “master” moniker. The painter’s oil canvases depict early iterations of the stiff blue fabric beloved today, as worn by Italian peasants. According to a statement, the pieces have proved to be important artifacts...…An exhibition centered on the “Master of the Blue Jeans” is opening in Paris this month—and the work on display is not that of Levi Strauss, founder of the eponymous clothing company, but rather a 17th-century Italian painter. The upcoming show at Galerie Canesso features two paintings by the mysterious artist, who was active in northern Italy in the 1600s and is known only by his “master” moniker. The painter’s oil canvases depict early iterations of the stiff blue fabric beloved today, as worn by Italian peasants. According to a statement, the pieces have proved to be important artifacts...WW…