Science & Nature Programs

Cognitive scientist Roger Kreuz examines how aging affects language and how language affects aging, and explains why language ability shapes our lives throughout its course.

A good night’s sleep might be a dream for some, but the importance of sleep and how it impacts our overall health is a reality for all. John Whyte, WebMD’s chief medical officer, presents the latest research about sleep, including strategies that work best to improve its quality.

Neuroscience is widening our awareness of the wealth of information brainwaves can hold about who we are—and that information’s power. Neuroscientist R. Douglas Fields examines the current frontiers of the new brain science and what its research means for medicine, technology, and our understanding of ourselves.

Paleoanthropologist Rick Potts, head of the Smithsonian’s Human Origins Program, examines the significance of the 2016 discovery of a skull that represented the most ancient early human ever found. Paleo-artist John Gurche describes how he reconstructed the face of that pivotal human ancestor for the David H. Koch Hall of Human Origins at the Natural History Museum.

Celebrate Valentine’s Day by looking at some of Mother Nature’s greatest examples of relationships that work guided by two Smithsonian scientists, lichenologist Manuela Dal Forno and entomologist Natasha Mehdiabadi.

Products that tout the powers of CBD are popping up all over the marketplace. Join Steven Grant, a neuroscientist at the National Institutes of Health, for an examination of what research has—and more importantly, has not—discovered about this elusive chemical's potential benefits and risks.

Join research geologist and curator Liz Cottrell of the Natural History Museum as she recounts her 2015 journey to the middle of the Bering Sea to explore active volcanic features previously unknown to science.

There’s no better way to sweep away winter than with an overnight escape to the horticultural paradise that’s the Philadelphia Flower Show. There’s no need to fight the crowds (or time): Spend 2 hours taking in the blooms before the show opens to the public, then enjoy a full day to explore the delights of the world’s largest annual floral exhibition.