Sara Hashemi

1 day ago | smithsonianmag.com | Sara Hashemi

Rather than passively filter-feeding, the birds use their heads, beaks and feet to generate motion in the water that funnels invertebrates into their mouths Flamingos have a natural ability to filter out food, like shrimp and worms, from the surrounding water, even in the most food-poor environments. Now, a new study published Monday in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reveals how the birds use the power of physics to nab their elusive prey.

2 days ago | smithsonianmag.com | Sara Hashemi

Experiments challenge the commonly held idea that dropping an egg vertically will help prevent it from cracking in a classic school assignment The egg drop challenge is a common fixture in STEM classes. Students are tasked with designing a cushion around an egg that prevents it from cracking when dropped from a height. Conventional wisdom suggests that positioning the egg vertically will increase the chance of keeping its shell intact.

3 days ago | livescience.com | Sara Hashemi

From above, Antarctica might seem like a cold, flat and desolate landscape — and it certainly is. But beneath the ice sheet lies an entire hidden world: Scientists have discovered diverse biomes, hidden rivers and lakes, mountains and valleys, primordial bacteria, and even the remnants of ancient ecosystems. Almost 90% of Antarctica's land is covered in a thick layer of ice — around 1.3 miles (2.2 kilometers) deep, on average — and it's been that way for around 34 million years.

6 days ago | smithsonianmag.com | Sara Hashemi

The insects from this group were last seen in 2008 and will appear across the eastern U.S. for a brief, dramatic frenzy of mating and dying The cicadas are coming. Billions of the insects from Brood XIV are emerging from Tennessee to Georgia to Massachusetts this spring after spending the last 17 years hiding underground as nymphs. You might remember last year’s dual cicada emergence, but this one involves a different brood.

6 days ago | smithsonianmag.com | Sara Hashemi

From a research submersible, scientists saw hardened lava, dead tube worms and orange flashes from an eruption in the East Pacific Rise For the first time, scientists have witnessed an active seafloor volcanic eruption along a mid-ocean ridge. The team, exploring underwater from the research submersible Alvin, caught the rare sighting while on an expedition off Costa Rica to study the Tica hydrothermal vent.