The great apes —  which include chimps, orangutans, gorillas and bonobos —  seem to have rich emotional lives similar to our own. But just how smart are these animals? A new generation of investigators is revealing the secret mental lives of great apes; our evolutionary next-of-kin are turning out to be far smarter than most experts ever imagined.

In honor of National Get Outside (GO) Day on Saturday, June 8th, I’d like to introduce you to a group of talented high school students who have created a beautiful documentary film about Shenandoah National Park: Preserving Our Future. I am very impressed by these young people who are learning the art of film making at Light House Studio in Charlottesville, Virginia. They are using the power of film to explore the beauty of the park through all of it's changing seasons, and raise awareness about four important environmental threats facing the park today. Watch this thoughtful and informative documentary to learn more about the issues.

What does an iron, an ice skating rink and a chickpea have in common? They are all elements used by seniors in VCU’s School of Engineering at this year’s Senior Design Expo. Hundreds of VCU Engineering students gathered at the Science Museum of Virginia in April to display and discuss their innovative designs for products to improve our lives and advance technology and research. Watch this Science Matters video of three teams discussing their design prototypes. And be sure to encourage your local middle or high school to schedule this as a field trip next year to see innovation and engineering in action!

Dark matter makes up about 80% of all the mass in the Universe, but what exactly is it? Join Physicist and Science writer Matthew Francis at Science Pub RVA on June 4th to explore how scientists are trying to answer this question. Francis will examine the evidence for dark matter in the Universe from the early days of the cosmos to the structure of galaxies. The talk will take us to an old iron mine a half-mile underground, where the Cryogenic Dark Matter Search (CDMS) works to detect dark matter particles directly.