Tonga Volcanic Eruption Blasted an Enormous Plume of Water Vapor into the Atmosphere

NASA scientists say the intrusion could warm the Earth’s surface | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Have Scholars Finally Identified the Mysterious Somerton Man?

New DNA analysis suggests a body found on a beach in Australia in 1948 belongs to Carl Webb, an electrical engineer from Melbourne | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Spain Restricts Use of Air Conditioning in Public Places

The move comes as the European Union tries to limit its dependency on Russian oil and gas | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Archeologists Rebury 'First-of-Its-Kind' Roman Villa

The ruins were originally uncovered in Scarborough, England, last year | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Archaeologists Rebury 'First-of-Its-Kind' Roman Villa

The ruins were originally uncovered in Scarborough, England, last year | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

How Bird Collecting Evolved Into Bird-Watching

In the early 1900s, newfound empathy for avian creatures helped wildlife observation displace dispassionate killing | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

From Lists to Love Letters, What Do People Leave Behind in Library Books?

A California librarian assembles forgotten objects in a heartwarming digital archive | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

U.S. Declares Monkeypox a Public Health Emergency

The announcement comes as nationwide case counts reach 7,000 | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Hitler’s Watch Sells for $1.1 Million at Controversial Auction

Jewish leaders opposed the sale, calling it “an abhorrence” in an open letter | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Lunar Pits Maintain Surprisingly Comfy Temperatures

Scientists found caves under the surface of the Moon that stay around 63 degrees Fahrenheit day and night | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

When I Celebrated the Summer Solstice With Ancient Roman Gods and Goddesses

Members of a group in Italy called Association Pietas are reviving the ancient religion of Rome | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Artist Damien Hirst Will Burn Thousands of Paintings in NFT Experiment

A year-long project is pitting traditional paintings against non-fungible tokens | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Archaeologists Find 12,000-Year-Old Human Footprints in Utah

The 88 individual footprints were were discovered on a remote desert Air Force training site that was once a wetland | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

The Real Panama Hat

For centuries, Panamanian artists have been weaving "pinta'o" from natural fibers | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

This Teenager Invented a Low-Cost Tool to Spot Elephant Poachers in Real Time

Seventeen-year-old Anika Puri created a machine-learning-driven model that analyzes the movement patterns of humans and elephants | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Archaeologists Uncover Remains of 13 Hessian Soldiers at Revolutionary War Battlefield

The discovery came as a surprise to the team at New Jersey’s Red Bank Battlefield Park | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

The Myths of Lady Rochford, the Tudor Noblewoman Who Supposedly Betrayed George and Anne Boleyn

Historians are reevaluating Jane Boleyn's role in her husband and sister-in-law's downfall | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

New Museum Honors Jackie Robinson’s Many Legacies

Interactive exhibits will explore the baseball icon’s athletic career and civil rights work | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Designers Build a Provocative Road Map for World Peace

Cooper Hewitt’s new show taps into the collective consciousness of activists, app developers, artists and architects to envision a way forward | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

The Earth Had Its Shortest Day in Recorded History

On June 29, our planet completed one rotation in 1.59 milliseconds less than 24 hours | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

See the James Webb Space Telescope's Dazzling New Photo of the Cartwheel Galaxy

Located 500 million light-years away in the Sculptor constellation, the galaxy got its unique wagon wheel-like shape from a cosmic collision | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

'Ebony' and 'Jet' Magazines' Iconic Photos Captured Black Life in America

Getty and the Smithsonian will now share ownership of the two magazines' renowned photo archives | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Kentucky Floods Damage Irreplaceable Appalachian Archives

Appalshop, a cultural center in Whitesburg, Kentucky, is still assessing damage from the historic floods | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Last Convicted Salem 'Witch' Is Finally Cleared

Elizabeth Johnson Jr. has been officially exonerated—thanks to a dogged band of middle schoolers | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

These Trailblazers Were the Only Women in the Room Where It Happened

A new book spotlights 100 historical photographs of lone women hidden among groups of men | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

'Zoe' Becomes the World’s First Named Heat Wave

Seville, Spain has implemented a new heat wave naming system to raise awareness of these “silent killers” | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Notre-Dame Cathedral Will Reopen by 2024

Officials say that the iconic structure will be ready for visitors in time for the Olympics | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

These Extinct Pandas Once Roamed Bulgaria

The bears are a close relative of today's giant pandas and likely ate soft plant materials, not bamboo | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

When Will the Next Supernova in Our Galaxy Occur?

Scientists have new tools at their disposal to detect and study the dramatic explosion of a star | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Nichelle Nichols, Pioneering 'Star Trek' Actress, Dies at 89

She made history as one of the first Black women to appear in a leading role on television | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

The World's Tallest Tree Is Officially Off-Limits

Trespassing bushwhackers are causing significant damage to the surrounding forest | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

New Study Links Cat Hormones and Gut Microbiomes to Their Social Behavior

Felines with lower cortisol, oxytocin and testosterone levels are more tolerant of other cats | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

This Wearable Ultrasound Sticker Can Continuously Image Organs for 48 Hours

Developed by engineers at MIT, the new technology is about the size of a postage stamp | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park Is Expanding by 16,000 Acres

The National Park Service is taking over stewardship of Pōhue Bay, an area full of cultural sites and endangered animals | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Human Pathogens Are Hitching a Ride on Floating Plastic

Studies show that various harmful bacteria cling to microplastics in seawater | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Have Scholars Finally Deciphered a Mysterious Ancient Script?

Linear Elamite, a writing system used in what is now Iran, may reveal the secrets of a little-known kingdom bordering Sumer | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Scientists Use Dead Spiders as Claw Machines

Researchers at Rice University have created “necrobotics,” a new area of research which uses biotic materials for robotic parts | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

A Brief History of Peanut Butter (2021)

The bizarre sanitarium staple that became a spreadable obsession | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

The Race to Preserve Treasures From a Legendary 17th-Century Shipwreck

The new Bahamas Maritime Museum will feature finds from the "Maravillas," a Spanish galleon that sank in 1656 with a cargo of gold, silver and gems | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

What Ever Happened to the Neighborhood Paperboy?

To mark the premiere of Amazon's "Paper Girls," we delved into the surprisingly murky history of bicycle-riding newspaper carriers | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

U.S. Will Plant One Billion Trees to Combat Climate Change

The Forest Service plans to tackle a reforestation backlog of 4.1 million acres | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Albuquerque Museum Returns Long-Forgotten Cache of Sculptures to Mexico

The objects, which date to between 300 and 600 B.C.E., sat in a storage box for 15 years | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

These Pollinating Crustaceans Are the Bees of the Sea

Small, bug-like creatures can transfer pollen to red seaweed underwater | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

South Korea to Send Its First Mission to the Moon

The unmanned spacecraft will launch next week and begin to orbit the moon in mid-December | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Roman Coin Depicting Zodiac Symbol Discovered off Israel’s Coast

The rare bronze coin was minted during the reign of the Roman emperor Antoninus Pius | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Three Climbers Reported Dead at Glacier National Park

The men died within days of each other in two unrelated incidents, park officials say | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Moths Are the Unsung Heroes of Pollination

New research suggests the insects play a more important role in pollinating red clover than scientists previously thought | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

City in Japan Under Siege by Marauding Monkeys

Macaques have attacked more than four dozen people in less than a month | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago