This Historic Community Is Pushing the Nation Toward a Wind Power Revolution

Block Island, off the New England coast, overcame political strife to lead the way on energy independence | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Mercury's Cratered Crust May Hold Glittering Gemstones

Fragments of a graphite shell from the planet's past and a series of violent meteorite impacts may have combined to form sparkling diamonds | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Trove of Starfish Deposited as Offering to Aztec War God Found in Mexico City

Researchers discovered 164 sea stars placed in the Templo Mayor around the turn of the 16th century | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Missing Genes Allow Vampire Bats to Survive on All-Blood Diets

Genes linked to taste receptors, insulin secretions, and stomach were absent in the flying mammals | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

How Kate Warne, America’s First Woman Detective, Foiled a Plot to Assassinate Abraham Lincoln

In February 1861, the Pinkerton agent, posing as the disguised president-elect's sister and caregiver, safely escorted him to Baltimore | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Scientists Are Making Cochineal, a Red Dye From Bugs, in the Lab

Used to color foods and cosmetics, carminic acid is traditionally 'farmed' from an insect. But researchers are moving to engineer it in microbes | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Microplastics Detected in Human Blood in New Study

Researchers found plastic in the blood of 17 of 22 of study participants, or about 77 percent | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Mass Coral Bleaching Hits Australia's Great Barrier Reef

Unusually warm waters are stressing sensitive corals, causing the fourth major bleaching event in the last seven years | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Leap Into the Surprising, Art-Filled Life of Beatrix Potter in a New Exhibition

The beloved author of "The Tale of Peter Rabbit" also wrote diaries in code, sketched fungi and raised prize-winning sheep | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

U.S. Will Rename 660 Mountains, Rivers and More to Remove Racist Word

A task force is identifying new names for sites on federal land that bear a derogatory term referring to Indigenous women | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Inside the Hoopa Valley Tribe's Quest to Understand a Rare Carnivore

The tribe maintains some of the most detailed documentation of fishers in North America | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Have We Been Calling Machu Picchu by the Wrong Name?

Historical records suggest the Inca called the 15th-century citadel Huayna Picchu, before an American explorer who "discovered" the site in 1911 renamed it | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

The Vietnamese Secret Agent Who Spied for Three Different Countries

Known by the alias Lai Tek, the enigmatic communist swore allegiance first to France, then Britain and finally Japan | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Olympic Marathon May Have Been the Strangest Ever

In 1904, St. Louis hosted the Olympic Games as part of the World's Fair—and produced a spectacle that incorporated all the mischief of the midway | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Brain Implants Allow Paralyzed Man to Communicate Using His Thoughts

This study marks the first time a completely paralyzed patient regained the ability to communicate at length, researchers say | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

New Study Suggests Geese Were the First Domesticated Birds

Researchers found bones in China that indicate geese were domesticated about 2,000 years before chickens | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Male Birth Control Pill Expected to Start Human Trials This Year

The new non-hormonal pill was 99 percent effective at preventing pregnancy in mice | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Well-Preserved, 9,000-Year-Old Shrine Discovered in Jordan Desert

Researchers uncovered two standing stones featuring anthropomorphic carvings and a model of a "desert kite" used to trap wild gazelles | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Art Sensation Yayoi Kusama Wraps Visitors in Polka Dots, Pumpkins and a World Without End

A new Infinity Mirror Room with its forever-repeating lights and imagery opens at the Hirshhorn with other works by the iconic artist | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Ten Pioneering Women of Antarctica and the Places Named for Them

These coves, peaks, glaciers and other landmarks honor female explorers and scientists who have contributed to our understanding of the continent | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

The Academy Awards Museum Will Create New Exhibition on Hollywood's Jewish Roots in Response to Criticism

When the museum opened last year, industry leaders and donors expressed disappointment at what they saw as a stunning omission in the exhibition content | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Stan the T. Rex Will Be the Star of a New Museum in Abu Dhabi

The natural history museum will chronicle the story of the universe and life on Earth with a focus on the Arabian Peninsula's flora and fauna | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Notre-Dame Repair Crews Discover an Ancient Graveyard With a Sealed Sarcophagus

France’s culture ministry describes the finding as being “of remarkable scientific quality” | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

How Boa Constrictors Breathe While Squeezing the Life Out of Their Prey

Researchers outfitted the snakes with electrodes and scanned them using X-rays to see how the flexing predators managed to take in air | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Apps Could Triple Your Reading Speed (2014)

They show you words one-by-one, at incredible speeds—up to 1,000 words per minute | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Wyoming Now Has an App for Collecting Roadkill

Locals can use a new feature on the state's 511 app to claim and report carcasses to wildlife officials | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Italian Scientists Create Rising Pizza Dough Without Yeast

Exposing the dough to high-pressure gasses can create a similar rise as fermentation | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Meet the Black Women Judges Who Paved the Way for Ketanji Brown Jackson

Jane Bolin, Constance Baker Motley and Julia Cooper Mack laid the groundwork for the Supreme Court nominee | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

U.S. Copyright Office Rules A.I. Art Can't Be Copyrighted

An image generated through artificial intelligence lacked the "human authorship" necessary for protection | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

New Museum in California Celebrates Rich History of Mexican Cuisine

Located in downtown Los Angeles, LA Plaza Cocina is the first institution of its kind in the U.S | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

A Guide to 'The Godfather' Filming Locations in New York City

To mark the 50th anniversary of the award-winning movie, here are seven scene-setting sites worth a visit | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Why Would Two Ordinary People Steal a $160 Million Willem de Kooning Painting?

A new documentary tells the tale of a suburban New Mexico couple who allegedly stole the artwork just to hang it behind their bedroom door | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Genetically Modified Lettuce May One Day Help Space Travelers Fight Bone Loss

The vegetable could provide fresh leafy greens to astronauts' diet while providing a new way to transport and consume medications in the cosmos | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Tiny, Solar-Powered Sensors Fly Through the Air Like Dandelion Seeds

The battery-free devices could be used to gather environmental data over long distances and provide insights into an ecosystem's health | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Iconic Andy Warhol Portrait of Marilyn Monroe Could Sell for Record-Breaking $200 Million

One of the artist’s "Shot Marilyns," the sage blue silkscreen could become one of the most expensive 20th-century paintings ever sold at auction | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

SEC Proposes New Climate Change Disclosures for Companies

The proposal passed on a 3–1 vote, and the public will now have around 60 days to submit comments | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Orangutan's Vocabularies Are Shaped by Socializing With Others, Just Like Humans

A new study reveals apes have distinct and flexible 'vocal personalities,' opposed to a fixed repertoire of calls | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Researchers Discover Oldest-Known Ochre Workshop in East Asia

Tools and pieces of the clay earth pigment found in northern China date to about 40,000 years old, and introduce new theories about early human migration | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Heavy Bones Helped Some Spinosaurs Swim

The crock-snouted dinosaurs were just as capable in the water as on land | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

All-Black, All-Woman WWII Unit Awarded Congressional Gold Medal

The 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion cleared a six-month backlog of mail while stationed in Europe in 1945 | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

A Bold New Show at the Met Explores A Single Sculpture

The exhibition probes the paradoxes of Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux's "Why Born Enslaved!," the most famous depiction of a Black woman in 19th-century art | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

A Roman Coin Minted As a Salute to Julius Caesar's Assassination Is Up for Auction

The 2,000-year-old gold piece, perhaps worn by one of the murderers, could sell for $2 million | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

The Trailblazing Black Woman Chemist Who Discovered a Treatment for Leprosy

After Alice Ball's death in 1916 at age 24, a white man took credit for her research | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Citizen Scientist Captures Glimpse of Jupiter's Moons, Io and Europa, Using Juno Space Probe Data

The natural satellites are seen in the distant background of the gas giant's portrait | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Colorado Composts Its First Human Remains

The state legalized biological decomposition of human remains, also known as 'natural reduction,' last year | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Largest Human Family Tree Identifies Nearly 27 Million Ancestors

Researchers create massive genealogical network dating back 100,000 years | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Pfizer Seeks Authorization of a Second Covid-19 Booster for Older Americans

The request comes after mounting evidence that protection from three shots has faded with time, especially against the Omicron variant | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

With a Stolen Fragment Restored, This Stunning 17th-Century Tapestry Is Made Whole

Spanish authorities had all but given up the search for the missing piece, which was lost in a heist carried out by notorious art thief "Erik the Belgian" | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago