First Possible Case of Covid-19 Spreading from Deer to Humans

Experts say the discovery is not reason for panic, but underscores the importance of monitoring wildlife for diseases that could infect humans | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Artist Preston Singletary Sheds New Light on the Tlingit Raven Tale

Stunning glassworks and custom soundscapes create an immersive reimagining of an ancient oral tradition | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

At 85 Years Old, Longtime Detroit Artist Gets a Show of Her Own

A new exhibition at the Detroit Institute of Arts spotlights Shirley Woodson, an arts educator and longtime fixture of the city's vibrant Black arts scene | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

For 50 Years, Dogsled Teams Have Been Testing Their Mettle at the Iditarod

Three men who have lived and breathed the Alaskan race for much of its history recall how much has changed—and what has stayed the same | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

The 20th-Century History Behind Russia's Invasion of Ukraine

During WWII, Ukrainian nationalists saw the Nazis as liberators from Soviet oppression. Now, Russia is using that chapter to paint Ukraine as a Nazi nation | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Scientists Will Study the Effects of Microgravity on Skin at the International Space Station

The experiment, using engineered skin samples, could lead to better skin care products | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Ukrainian Officials Say the World's Largest Aircraft, Antonov AN-225, Has Been Destroyed

The plane was undergoing maintenance in an airfield near Kyiv | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

How Artists Are Responding to Russia's Invasion of Ukraine

The violence has prompted protests, cultural boycotts and more | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Before the Riddler, Batman’s Archenemy Was Hitler

A Smithsonian collection of vintage Golden Age comic books tells a story of WWII propaganda, patriotism and support of the war effort | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Your Kitchen Sponge Is a Better Home for Bacteria Than a Petri Dish

Its porous structure provides the ideal physical environment for different kinds of bacteria to thrive, according to new research | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Fossils Help Scientists Identify a "Lost" Continent

Millions of years ago, a giant island called Balkanatolia shifted and connected Asia to Europe, allowing animals to migrate | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Why a New T. Rex Study Is Riling Up the Paleontology World

Established scientists are casting serious doubts on new research suggesting that the infamous, ferocious dinosaur is actually three different species | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

A Tantalizing Clue Emerges in the Unsolved Gardner Museum Art Heist

Boston police officers tell local media that the 1991 murder of Jimmy Marks might be linked to modern history's biggest art heist | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

How Bones Communicate With the Rest of the Body

A new vision of the skeleton as a dynamic organ that sends and receives messages suggests potential therapies for osteoporosis and other problems | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Apocalypses That (Obviously) Didn’t Happen

Apocalyptic predictions are nothing new—they have been around for millennia | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

These Ancient Egyptian Artifacts Reveal New Details on the Mummification Process

Archaeologists discover a large cache of ceramic pots from the sixth century B.C.E. containing resins, oils and myrrh used for embalming | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

To Protect Bighorn Sheep, Authorities Kill 58 Mountain Goats in Grand Teton National Park

The cull is part of an effort to safeguard the park's vulnerable sheep herd from the non-native species | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Breast Cancer May Not Be as Overdiagnosed as Previously Thought

New research finds overdiagnosis occurs in 15 percent of cases detected using mammograms | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Europe's Mars Rover Unlikely to Launch in 2022 Due to Russian Invasion

The robot designed to search for traces of life on the Red Planet was originally scheduled to ride a Russian rocket into to space this fall | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Robots May Soon Fix and Fuel Satellites in Space

Orbiting machines that grip, grapple and maneuver could one day maintain the fleet of small spacecraft that encircle Earth | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

We Are Changing Climate Faster Than We Can Adapt, New IPCC Report Warns

Despite the 'irreversible' impacts of a warming planet, scientists emphasize there is still time to act | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

What to Know About Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson's Historic Nomination to the Supreme Court

Jackson, a 51-year-old Harvard graduate and former public defender, would be the first Black woman on the Court | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Amelia Earhart's Leather Flying Cap Sells at Auction for $825,000

Worn by the famed aviator during her 1928 flight across the Atlantic, the lost helmet was kept for nearly a century in the closet of a Minnesota home | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Tearing Down the Barriers for Black Inventors Begins With Honoring Their Historic Breakthroughs

Smithsonian’s Eric S. Hintz, a historian of invention, details how scholars are envisioning a more inclusive ecosystem for the innovators of tomorrow | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Eight Mummified Children Found in Peru May Have Been Sacrificed in an Ancient Funeral Ritual

The remains were discovered in the tomb of an elite member of a pre-Inca city buried 1,200 years ago | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Five Amazing Adaptations That Help Animals Thrive in the Dark

From snakes that use infrared radiation to find prey to deep sea fishes that communicate via bioluminescence, these creatures flourish without light | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

How Sitting Bull's Fight for Indigenous Land Rights Shaped the Creation of Yellowstone National Park

The 1872 act that established the nature preserve provoked Lakota assertions of sovereignty | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Dogs May Mourn the Loss of Other Household Pets

Grieving canines ate less, slept more, and sought more attention from their human companions after the death of a furry friend, according to a survey | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Hubble Space Telescope Captures Galaxies Caught in Triangular Tug-of-War

A collision between two galaxies may have sparked the odd shape | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Rash-Causing Moths Are Spreading in Maine Because of Climate Change

The outbreak of browntail moths in the state will likely grow worse as temperatures increase, researchers say | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Brain Scans of Dying Man Suggest Life Flashes Before Our Eyes Upon Death

An elderly epilepsy patient unexpectedly died during a brain scan, revealing bursts of activity associated with memory recall, meditation, and dreaming | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

The Future of Recycling May Be in Microbes

An enzyme-based recycling technology is poised to go commercial, but questions about cost and scalability linger | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Chronicling the Triumphs—and Tragedies—of Life in the Deep South

A new book and traveling exhibition highlight the work of Mississippi photographer O.N. Pruitt | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

The Black Death Wasn’t as Deadly as Previously Thought, Research Suggests

Ancient pollen deposits reveal that some areas of Europe may have experienced a 'much lighter touch' of the disease, according to the study | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Antonovs in America (An-2)

Where the world’s biggest biplane is under-employed. | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Elephant Tusk DNA Exposes Illegal Poaching Networks

The new study suggests a shift in major smuggling routes | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Photographer Iké Udé Is Retelling Africa’s Narrative With the Power of Portraiture

A new show celebrates the stars of Nigeria’s Nollywood, the country’s vibrant $3 billion film industry | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

California Is About to Test Its First Solar Canals

The innovative project is a win for water, energy, air and climate | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Do Birds Have Language?

In the cheeps, trills and tweets of birdsong, scientists find some parallels with human speech | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Track Marine Archaeologists Searching Icy Antarctic Seas for Ernest Shackleton's 'Endurance'

A team aboard a modern icebreaker will survey the site with state-of-the-art underwater drones in hopes of finding the historic vessel | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Some Neurons in Your Brain Respond to Singing but Not Other Music

Researchers tested 15 participants’ responses to 165 different noises, including toilet flushing, road traffic, instrumental music, speaking and singing | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Largest Jurassic Pterosaur on Record Unearthed in Scotland

The giant flying reptile had an eight-foot wingspan and lived around 170 million years ago | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Readers Respond to the January/February 2022 Issue

Your thoughts on old trees, Abraham Lincoln and a kind veterinarian | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Sneaky Magpies Outwit Scientists by Removing Tracking Devices

The trackers were supposed to track movement behaviors but instead uncovered an unusual problem-solving behavior | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

A New Appreciation for Artist Joan Mitchell

The painter was also a formidable presence on the ice | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Long-Term Space Travel May 'Rewire' Astronauts' Brains

The changes may help the organ adapt to microgravity, but they seem to persist for several months after returning to Earth | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

5,300-Year-Old Skull Offers Earliest Known Evidence of Ear Surgery

Bone growth suggests the patient survived the procedure, which was likely conducted to treat an infection | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Native Americans Urge Scottish Museum to Return Artifacts From Wounded Knee Massacre

The Lakota tribe is in talks with the institution for the repatriation of a necklace, bonnet and moccasins taken from the dead following the 1890 atrocity | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago