The Sweet and Sticky History of the Date

Throughout the Middle East, the versatile fruit has been revered since antiquity. How will it fare in a changing world? | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Deer-Car Collisions Rise When Daylight Saving Time Ends

Forgoing the “spring forward, fall back” pattern could save 33 human lives, 37,000 deer and more than $1 billion per year, study suggests | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Rare Emerald Discovered in 300-Year-Old Shipwreck Could Sell for $70,000

Proceeds from the sale will go toward humanitarian efforts in Ukraine | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Wander Through a 2,200-Foot-Long Tunnel Beneath Niagara Falls

The tunnel, which opened to visitors this summer, was once a vital part of a hydroelectric power plant on the Canadian side of the iconic cascades | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

The First Female Crash Dummy Has Arrived

Women are more likely to get injured in car crashes, but the currently available test dummies don’t reflect the average female body | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

This Record-Breaking Passenger Train Is Over a Mile Long

The Swiss locomotive cinched the world record last weekend | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

What America’s Pop Culture Says About the Nation Itself

A new permanent exhibition offers proof that popular entertainment can be more than just a diversion | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

The Biggest Fails in License Plate History

While vintage plates have grown popular, these older iterations show where officials got it wrong | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

You Could Own Joan Didion's Sunglasses, Sofas and Shawls

The revered writer's furniture, household items, books and artworks will be auctioned at Stair Galleries on November 16 | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Fishing Cats Face Many Human Threats. What Can Be Done to Save Them?

The wild felines in Asia are highly adapted to watery environs that are disappearing | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Invasive Mosquito Tied to Malaria Outbreak in Ethiopia

The species can survive the dry season and infect residents of urban areas | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Why Scientists Are Sending Radio Signals to the Moon and Jupiter

Researchers conducted wide-ranging experiments at Alaska's HAARP facility, known for atmospheric research and conspiracy theories | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Tiger Sharks Carry Cameras to Help Scientists Map Seagrass

A new study found what might be the world's largest seagrass ecosystem: a 35,500-square-mile meadow in the Bahamas | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Archaeologists Unearth First-of-Its-Kind Roman Watchtower in Morocco

The military fortification was discovered near the ancient city of Volubilis | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

That Plastic You Put in a Blue Bin Might Now Be in a Landfill

A new Greenpeace report found that most plastics produced in the U.S. are never recycled | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

How Howard Carter Discovered King Tut's Golden Tomb

A hundred years after the legendary find, archival records tell the definitive story of the dig that changed the world | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

The Father-Daughter Team Who Reformed America

Meet the duo who helped achieve the most important labor and civil rights victories of their age | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Why Prehistoric Herders Didn't Spit Out Their Watermelon Seeds

Thousands of years ago, Saharans ate the kernels before the fruit became sweet | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Polar Bears Are Gathering in Canada—and You Can Watch Them Live

Bears return to Churchill, Manitoba, every autumn to await the formation of sea ice on the Hudson Bay | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

The Beatles' 'Revolver' Reissue Is Here—With a Little Help From A.I.

New technology offers new insights into the 1966 album's 14 tracks and 2 singles | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Andy Warhol’s 12-Foot-Tall 'White Disaster' Could Sell For $80 Million

The piece is part of a series exploring death, disaster and the artist’s preoccupation with mortality | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Florida Teen Wins $10,000 for Hunting Invasive Pythons

The annual Florida Python Challenge combats the destructive snakes, which have taken over the Everglades | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

You Can Now Meet Friends and Family at the Gate at This California Airport

Ontario International Airport's new program allows non-ticketed individuals to venture beyond security | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Prehistoric DNA Reveals Two Groups Migrated to the U.K. After the Last Ice Age

The bones of two individuals found in caves helped scientists determine their ancestry | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

The Blue That Enchanted the World

Indigo is growing again in South Carolina, revived by artisans and farmers with a modern take on a forgotten history | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

These Five Innovative Rovers Will Soon Explore the Moon

From a team of mini-bots launched by a catapult to a remote-control golf-cart-sized vehicle, these robots will help us understand the moon’s geology | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

How Would Crazy Horse See His Legacy?

Perhaps no Native American is more admired for military acumen than the Lakota leader. But is that how he wanted to be remembered? | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

When Julia Roberts Was Born, Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King Paid the Hospital Bill

The Roberts family had previously welcomed the Kings' children to their theater school | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Three Near-Earth Asteroids Were Hiding in the Sun’s Glare

One of them, which measures nearly one mile wide, might cross paths with Earth in the distant future | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

NASA Finds More Than 50 Super-Emitters of Methane

While mapping minerals in Earth’s deserts, the agency's new detector on the ISS spotted massive contributors to climate change | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Has This Piet Mondrian Painting Been Hanging Upside Down for 77 Years?

Intriguing new observations suggest that it has—but curators are going to leave it the way it is | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

This 8-Year-Old Boy Became the Youngest Person to Ascend El Capitan

With the help of guides and ropes, Sam Baker and his father reached the top in four days | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Scientists Thought These 53 Species Were Silent. Now, They’ve Recorded Their Sounds

Vocal communication may have evolved from a common ancestor some 407 million years ago | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

5 Ways to Experience Alaska Native Culture, Heritage and Art

With more than 10,000 years of human history, the state offers boundless opportunities to connect with the living culture of Alaska Native peoples | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

When It Comes to String Instruments, Stradivariuses Are Still Pitch Perfect

Even after three centuries of their existence, the violins spark debate over what makes their sound special | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

A Pilgrimage to Honor a Blues Legend

With a mysterious memento from long ago in hand, a devoted fan of the blues artist Mississippi John Hurt returns to the Delta | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

How Porcelain Dolls Became the Ultimate Victorian Status Symbol

Class-obsessed consumers found the cold, hard and highly breakable figurines irresistible | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Movie Theaters Are Back in Kashmir. Is Anybody Watching?

The openings are part of an attempt to promote an image of normalcy in a conflict-ridden region | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Explorers Find Cameras Abandoned by Mountain Climbers in 1937

Scientists traced the movement of Canada’s Walsh Glacier to find the long-lost cache | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

How Artificial Intelligence Helped Make an Experimental Pop Album

YACHT's "Chain Tripping," made using only A.I.-generated melodies and lyrics, is the subject of a new documentary | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Spain’s Centuries-Long Witch Hunt Killed 700 Women

In recent years, local officials have broken the spell and apologized for what happened generations ago | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

What an Elephant’s Brain Reveals About Its Trunk

Elephants have tens of thousands of facial neurons, more than any other land mammal | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

This Primate’s Long Middle Finger Has a Startling (And Rather Gross) Use

The aye-aye, long seen as spooky, spurred scientists to probe into primate nose-picking | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

How the Wright Brothers Took Flight

The remarkable story of how the duo grew to become world-changing inventors and international celebrities | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

The Veterinary Magic of the Middle Ages

Medieval healers treated animals' ailments with a mix of faith, tradition and science | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

How Truffles Took Root Around the World

For centuries, the wild delicacy grew only in Europe. But improved cultivation techniques have enabled the pricey fungus to be farmed in new places. | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Prince Harry Moves Forward With His Memoir, 'Spare'

The Duke of Sussex’s book will hit shelves in January | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Archaeologists Discover Lost 17th-Century Warship 'Äpplet' in Sweden

It is the sister ship to the famous 'Vasa,' which sank within minutes of setting sail | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago