Lost Rubens Painting, Rediscovered After Two Centuries, Could Sell for $35 Million

A French family found the masterpiece in their collection in 1987 | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Honeybee Swarms Can Produce as Much Electric Charge as a Storm Cloud

Denser swarms create more atmospheric electricity, new research suggests | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

These Fungal Pathogens Are the Most Harmful to Human Health

Fungal infections kill more than 1.5 million people each year, and the WHO warns they are becoming more prevalent and resistant to treatment | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

The Underground Abortion Network That Inspired 'Call Jane'

A new film offers a fictionalized look at the Janes, activists who provided illegal abortions in Chicago before Roe v. Wade | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Iceland's Annual Tradition of Counting Sheep Is Far From Sleepy

Every fall, across the country, farmers and their friends and family gather to sort the ewes and rams that spent the summer free-grazing | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Medieval Skeletons Reveal How the Bubonic Plague Influenced Human DNA

Genes passed down by survivors fended off the Black Death, but they now increase the risk of immune disorders | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Charles Darwin's Rare Autographed Manuscript Could Sell for $800,000

The English naturalist was responding to a magazine editor who had asked for a handwriting sample | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Unusual 120-Year-Old Whaleback Shipwreck Discovered in Lake Superior

"Barge 129" was the last undiscovered whaleback wreck in the Great Lakes | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

‘Conan the Bacterium’ Has What It Takes to Survive on Mars

After experiments here on Earth, researchers say some hardy microbes could endure hundreds of millions of years on the Red Planet | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Which of These Historical Dolls Is the Creepiest?

Vote for one of the nine finalists from a Minnesota museum's collection | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

What Does It Mean to Be a Witch Today?

A new exhibition on the Salem witch trials explores how the meaning of the word "witch" has evolved through the centuries | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Can a Musical Reminder Banish Bad Dreams?

Scientists hope that playing certain chords while sleeping can trigger positive memories and prevent nightmares | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Why Are Climate Activists Throwing Food at Million-Dollar Paintings?

In the most recent stunt, protesters tossed mashed potatoes at Monet's “Grainstacks” in Germany | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Reexamining Edward Hopper—and the Woman Behind His Career

“Hopper: An American Love Story” highlights the artist’s relationship with his wife, Josephine Nivison | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

How 23 Artists Explore Queerness in the Arab World

"Habibi, Love's Revolutions" reflects on LGBTQ experiences and identities | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Cache of 19th-Century Blue Jeans Discovered in Abandoned Arizona Mineshaft

The seven pairs of pants open a portal into life in the Castle Dome mining district | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Cats React to ‘Baby Talk’ From Their Owners, but Not Strangers

New research provides evidence cats see their person as “more than just a food provider” | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

The Ghosts Who Haunt the Smithsonian

Mysterious tales head up podcast offerings for late October and November | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Scientists Identify Genes Linked to Dyslexia

In the largest study of its kind, researchers pinpointed 42 genetic variations tied to the language-based learning disability | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Just Like Us, Jurassic Mammals Cared for Their Young

Clues from bones reveal multituberculates looked after their offspring for lengthy periods during the Age of Dinosaurs | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Shark Attacks Teenager Paddling Off Australian Coast

The shark bit a hole through the boat, but the 19-year-old was unharmed | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Iranian Artists Stage Anonymous Protest at the Guggenheim Museum

The group draped red banners across four floors in support of the protests gathering momentum in Iran | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Puffy, Marshmallow-Like Planet Could Float in a Bathtub

Scientists found the new exoplanet located in the Auriga constellation 580 light-years away | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Renewable Energy Is Slowing the Rise of Carbon Emissions

Still, greenhouse gas production should be falling drastically to prevent the worst effects of climate change | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Spend the Night in a Giant Flower Pot or a Supersized Cereal Box

Airbnb is giving $100,000 each to 100 people to help them build the most off-beat lodgings they could imagine | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Can Experiencing Horror Help Your Brain?

The "recreational fear" that arises from visiting haunted houses and watching scary movies may provide psychological benefits | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

To Get to Know Portugal, Explore Its Azulejo Tilework

Since the 13th century, artists have been reinventing the art form that covers churches, palaces and train stations | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Great Scott! Back to the Future Is Coming to Broadway

Marty McFly, Doc Brown and their iconic DeLorean are heading to New York City this summer | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

NASA Team Begins Study of UFOs

The project will look at unclassified data and scientifically analyze unexplained observations in the sky | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Nazis Stole Two Paintings From a Jewish Cabaret Star. Now, His Heirs Are Selling Them

Proceeds from the auction will go toward supporting underrepresented artists | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Gas Stoves Are Leaking Toxins Into California Homes

Researchers found cancer-causing benzene and other air pollutants in samples from 159 Golden State residences | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

A Medieval Manuscript Has Revealed the Oldest Known Map of the Stars

Advanced imaging uncovered part of the Greek astronomer Hipparchus’ long-lost star catalog | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

To Survive a Typhoon, Some Seabirds Fly Straight Into It

Streaked shearwaters will face a storm's high winds rather than risk getting blown to land | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Archaeologists Unearth 2,700-Year-Old Stone Carvings in Northern Iraq

They found the beautifully detailed marble reliefs while working to restore the Mashki Gate | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Reimagining Tutankhamun as a Warrior

Recent research contradicts the image of the Egyptian boy-king as a frail, sickly pharaoh | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

JRR Tolkien Came to Write the Stories of 'The Rings of Power'

Haunted by the approach of another world war, the beloved fantasy author created a new story of Middle-earth that few people even knew about—until now | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

A Punk Rock Museum Is Coming to Las Vegas

Thousands of instruments, set lists, flyers and other ephemera will tell the genre's story | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

200 Frozen Heads and Bodies Await Revival at This Arizona Cryonics Facility

The human cryopreservation project faces skepticism from medical and legal authorities | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Ancient DNA Reveals the First Known Neanderthal Family

The lived with a small community in a Siberian cave some 54,000 years ago | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

This Powerful Gamma-Ray Blast Was the 'Brightest of All Time'

Astronomers are "in awe" of the high-energy explosion, probably caused by a giant star's death | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

These Descendants Never Forgot the Story of the Last American Slave Ship

A new Netflix documentary follows the families of the "Clotilda" captives as they grapple with how their past informs their future | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Is There a Market for Edible Cactus in the United States?

Often treated as a weed, the versatile prickly pear cactus could be the next big specialty crop | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Meet Anna May Wong, the First Asian American on U.S. Currency

The trailblazing actress overcame discrimination to become a global star | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Boy Dies From a Brain-Eating Amoeba After Exposure at Lake Mead

This is the third fatal case in the U.S. this year | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Volodymyr Zelenskyy's Wartime Speeches Tell the Story of Ukraine

The Ukrainian president will publish a collection of 16 handpicked addresses later this year | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Marvel at James Webb's Stunning New Portrait of the Pillars of Creation

The haunting, finger-like shapes are part of the Eagle Nebula, a vast star-forming region located some 6,500 light-years away | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Transplanted Livers Can Survive Past 100

These organs that live for more than a century could raise the age of potential donors, perhaps shortening waits for the life-saving procedure | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

L.A.'s Cougars Were Driven to Extremes by Wildfire

With less suitable habitat, the big cats traveled further and crossed dangerous roads more often | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago