In Cemeteries Across the Country, Reenactors Are Resurrecting the Dead

Gravesite readings and performances keep the stories of the dearly departed alive for a new generation | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Underwater Eruption Off France's Mayotte Island Gave Rise to a New Colossal Seamount

The 2018 blast was the most significant active submarine eruption ever documented | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

In 19th-Century Gibraltar, Survivors of a Deadly Virus Used 'Fever Passes' to Prove Their Immunity

Should historic health officials' response to yellow fever outbreaks on the Iberian Peninsula serve as a model for modern pandemic management strategies? | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Racism Is Declared a Public Health Crisis in New York City

The new resolution outlines steps toward a 'racially just recovery' from the Covid-19 pandemic for all New Yorkers | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Looking Beyond Surrealist Artist Meret Oppenheim's Famous Furry Teacup

A new exhibition highlights the dazzling breadth of the 20th-century painter, sculptor and photographer's oeuvre | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Readers Respond to the October 2021 Issue

Your feedback on sake, astrophysicist Avi Loeb and diphtheria | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

How Do Snails Get Their Shells? And More Questions From Our Readers

You've got questions. We've got experts | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Ancient Stone Ram Heads Unearthed on Egypt's 'Avenue of the Sphinxes'

The newly restored road, once lined with around 700 towering sculptures, is set to open to the public in the coming weeks | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

How Memphis Created the Nation's Most Innovative Public Library

You can play the ukulele, learn photography or record a song in a top-flight studio. You can also check out a book | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Zoo’s Historic Newborn Tamarin Twins Cling to Mom, Doing What Healthy Babies Do

Keepers worked with breeding parents Lola and Coco, who soon “become very interested in each other” | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Hans Holbein's Portraits Defined—and Immortalized—Tudor England's Elite

An exhibition at the J. Paul Getty Museum features some of the painter's most famous portraits of power players in Henry VIII's court | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

In One Mission in October 1944, Two F6F Hellcats Shot Down a Record 15 Enemy Aircraft

U.S. Navy Pilots David McCampbell and Roy Rushing made history in a heroic air battle over the Leyte Gulf | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Africa's Last Rare Glaciers May Soon Disappear

The continent is especially vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, despite its population contributing little to the problem | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Officials Use Contraceptives to Control Pablo Escobar's 'Cocaine' Hippos

Smuggled into Colombia by the drug kingpin in the 1980s, the African mammal is now a growing environmental threat in the South American country | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Ancient Japanese Wolves May Be the Closest Wild Relative of Modern Dogs

The results challenge previous theories about the origin of dog domestication | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

How One Photographer Took Spiritual Inspiration From African Woodcarving

Stranded by the pandemic, Yannis Davy Guibinga made a connection with home through his art | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

The South African Town Where Penguins Rule

A colony of 1,000 breeding pairs of African penguins nests on the beaches and in the gardens of Simon's Town | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

In Defense of King George

The author of a new biography shines a humane light on the monarch despised by the colonists | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Shells Possibly Carved by Neanderthals Discovered at Princess Diana's Former Home

The 40,000-year-old finds suggest that early hominins occupied Althorp Estate long before it became home to the Spencer family | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Australia Begins Vaccinating Hundreds of Koalas Against Chlamydia in New Trial

The infection affects at least half of koalas living in southeast Queensland and New South Wales | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

The Return of La Niña Spells Bad News for Drought Conditions in the American Southwest

This climatic change will likely prolong the region's devastating drought through 2022 | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

How the Smithsonian Grapples With Climate Change

As a hub for research and education, the Institution is poised to help the world find solutions to the global challenge | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Which Historical Doll Will Be Crowned the Creepiest?

A Minnesota museum's third annual contest invites the public to vote on which of nine antique toys is the most unsettling | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

This Jupiter-Like Planet Narrowly Survived the Death of Its Star

The discovery offers insight into what will happen to our solar system after the sun collapses | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

New Dating Method Shows Vikings Occupied Newfoundland in 1021 C.E.

Tree ring evidence of an ancient solar storm enables scientists to pinpoint the exact year of Norse settlement | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

What Does the Future Hold for the Joshua Tree?

The beloved desert denizen is feeling the heat | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

The Unheralded Women Scribes Who Brought Medieval Manuscripts to Life

A new book by scholar Mary Wellesley spotlights the anonymous artisans behind Europe's richly illuminated volumes | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

The Untold Story of the Portuguese Diplomat Who Saved Thousands From the Nazis

As the German army marched across France, Aristedes de Sousa Mendes faced a choice: obey his government or follow his conscience—and risk everything | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Archaeologists in Israel Unearth Only Known Crusader Encampment

Frankish soldiers camped at the site before the 1187 Battle of Hattin, which ended in a decisive victory for Muslim sultan Saladin | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

This New Installation Pulled 20,000 Pounds of Plastic From the Great Pacific Garbage Patch

The trash collection device dubbed 'Jenny' could help address overwhelming marine plastic pollution | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Singer and Artist Solange Debuts Free Library of Rare Books by Black Authors

Readers in the U.S. can borrow 50 titles, including collections of poems by Gwendolyn Brooks and Langston Hughes and a sci-fi novel by Octavia Butler | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

1,500-Year-Old Ivory Beard Comb Found in Grave in Germany

The rare sixth-century grooming tool features intricate carvings of a hunting scene | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

'Shaft,' 'Super Fly' and the Birth of Blaxploitation

In this excerpt from ‘Music Is History,’ the drummer for the Roots and all-around music ambassador looks at a year when everything changed | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

What Drove Homo Erectus Out of Africa?

Excavations at a site in northern Israel are at the heart of a debate about the species' migrations | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

What Made the Air Jordan a Slam-Dunk Design

The world is bonkers for sneakers. This pivotal 1996 concept for basketball superstar Michael Jordan is a big reason why | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

The Trailblazing, Multifaceted Activism of Lawyer-Turned-Priest Pauli Murray

New documentary tells the story of a Black and LGBTQ thinker who helped lay the legal groundwork for fighting gender- and race-based discrimination | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Inside the Experiment to Create Mars on Earth

A hostile landscape. Cramped quarters. Dehydrated food. A photographer takes part in an attempt to live on another planet | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

An Extraordinary 500-Year-Old Shipwreck Is Rewriting the History of the Age of Discovery

In the frigid Baltic Sea, archaeologists probing the surprisingly well-preserved remains of a revolutionary warship are seeing the era in a new way | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Colin Powell, First Black Secretary of State, Dies of Covid-19 at 84

The decorated general broke racial barriers in the U.S. military but attracted criticism for his part in paving the way for the Iraq War | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Researchers Need Volunteer 'Walrus Detectives' to Help Count the Animals in Satellite Images

The project aims to quantify the impact of climate change on the species | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

FDA Panel Unanimously Recommends Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 Booster Shots

The committee said some J&J recipients might have a stronger immune response by opting to get a Moderna or Pfizer booster instead | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

New Research Suggests Human-Like Footprints in Crete Date to 6.05 Million Years Ago

The findings could upend scientists' understanding of human evolution—but the paper has proven controversial | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Diver Discovers 900-Year-Old Crusader Sword Off Israel's Coast

The four-foot-long weapon is encrusted in marine organisms but otherwise in "perfect condition" | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Seven Important Questions About Covid Antivirals Answered

New medicines may stop the virus from replicating so your immune system can fight a few viral soldiers instead of an army | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Inside the Global Cult of Al Capone

A recent auction of the Chicago gangster's mementos testifies to his enduring appeal—and the thorny nature of collecting items owned by criminals | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Who Is the Enslaved Child in This Portrait of Yale University's Namesake?

Scholars have yet to identify the young boy, but new research offers insights on his age and likely background | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

Meteorite Crash-Landed in a Canada Woman's Bed While She Slept

Ruth Hamilton awoke unharmed when the fist-sized space rock landed on her pillows | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago

New Research Dispels Theory That First Americans Came From Japan

Scientists found no distinct relationship after examining ancient teeth of both populations | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 years ago