Groundbreaking Mission Will Attempt the First Private Astronaut Spacewalk Next Week

Polaris Dawn is set to be the farthest humans have traveled from Earth since the Apollo program and will test new technology in a "radiation belt" surrounding our planet | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 3 months ago

Largest Diamond Since 1905 Unearthed by Miners in Botswana

Volcanic eruptions long ago brought the 2,492-carat diamond—the latest in a string of stunning discoveries over the last decade—to the surface | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 3 months ago

Frank Lloyd Wright’s Only Skyscraper Is Heading to Auction

Price Tower is one of three Oklahoma buildings designed by the renowned American architect | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 3 months ago

Divers Can Now Explore Historic Shipwrecks in Lake Michigan More Easily

Crews installed buoys and mooring lines to mark the locations of 19 wreck sites in the Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast National Marine Sanctuary | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 3 months ago

Sphen, Australian Penguin of Famous Same-Sex Couple, Dies at Age 11

Sphen and his longtime partner Magic got together at Sea Life Sydney Aquarium in 2018. They successfully hatched two foster chicks and became "international queer icons" | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 3 months ago

Statue of Civil Rights Leader John Lewis Replaces Confederate Monument in Georgia

The 12-foot-tall bronze artwork depicts the former congressman with his hands over his heart | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 3 months ago

Mysterious 'Wow!' Radio Signal Might Finally Have an Explanation—and No, It's Not Aliens

The infamous signal recorded in 1977 might have been a laser-like beam of radiation from a hydrogen cloud energized by a powerful, magnetic star, preliminary research suggests | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 3 months ago

During World War II, the Liberation of Paris Saved the French Capital From Destruction

Adolf Hitler wanted Paris razed. Dwight D. Eisenhower wanted his troops to stay out of the city. In August 1944, an uprising by French resistance fighters forced the Allies to intervene | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 3 months ago

Inside the Hidden Kingdom of Viruses in Your Gut

Human innards are teeming with viruses that infect bacteria. Here's what scientists are learning about them | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 3 months ago

Take a Virtual Tour of New York City With These 15 Photos

Get a slice of the Big Apple with shots of the Statue of Liberty, Empire State Building, Central Park and more from the Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 3 months ago

A 'Tornadic Waterspout' Likely Sank a Billionaire's Yacht Near Sicily. Here's What That Means

Scientists say the extreme weather phenomenon could grow more common as climate change brings warmer water temperatures and more intense storms to the Mediterranean | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 3 months ago

Archaeology Student Discovers Trove of Silver Viking Age Armbands in Denmark

The bangles, which date to around 800 C.E., are now on display at the Moesgaard Museum | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 3 months ago

Scientists Suggest Freezing Endangered Animals' Cells and Preserving Them on the Moon

Shadowed areas in lunar craters may be cold enough to safeguard species' DNA amid "climate disasters and social disasters" on Earth, according to Smithsonian-led research | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 3 months ago

How Did Ice Age Humans Kill Huge Animals Like Mammoths? Probably Not by Throwing Spears, Study Finds

New research theorizes that hunters used pikes planted in the ground—with their sharp tips pointing upward—to impale approaching wildlife using the creature's own weight and momentum | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 3 months ago

A Roman Road Was Hiding Beneath a Primary School Playing Field in England

The 2,000-year-old cobbled pathway was likely built after the Romans invaded Britain in the first century C.E. | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 3 months ago

Historic Theater Discovers 15th-Century Doorway That May Have Led to a Dressing Room

Some experts speculate that Shakespeare could have used the room to change costume during performances in the late 16th century | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 3 months ago

Can a City Known for Its Freeways and Gridlock Deliver a Car-Free Olympics? Los Angeles Thinks So

To make good on its promise, the 2028 host city is in a four-year sprint to ready its public transportation for the onslaught of athletes, coaches and spectators | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 3 months ago

Discover the Hidden History of Tomb Robbing in Ancient Egypt

Criminals plundered the riches of Egyptian pyramids and underground burials, often within a few years or, in some cases, within a few hours of occupants' interment | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 3 months ago

Two Ancient Wells Discovered in England Suggest Even the Romans Used Trial and Error

After the first well collapsed, the local builders incorporated wooden planks to hold up the walls of the second | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 3 months ago

British Government Places Export Ban on Alan Turing's World War II-Era Notebooks

The mathematician took careful notes while working on a portable voice encryption system in the mid-1940s | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 3 months ago

For Decades, Switzerland Dumped Munitions Into Its Pristine Alpine Lakes. Now, It Wants Them Gone

Officials are offering cash rewards for the best strategies to safely remove the submerged weapons | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 3 months ago

Five-Foot-Long Ocean Sunfish Washes Ashore in Oregon, a 'Relatively Small' Size for Its Species

It's the second sunfish to be found dead on the beach in a small region of northwestern Oregon this summer, following the discovery of an even rarer hoodwinker sunfish | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 3 months ago

Germany Turns Former Nazi Bunker Into a Leisure Complex

Built as an air raid shelter in the 1940s, the massive structure now houses a hotel, restaurants and a rooftop park with lush greenery | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 3 months ago

These Spiders Use Captured Fireflies as Flashing Lures to Snare More Prey

A new study suggests orb-weaver spiders manipulate trapped male fireflies to emit female-like signals, which in turn draws more males into the web | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 3 months ago

Can the Endangered Rusty Patched Bumblebee Survive?

A new genetic study reveals secrets about the creature, which may help researchers make decisions to conserve the species | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 3 months ago

Archaeologists May Have Identified the Bones of a Celebrated Ninth-Century Bishop in Spain

Bishop Teodomiro was a central figure in the creation of the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 3 months ago

Rare 'Doomsday' Oarfish Surfaces in California, Just the 20th Discovered in the State Since 1901

Kayakers spotted and hauled ashore the 12-foot-long oarfish, a deep-sea species known for its connection to earthquakes in Japanese folklore | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 3 months ago

Dazzling Jewels Stolen in Green Vault Heist Go Back on Display in Dresden

In the early morning hours of November 25, 2019, thieves made away with 4,300 valuable diamonds and other stones | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 3 months ago

The World's Largest Animal Genome Belongs to an Odd, Air-Breathing Fish

Scientists sequenced the 91 billion base pairs in the South American lungfish’s genome, setting a record and revealing insights into vertebrate evolution | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 3 months ago

‘Fearsome’ Saber-Toothed Cats Needed Their Baby Teeth and Mommies, Too

According to new research, two sets of sabers and unusual lower jaw anatomy show that the saber-toothed cat Smilodon fatalis delayed adulting with a long weaning period | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 3 months ago

Yayoi Kusama's Largest Permanent Public Sculpture Arrives in London

Stainless steel archways and reflective spheres stretch for more than 300 feet at Liverpool Street station | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 3 months ago

Artificial Intelligence Could Soon Match Footprints to the Animals That Made Them

Scientists are working on a machine learning tool that could turn anyone with a camera into an expert tracker | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 3 months ago

The Long, Strange History of Teflon, the Indestructible Product Nothing Seems to Stick to

Chemists accidentally discovered the material in 1938, and since then it has been used for everything from helping to create the first atomic bomb to keeping your eggs from sticking to your frying pan | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 3 months ago

As Banksy's Animal Art Series Ends, Caretakers Grapple With How to Preserve His Murals

The street artist unveiled nine new pieces in London this month, and many have already been taken down or defaced | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 3 months ago

Rare Fossils Give Clues to How Tardigrades Survived Mass Extinctions by Hitting the Snooze Button

Scientists have only four known tardigrade fossils, which preserve insights into how the hardy critters evolved their hibernation-like superpower of cryptobiosis | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 3 months ago

13,600-Year-Old Mastodon Skull Uncovered in Iowa

The hulking creature may have overlapped with Indigenous people | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 3 months ago

A Rare 'Super Blue Moon' Will Be Visible Monday Night: What Does That Mean?

Tonight’s full moon will be bigger and brighter than usual, and it’s the third of four full moons this summer | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 3 months ago

Firefighters Extinguish Blaze at London's Somerset House

The palatial complex's historic artworks sustained no damage from the fire that broke out on August 17 | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 3 months ago

Archaeologists Stumble Upon a 2,000-Year-Old Dolphin Mosaic in England

The Roman-era artwork was likely preserved thanks to a remodeling project in the third or fourth century C.E. | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 3 months ago

Amateur Sleuth Identifies the Mystery Women in a Museum's Fabergé Frames

The portraits were on display at a museum in England, where staffers had been wondering about the two subjects for years | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 3 months ago

Weight Loss and Diabetes Drug Could Slow Alzheimer's Progression, Preliminary Study Suggests

In a year-long trial, people who received a daily injection of liraglutide showed an 18 percent lower cognitive decline than people who received a placebo | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 3 months ago

Asteroid That Ended the Dinosaurs Came From Beyond Jupiter, Study Finds

Metal isotopes delivered to Earth by the asteroid reveal it's consistent with space rocks formed in the outer solar system | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 3 months ago

Ancient Prisoners Carved Graffiti Into the Floors of a Roman-Era Prison

An archaeologist has identified vengeful inscriptions etched into a 1,600-year-old prison in Greece | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 3 months ago

Rare Ocelot Caught on Camera in Arizona, the First Sighting in Its Area for 50 Years

Ocelots were federally listed as endangered in 1972, and their current U.S. population is thought to be fewer than 100 individuals | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 3 months ago

Art Dealer Arrested for Trying to Sell a Fake Leonardo da Vinci for $1.4 Million

French customs officers seized the imitation when they discovered the man’s export license had expired | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 3 months ago

These Markers of Scandinavia’s Bronze Age Boatyards Were Hiding in Plain Sight

Archaeologists argue that ancient fire pits were used for constructing the area's distinctive boats | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 3 months ago

Invasive 'ManhattAnts' Are Taking Over New York City and Spreading Quickly

Since appearing on Manhattan in 2011, the species has become one of the island's most dominant ants, and scientists formally identified it this year | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 3 months ago

Stonehenge's Massive Central Stone May Have Been Shipped From Hundreds of Miles Away

Researchers think they've solved the mystery of the monument's Altar Stone, which could have traveled all the way from Scotland | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 3 months ago