Shipwreck Found in Lake Michigan 130 Years After Sinking With Captain's 'Intelligent and Faithful' Dog Onboard

The captain said he would "rather lose any sum of money than to have the brute perish as he did" | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 4 months ago

Earth Reached Its Hottest Day on Record Twice in a Row This Week

The global average surface temperature soared to 17.15 degrees Celsius on Monday, or 62.87 degrees Fahrenheit, breaking a short-lived record set on Sunday | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 4 months ago

This Art Student Stole a Coin From the British Museum—and Dropped It in the Donation Box

Ilê Sartuzi briefly pocketed a 17th-century coin to make a statement about looted artifacts held by the museum | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 4 months ago

From Sleek Swimsuits to Specialized Running Shoes, These Five Innovations Transformed the Olympics

Technology has advanced sports including fencing and pole vaulting | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 4 months ago

Thirteen Sharks Test Positive for Cocaine Off the Coast of Brazil

All of the wild Brazilian sharpnose sharks tested in a new study had the drug in their bodies, but many questions remain about cocaine's effects on aquatic creatures—and the humans who eat them | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 4 months ago

Inside the Fight to Save the Indiana Dunes, One of America's Most Vulnerable National Parks

Caught between steel mills, suburbs and a hard place, the 15,000-acre site is a fantasia of biodiversity—and a case study for hard-fought conservation | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 4 months ago

How to Sweat Like an Olympian

This summer, don’t be embarrassed by those pit stains or your drenched workout clothes. Our expert on the science of sweat says perspiration is what makes humans faster, higher and stronger | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 4 months ago

This 13-Year-Old Stumbled Upon a Roman-Era Ring While Hiking in Israel

The small artifact, discovered near an ancient farmstead, features an engraving of the goddess Minerva | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 4 months ago

How to Watch the Southern Delta Aquariids Meteor Shower

Though not as prolific as the Perseids, this annual spectacle is 'scientifically interesting' because its comet of origin remains a mystery | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 4 months ago

Is Venice's Controversial Entry Fee Working?

Officials introduced the day-tripper fee to fight overtourism in the historic city, but critics aren't convinced it's helping | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 4 months ago

Chimpanzees Take Turns in Fast-Paced Conversations, Just Like Humans Do

A new study finds the average chimpanzee response time in gestured conversations is 120 milliseconds, which isn’t that far from the human average of 200 milliseconds | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 4 months ago

Hidden Self-Portrait by Norman Cornish Discovered Behind Another Painting

A conservator in northern England stumbled upon the work on the reverse side of a piece called "Bar Scene" | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 4 months ago

Botanists Vote to Remove Racial Slur From Hundreds of Plant Species Names

In a first for taxonomy, researchers opted to change scientific names containing derivatives of the slur “caffra” to derivatives of “afr,” in reference to the plants' origins in Africa | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 4 months ago

Geologists Uncover Remnants of Earth’s Mantle That Have Lasted Over 2.5 Billion Years

New research suggests that a discrepancy in rocks shows they endured extreme heat, and reveals more about an ancient part of our planet’s history | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 4 months ago

From Cisterns to Temples, These Twelve Underground Worlds Are Open for Exploring

Some of these age-old subterranean spaces have even been transformed into amusement parks, art galleries and restaurants | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 4 months ago

What Will Happen If This Iconic Research Vessel Stops Drilling in the Deep Sea?

After a career marked by major discoveries, the JOIDES Resolution is likely on its last official mission to retrieve rock cores from the ocean floor | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 4 months ago

The Brothers Who Asserted Their Right to Free Speech in Tudor England

Peter and Paul Wentworth called on Elizabeth I to name an heir to the throne, wielding Parliament's free speech privileges to urge the queen to take action | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 4 months ago

2024 Olympics Torch and Torchbearer's Uniform Sell at Auction

The sale's big-ticket item, a torch from the 1960 Winter Games, did not end up selling | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 4 months ago

Chicago Building Where Nearly 1,000 Birds Died in One Night Last Fall Installs Bird-Safe Window Film

The glass-covered lakefront convention center has long been known among wildlife advocacy groups as a site of mass casualties for migratory birds | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 4 months ago

See 25 Stunning Images of the Cosmos From the Chandra X-Ray Observatory as It Celebrates 25 Years in Space

Chandra, the world’s most powerful X-ray telescope, has been peering at black holes, stellar explosions and dark energy for a quarter-century | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 4 months ago

Carvings of Ancient Pharaohs Unearthed in Nile River

The underwater expedition took place at a site that was flooded during the construction of the Aswan High Dam in the 1960s | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 4 months ago

New Yorkers Step Into Life-Size Replicas of Iconic Edward Hopper Paintings

Three of the realist painter's most famous artworks came to life in an interactive installation in Manhattan | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 4 months ago

The Real Story Behind Netflix's 'The Decameron'

Loosely based on Giovanni Boccaccio's 14th-century collection of short stories, the series follows a group of Italian nobles and servants who flee to the countryside to escape the Black Death | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 4 months ago

How Will Climate Change Hurt Lesser Flamingos?

Their food supply in East African lakes could collapse as rains increase | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 4 months ago

This Little-Known Civil Rights Activist Refused to Give Up His Bus Seat Four Years Before Rosa Parks Did

William "W.R." Saxon filed a lawsuit against the company that forced him to move to the back of the bus, seeking damages for the discrimination and mental anguish he’d faced | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 4 months ago

Roman Wall Built to Contain Spartacus' Forces Discovered in Italy

Archaeologists think the Roman army constructed it to contain the revolting gladiator in 71 B.C.E. | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 4 months ago

Common Blood Thinners Could Combat Snakebites, Preventing Tissue Damage and Amputations, Study Finds

An estimated 400,000 people per year are permanently disabled because of snake venom, which can cause lesions and necrosis at the bite site | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 4 months ago

See How the Brain Responds to Psychedelic 'Magic Mushrooms'

A new study mapped large, temporary changes in brain areas related to introspection and one's sense of self, after participants took a dose of the drug psilocybin | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 4 months ago

This Bronze Age Ship Replica, Made From Reeds and Goat Hair, Just Sailed 50 Nautical Miles

Researchers constructed the vessel using a list of materials found on a 4,000-year-old clay tablet | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 4 months ago

From Corsets to Singlets, the Olympics Have Driven the Evolution of Women's Sportswear

The bold choices of female athletes like Serena Williams have pushed brands, including Nike and Speedo, to produce better gear | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 4 months ago

Musket Balls Fired in Early Revolutionary War Battle Unearthed in Concord

Colonial militiamen fired the lead balls on April 19, 1775—and likely missed their mark | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 4 months ago

Ten Surprising Public Figures Who Dreamed of Olympic Gold

The list includes European royals, Darth Vader's stunt double and an American World War II general | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 4 months ago

Amid Its Volcanic Eruption, Pompeii Was Also Rocked by an Earthquake, Study Suggests

Researchers uncovered skeletal remains of two people in the ancient city that seem to have been killed by a building collapse caused by seismic activity | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 4 months ago

NASA Cancels VIPER Moon Mission After Spending $450 Million to Build a Rover

The project was intended to look for water ice in the shaded craters on the lunar south pole | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 4 months ago

Researchers Unearth Mysterious Structure Beneath Maya Ball Court

Featuring painted stucco walls, the structure likely dates to between 200 and 600 C.E. | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 4 months ago

Black Sailors Exonerated 80 Years After Deadly World War II Disaster

The Navy secretary officially cleared the 256 Black service members who were punished in connection with the explosion in Port Chicago, California | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 4 months ago

Was This Giant, Armadillo-Like Animal Butchered by Humans in Argentina 21,000 Years Ago?

The creature's bones show evidence of cutting with stone tools, adding to a series of findings that suggest humans were present in the Americas earlier than thought | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 4 months ago

Apollo Astronauts Left American Flags, Boots and Even Poop on the Moon. Here's Why These Artifacts Matter

Fifty-five years after the first human lunar landing, scholars and experts are looking to preserve the past as more nations and companies undertake moon missions | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 4 months ago

How Golden Peacocks on a Dining Room Wall Destroyed a Longstanding Friendship in Victorian Society

Paintings, sketches and correspondence shed light on the drama surrounding the famed “Peacock Room” | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 4 months ago

These 15 Groovy Photos Capture the Joy of Music

Musical instruments have existed for eons, and humans continue to create and enjoy them | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 4 months ago

Astronomers Propose New Criteria to Classify Planets, but Pluto Still Doesn't Make the Cut

The new definition would define planets based on mass, rather than more ambiguous shape and size characteristics | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 4 months ago

See Fetching Portraits of Man's Best Friend in a New Exhibition All About Dogs

"Dog Days of Summer" features artworks in a variety of styles made between 1915 and the present | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 4 months ago

Look Into a 'Mega Den' of 2,000 Slithering Rattlesnakes With This Live Stream in Colorado

Run by researchers at Cal Poly, the stream is part of a citizen science initiative that aims to change the public's perception of the much-maligned reptiles | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 4 months ago

Paris Mayor Takes a Dip in the Seine Ahead of the Summer Olympics

The city spent $1.5 billion to improve water quality in the river, where several Olympic events are scheduled to take place | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 4 months ago

California Faces a Brutal Wildfire Season, With More Land Burned to Date Than in Recent Years

The state's fires have burned more than 11 times as much land so far in 2024 than they had at this point last year, according to the most recent numbers from Cal Fire | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 4 months ago

The Boozy History of Baba au Rhum

The French are known for their pastries, but few desserts garner as much attention as this dried-out cake resuscitated with rum | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 4 months ago

Why Have So Many Whale Remains Been Found on the Ocean Floor Near Los Angeles?

Scientists have discovered more whale falls there than in the rest of the world combined | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 4 months ago

The Real Story Behind the Baltimore Deaths That Inspired 'Lady in the Lake'

A new mini-series offers a fictionalized take on two unrelated 1969 cases: the mysterious disappearance of bartender Shirley Lee Parker and the murder of 11-year-old Esther Lebowitz | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 4 months ago