What Killed the Last Woolly Mammoths? Scientists Say It Wasn't Inbreeding

New research suggests some catastrophic event—such as a natural disaster or a virus—killed the world's last known population of mammoths on Wrangel Island | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 4 months ago

Is There a Viking Ship Burial Underneath This Norwegian Farm?

Archaeologists have uncovered around 70 iron rivets that may have once held together a boat belonging to a king | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 4 months ago

ISS Astronauts Forced to Briefly Take Shelter as Russian Satellite Suddenly Breaks Up in Orbit

Officials are unsure why the satellite fractured unexpectedly, splintering into nearly 200 pieces | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 4 months ago

New Blood Test for Predicting Parkinson's Disease With A.I. Shows Promise, Study Suggests

In preliminary research, scientists identified eight protein anomalies in the blood of patients with Parkinson's, which they say can help diagnose the disease up to seven years before symptoms appear | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 4 months ago

Ancient Egyptian Scribes Were Worked to the Bone

The administrators spent long periods writing in odd postures, which damaged their joints, researchers discovered | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 4 months ago

A Woman Thrifted This Ancient Maya Vase for $3.99—and Then Gave It Back to Mexico

Anna Lee Dozier started to wonder about the object's origins when she realized it resembled artifacts in a Mexican museum | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 4 months ago

The Island Known as the Birthplace of Apollo Is Sinking

Researchers say climate change is to blame for the Greek island of Delos' slow demise | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 4 months ago

The Forgotten Black Explorers Who Transformed Americans' Understanding of the Wilderness

Esteban, York and James Beckwourth charted the American frontier between the 16th and 19th centuries | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 4 months ago

This Pathbreaking South African Horseman Hands a New Generation the Reins

In Soweto, an unlikely champion offers lessons in riding and in life | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 4 months ago

The Knotty Art of Printmaking

The ornate series of woodcuts that transformed an art form | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 4 months ago

Savor the Bountiful Flavors of Summer

These 15 images from the Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest offer a taste of the season | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 4 months ago

Neanderthal Child May Have Had Down Syndrome, Fossil Suggests

The child's survival until at least 6 years old could be evidence of collaborative caregiving in Neanderthal societies, according to a new paper | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 4 months ago

Tourist Carves His Name Into Ancient House in Pompeii

The man damaged a wall in the House of Ceii, a dwelling celebrated for its beautiful frescoes | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 4 months ago

'Frog Saunas' May Be the Key to Saving Amphibians From a Deadly Fungal Infection

Providing frogs with sun-warmed bricks inside mini-greenhouses can help them recover from chytrid and make them more resilient against the disease in the future, a new study finds | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 4 months ago

A Jewish Soldier Found in a German Mass Grave Has Been Reburied in an American Cemetery

Nathan Baskind received a Jewish burial exactly 80 years after his death in World War II | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 4 months ago

What a 100-Year-Old Lie Detector and 150-Year-Old Arsenic Tests Tell Us About Forensic Science Today

An exhibition at the National Museum of American History examines how humans influence and judge investigation techniques | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 4 months ago

Researchers Make a Smiling Robotic Face From Living Skin

The team designed a new way for their lab-grown skin to adhere to the robot's face, in a creation that could help produce soft robots or train plastic surgeons | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

Two Massive Asteroids Will Fly Past Earth This Week. Here's What to Know

Within 42 hours of each other, the pair of large asteroids, which both have no chance of impacting our planet, will approach Earth as they orbit the sun | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

Preemie Sharks Get by With a Little Help From an Artificial Uterus

Scientists manufactured a womb that could potentially help bolster populations of endangered shark species | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

How Coffee Helped the Union Caffeinate Their Way to Victory in the Civil War

The North’s fruitful partnership with Liberian farmers fueled a steady supply of an essential beverage | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

Tasmania Is Hiring for a 'Wombat Walker' and Other Odd Jobs

The Australian island state is trying to drum up tourism during the Southern Hemisphere's winter | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

These Supercorals Are Causing Problems

As rice coral spreads it reduces biodiversity | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

Galveston’s Texas-Size Plan to Stop the Next Big Storm

In the wake of Hurricane Ike, engineers have been crafting a $34 billion plan to protect the city. Will it work when the next disaster arrives? | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

'The Crime of the Century,' a Century Later

In the summer of 1924, the Leopold and Loeb murder case triggered a media frenzy and a debate over whether anyone can truly know what’s inside the mind of a cold-blooded killer | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

China Brings Samples From the Moon's Far Side to Earth in First-Ever Feat

The China National Space Administration retrieved more than four pounds of lunar soil samples, which scientists hope will shed light on the early history of Earth and the moon | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

16th-Century Skeletons of Children Infected With Smallpox Discovered in Peru

The toddlers' remains were buried around the beginning of the Spanish conquest of South America | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

Curator Uncovers Lost Roman-Era Bust of the Emperor Caligula

The small bronze statue, which was unearthed at Herculaneum, had been missing for two centuries | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

Honeybees Can Sniff Out Lung Cancer, Scientists Suggest

New research opens the door for doctors to one day use bees as a living diagnostic tool | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

Extreme Wildfires Became Twice as Frequent and Intense in 20 Years, Study Finds

As measured by satellites, wildfires have markedly increased in boreal and temperate conifer forests, and rising nighttime temperatures allow flames to keep burning intensely after dark | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

Keeping the Spirit of Maine’s Wild Blueberry Harvest Alive

In the far reaches of New England, an unusual convergence of farmworkers renews an ancient and increasingly threatened agricultural practice | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

Five Amazing Dolphin Behaviors, Explained

From calling each other by name to using tools, these social creatures are a lot like us | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

How Dungeons & Dragons Sparked a Revolution in How We Play Just About Everything

Created more than 50 years ago, the game has captured the imaginations of generations of Americans, and not just the nerdy ones | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

Who Was 'Lisa Ben,' the Woman Behind the U.S.'s First Lesbian Magazine?

Edythe Eyde published nine issues of "Vice Versa" between June 1947 and February 1948. She later adopted a pen name that doubled as an anagram for "lesbian" | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

Was This Mysterious Woman a Medieval Warrior?

Buried at a castle in Spain, the woman was found alongside the remains of 22 men who likely died on the battlefield | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

Jupiter's Signature Red Spot May Have Evolved More Than Once

The planet's massive storm, known as the Great Red Spot, seems to be different from a spot first observed at roughly the same location in the 17th century, a new study finds | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

The Judy Garland Museum Wants to Buy Dorothy's Ruby Slippers

Officials hope to raise millions to bid on the shoes, which were missing for over a decade, at auction in December | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

These Stunning Butterflies Flew 2,600 Miles Across the Atlantic Ocean Without Stopping

Researchers combined several lines of evidence to solve the mystery of why a group of painted ladies, which do not live in South America, were found fluttering on a beach in French Guiana | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

You Can Now See Thousands of Pablo Picasso's Works in a New Online Archive

The Picasso Museum in Paris has released a digital portal featuring the Spanish painter and sculptor's art | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

This Rubens Painting Vanished During World War II. Now, It's Returning Home to a Castle in Germany

"St. Gregory of Nazianzus," once part of the Baroque palace's collection, was stolen and sold at the end of the war | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

Easter Island Did Not Collapse From Overuse of Resources After All, Study Suggests

A new paper contradicts the idea that people used up the island's resources and experienced a significant population decline, instead proposing that a small society lived there sustainably | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

How Indigenous Communities Preserve and Practice Heritage at the 2024 Smithsonian Folklife Festival

The annual festival returns to the National Mall to celebrate Indigenous traditions that span continents and generations | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

These Cute, Fuzzy Bumblebees Are Precision-Engineered Pollinators

As numbers of these key pollinators decline, conservationists are eyeing new federal protections for one vulnerable species | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

Meet the Forgotten Woman Who Revolutionized Microbiology With a Simple Kitchen Staple

Fanny Angelina Hesse introduced agar to the life sciences in 1881. A trove of unpublished family papers sheds new light on her many accomplishments | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

A Buried Ancient Egyptian Port Reveals the Hidden Connections Between Distant Civilizations

At the site of Berenike, in the desert sands along the Red Sea, archaeologists are uncovering wondrous new finds that challenge old ideas about the makings of the modern world | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

Chimpanzees May Self-Medicate With Plants, Using the Forest as a Pharmacy

New research suggests sick chimps seek out and eat plants with antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties—a finding that could advance drug discovery for humans | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

Why the 1924 Democratic National Convention Was the Longest and Most Chaotic of Its Kind in U.S. History

A century ago, the party took a record 103 ballots and 16 days of intense, violent debate to choose a presidential nominee | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

At Coney Island's Mermaid Parade, Thousands Channel Aquatic Weirdness

Crowds decked out as fantastical sea creatures flocked to Brooklyn's amusement district for the summer kickoff event | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

Starliner Astronauts Will Remain on Space Station Until July Amid Technical Issues

NASA and Boeing have delayed the crewed mission's return to Earth again, as engineers assess helium leaks and a thruster issue on the spacecraft's service module | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago