Celebrate Pride Month With 15 Photos of LGBTQ Joy

These images from the Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest capture vibrant parades and festivals around the world | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

Akira Endo, Biochemist Who Found a Way to Fight Heart Disease, Dies at 90

Endo's research paved the way for the development of drugs to treat high cholesterol and reduce the risk of heart attacks or strokes | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

Meet the 'Echidnapus,' an Extinct Creature That Resembles Both the Echidna and Platypus of Today

The species is among three newly identified monotremes, or egg-laying mammals, discovered from fossils in Australia that are shedding light on the odd animals' evolution | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

Endangered Wild Horses Return to Kazakhstan for the First Time in at Least 200 Years

The international effort, led by the Prague Zoo, released seven Przewalski’s horses to their native steppe habitat in central Asia | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

You Could Own Rare Copies of the Nation's Founding Documents, Just in Time for the Fourth of July

Sotheby's is auctioning early printings of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, as well as a 1790 Rhode Island broadside | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

With the Recovery of Massive Grave Slabs, England's Oldest Shipwreck Continues to Reveal Its Secrets

Maritime archaeologists hoisted the heavy artifacts, made of a special type of limestone, from 23 feet below the surface of the English Channel | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

A Mass Grave of Maya Boys May Shed Light on Human Sacrifice in Chichén Itzá

Researchers have genetically tested the bones and made determinations of gender and family relations | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

Scientists Release Largest Trove of Data on How Space Travel Affects the Human Body

A collection of 44 new studies, largely based on a short-duration tourist trip in 2021, provides insight into the health effects of traveling to space | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

For 75 Years, Runners Have Raced in Colorado Tethered to Donkeys

Harkening back to mining days, the sport has human-donkey teams navigating challenging mountain courses | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

The Real Story Behind 'Firebrand' and Henry VIII's Tumultuous Relationship With His Sixth Wife, Catherine Parr

A new film dramatizes how the Tudor queen narrowly avoided execution on charges of heresy | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

America’s Best New Restaurant Celebrates the Flavors of West Africa

The James Beard Award-winning Dakar NOLA is at the forefront of a generation of fine-dining establishments determined to educate foodies about the true origins of “Southern” cuisine | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

You Could Write in Ursula K. Le Guin’s Former Portland Home Studio

The Le Guin family has donated the science fiction novelist's former house to be used for a new writers residency | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

See the Rare, 2,000-Pound Hoodwinker Sunfish That Washed Ashore in Oregon

The species was only described in 2017 after "hiding in plain sight" for nearly three centuries | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

Discovery of 4,000-Year-Old Structure in Greece Stumps Archaeologists and Threatens Major Airport Construction

The mystifying Minoan structure, unearthed on a hilltop in Crete, is one of 35 newly announced archaeological finds in the area | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

African Elephants May Call Each Other by Name

In a new study, a computer model was able to identify the recipient of an elephant's call more than a quarter of the time, which scientists say is significantly greater than chance | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

This Stash of Silver Coins Found in Germany Belonged to a Wealthy 17th-Century Mayor

The collection includes pieces from surrounding regions, as well as Italy and the Spanish Netherlands | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

Everyone Should Know About Rickwood Field, the Alabama Park Where Baseball Legends Made History

The sport's greatest figures played ball in the Deep South amid the racism and bigotry that would later make Birmingham the center of the civil rights movement | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

Astronomers Discover Water Frost on Mars' Tallest Volcanoes

On early winter mornings, a thin layer of ice forms in craters atop the Red Planet's towering peaks, near its equator, according to a new study | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

See the Photographs That Introduced Americans to Their Presidents

The National Portrait Gallery traces early images of American leaders, from John Quincy Adams to Abraham Lincoln | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

Catapult Shots Fired During 13th-Century Siege Unearthed at British Castle

Found on the grounds of Kenilworth Castle, the eight stones were used during a clash between rebels and royal forces in 1266 | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

A Poisonous Diet Gives These Animals Their Own Toxic Defense

From monarchs to sea slugs, various creatures consume chemicals that keep predators at bay | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

Mary Cassatt's Paintings Take Women's Labor Seriously

A new exhibition challenges longstanding assumptions about the American Impressionist's artistic legacy | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

Don't Call Wombats Heroes, but Their Burrows Do Provide Food, Water and Shelter for Other Animals

During Australia’s devastating bushfires in 2019 and 2020, misinformation spread about wombats welcoming animals into their underground homes—but a new study finds a kernel of truth in the viral story | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

Trove of Rare Artifacts Unearthed Beneath an Ancient Roman Well

Dozens of items, including burnt bones and ceramics, provide new insights into ritual activity in the city of Ostia | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

Pineapple-Sized Hail Stone Falls in Texas—and It Might Set a New State Record

Veteran storm chaser Val Castor spotted the behemoth ice chunk in a ditch near Vigo Park in the Texas panhandle | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

Ancestry Releases Records of 183,000 Enslaved Individuals in America

The genealogy company has digitized and published 38,000 newspaper articles from between 1788 and 1867—before Black Americans were counted as citizens in the U.S. census | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

The 15 Best Small Towns to Visit in 2024

From a bluegrass capital in Virginia to a laid-back surf town in Hawaii, these spots are beckoning to tourists this year | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

Twenty-Five Years Before the Wright Brothers Took to the Skies, This Flying Machine Captivated America

First exhibited in 1878, Charles F. Ritchel's dirigible was about as wacky, dangerous and impractical as any airship ever launched | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

How the United States Laid Claim to the Mississippi River, One Mile at a Time

Thomas Jefferson imagined the waterway as the heart of his “empire of liberty" as he dispatched surveyors to measure a land already occupied by Native Americans | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

William Anders, NASA Astronaut Who Captured Iconic 'Earthrise' Photograph, Dies at 90

The Apollo 8 lunar module pilot also served in the U.S. Air Force and worked extensively on nuclear energy projects | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

Medieval Game Pieces Unearthed Beneath a Castle in Germany

The "excellently preserved" chess knight, six-sided die and several other pieces are all about 1,000 years old | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

The Western U.S. Is Sweltering Under a 'Heat Dome.' What Does That Mean?

A stagnant high-pressure system over the region is trapping heat, exacerbating high temperatures and setting records | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

Two Nazi-Looted Paintings Were Returned to a Jewish Family, Who Donated Them Back to the Louvre

The 17th-century artworks were recovered from Germany and placed at the Paris museum in the 1950s | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

When Did Humans Domesticate Horses? Scientists Find Modern Lineage Has Origins 4,200 Years Ago

A new study suggests people in the Eurasian steppe bred horses around 2200 B.C.E., challenging earlier ideas about the beginnings of horse husbandry | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

Ancient Celtic Elites Inherited Wealth From Their Mothers' Sides

A genetic analysis of opulent burial mounds in Germany sheds new light on how power passed through family lines | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

These Innovative Landers Will Examine Coral Reefs in the Gulf of Mexico

Scientists plan to use what they learn to help restore communities harmed by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

This Giant Cosmic ‘Butterfly’ Is a Planet-Forming Disk

New research has confirmed that the celestial object may be the biggest of its kind ever found | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

Man Infected With H5N2 Bird Flu in Mexico Dies. Here's the Latest on the Virus

The strain is not the same one that has infected U.S. cows and three dairy farm workers, and officials say the risk to the general public remains low | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

See the Stunning Shrine With Rare Blue-Painted Walls Unearthed at Pompeii

The 86-square-foot space is adorned with artworks depicting female figures and agricultural imagery | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

More Than a Century Ago, Flamingos Disappeared From Florida. Now, They're Coming Home

Likely transported by Hurricane Idalia last August, more than 100 of the pink birds were counted in a February census in the Sunshine State, where they are considered a native species | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

Hall of Fame Examines 150 Years of Black Baseball History

A new exhibition begins long before the creation of the Negro Leagues and ends with the triumphs and challenges of today's players | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

Do These Fossilized Teeth Belong to the World’s Smallest Great Ape?

Researchers say two teeth and a kneecap belong to a previously unknown species that lived in what is now Germany | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

Archaeologists Discover Clues to Ancient Migration Route That Brought Humans to Australia

New research offers evidence that humans did not inhabit the island of Timor until around 44,000 years ago, suggesting it was not part of the original migration route from Southeast Asia to Australia | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

This Boba Fett Figure Is Now the Most Valuable Vintage Toy in the World

Created in 1979, the rare missile-firing figurine has become a "mythic icon" among collectors | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

Get Your Motor Running With These Cool Cars

See 15 awesome automobiles from the Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

SpaceX's Starship Lands Successfully for the First Time in a Test Flight

Three previous uncrewed test flights ended with Starship being destroyed, but both the booster and the spacecraft splashed down on the fourth try | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

Norwegian Farmer Stumbles Upon 1,000-Year-Old Viking Sword

The well-preserved artifact may belong to a special class of high-quality, engraved weapons | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

These National Parks Are Hosting Astronomy Festivals in 2024

Get outside, ditch the light pollution and marvel at the cosmos on these protected public lands | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago