An Ailing Franz Kafka Curses Writer's Block in This Handwritten Letter to a Friend

"I haven't written anything for three years," he admitted in the note, which will go to auction this summer | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

Missed the Auroras in May? Here’s How to See Them Next Time

Three veteran aurora chasers and a NASA scientist share everything you need to know to check these dazzling displays off your bucket list | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

'Pregnant Virgin' Stingray Won't Give Birth After All—Here's Why

Charlotte, a female round stingray in North Carolina that has gathered a legion of online fans, is no longer pregnant due to a "rare reproductive disease" | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

Ansel Adams Estate Condemns Adobe for Selling A.I.-Generated Images Mimicking the Photographer's Style

The black-and-white landscape dupes, which have since been taken down, violated Adobe's generative A.I. policies | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

What Does George Orwell's '1984' Mean in 2024?

Now 75 years old, the dystopian novel still rings alarm bells about totalitarian rule | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

England's Mysterious 'Seahenge' Monument May Have Been Built to Prolong Summer

One researcher thinks the structure was used for ancient rituals during a period of bitter cold | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

Guinness Names Ghana Toddler as the 'World's Youngest Male Artist'

Ace-Liam Ankrah, who turns 2 in July, has already hosted a solo exhibition and sold 15 original pieces | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

130-Foot Snake Carving Slithers Through 2,000-Year-Old Rock Art Found in South America

The conspicuous reptile renderings spotted along the Orinoco River likely functioned as territorial markers, akin to pre-Colombian road signs | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

These Chefs Are Elevating African and Caribbean Cuisines From Carryouts to Fine Dining

More Americans are eating and learning about dishes such as fufu and curried goat in establishments recognized by the highest echelon of the culinary world | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

Kids Discover Tyrannosaurus Rex Fossil in North Dakota

The bones belonged to a dinosaur that was likely a teenager when it died. Only a handful of young T. rex skeletons have ever been found | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

How Do We Know When to Pee?

The basic urge is surprisingly complex and can go awry as we age | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

Paleontologists Uncover Rare Skull of 500-Pound 'Thunder Bird' in Australia

The most complete skull of the extinct, flightless bird ever found has revealed adaptations that might have made the creature well-adapted for a life near water | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

Hawaii's Kilauea, One of the World's Most Active Volcanoes, Erupts Again

The short-lived eruption occurred in an area of the volcano that had not erupted since December 1974 | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

This Tiny Fern Has the World's Largest Known Genome

The plant's genome has about 50 times as many base pairs as a human's, and its DNA from a single cell would stretch longer than a football field | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

Builders Haven't Finished Reconstructing Notre-Dame Cathedral—But Lego Fans Can

Lego is selling a 4,383-piece model of the historic structure ahead of the upcoming Paris Olympics | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

Climate Activist Vandalizes a Monet With an Apocalyptic Image

A protester was arrested on Saturday after plastering a poster over "Poppy Field" at the Musée d'Orsay in Paris | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

Missed the 'Parade of Planets'? These Upcoming Alignments Will Likely Be Better, Anyway

Astronomers tempered expectations of the celestial event this week, pointing to others in the near future as more exciting opportunities for sky watchers | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

Mexico City's Reservoirs Are at Risk of Running Out of Water

Amid climate change, drought and aging infrastructure, the largest metropolitan area in North America is struggling to conserve water in a major reservoir system | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

These 28 Horses Were Buried in an Ancient Mass Grave. How Did They Die?

Archaeologists are puzzled by the 2,000-year-old burial site uncovered in central France | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

Bizarre Sex Helped Anglerfish Diversify and Dominate the Deep Sea, Study Suggests

Some of these fish perform obligate parasitism, in which males attach to—and then fuse bodies with—the much-larger females | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

Before Andy Warhol Set His Eyes on Marilyn and Prince, There Was Gilbert Stuart and George Washington

Two court cases over 200 years apart reflect what happens when commercial and artistic interests meet | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

How a Trove of Whaling Logbooks Will Help Scientists Understand Our Changing Climate

Researchers are examining more than 4,200 New England documents to turn descriptions of the wind into data | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

This Woman-Led Photography Exhibition Showcases the Diversity of Middle Eastern Femininity

The Middle East Institute show, "Louder Than Hearts," explores portraits of Arab and Iranian women through the lens of ten celebrated female artists | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

World's Largest Stegosaurus Skeleton Ever Found Heads to Auction, With Mixed Reactions

Some scientists are concerned that offering the 150-million-year-old dinosaur, called "Apex," to the highest bidder could land the fossil in private hands, where it is unavailable to researchers | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

People Are Spotting Rare, Blue-Eyed Cicadas Around Illinois

As two broods of periodical cicadas emerge across the U.S. this spring, people have discovered a few of the bugs that don’t have their trademark red eyes | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

Trove of 600 Looted Italian Artifacts Worth $65 Million Comes Home

The collection includes artifacts spanning the ninth century B.C.E. to the second century C.E. | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

The Brothers Grimm Did Much More Than Tell Fairy Tales

A recent discovery in a Polish library of 27 books that wer thought to have been lost sheds light on the breadth of the German scholars' work | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

Climate Change Is Making Airplane Turbulence More Common and Severe, Scientists Say

Following turbulence on a flight last week that led to one death and dozens of injuries, researchers, flight attendants and transportation officials alike are warning about links between warmer air and turbulence | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

Wreck of WWII Submarine Found After 80 Years

The USS Harder, known by the nickname "Hit ‘em HARDER," was led by a commander known for his 'particularly audacious attacks' on Japanese warships | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

Rome's Talking Statues Have Served as Sites of Dissent for Centuries

Beginning in the Renaissance, locals affixed verses protesting various societal ills to six sculptures scattered across the Italian city | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

What Made Jim Henson, the Visionary Behind the Muppets, One of the Nation’s Most Beloved Cultural Figures

Museum collections and a new documentary on Jim Henson’s life and career reveal how his creativity cemented his legacy | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

Research Reveals Early Jamestown Settlers Ate Indigenous Dogs to Survive

Cut marks on canine bones demonstrate that English colonists relied on dogs for meals | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

Another Volcanic Eruption Hits Iceland, Launching Lava More Than 160 Feet Into the Air

It's the fifth eruption near the town of Grindavik since December, signaling a new era of volcanic activity for the region | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

Between Dives, Orcas Take Only a Single Breath

A new study finds the black-and-white marine mammals tend to make shorter, shallower dives compared to humpback and blue whales, making orcas the "sprinters" of the ocean | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

Eerie Lampreys Hint at the Origins of Our 'Fight-or-Flight' Response and Sympathetic Nervous System

The jawless, parasitic fish largely haven't changed over the last 340 million years, but they might be better sources for studying our own evolution than thought, a recent study suggests | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

Ramses II's Long-Lost Sarcophagus Has Finally Been Identified

An Egyptologist recently concluded that a fragment of an overlooked granite coffin bears the great pharaoh's name | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

Can Virtual Coworking Platforms Make Us More Productive?

Membership services like Flow Club, Flown and Caveday offer online study halls complete with proctors and goal setting | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

How Americans Got Hooked on Counting Calories More than Century Ago

A food history writer and an influential podcast host tell us how our thinking about health and body weight has—and hasn’t—evolved ever since Dr. Lulu Hunt Peters took the nation by storm | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

Bette Nash, Longest-Serving Flight Attendant in the World, Dies at 88

Nash became a flight attendant in 1957 and never stopped working | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

Crows Can 'Count' Up to Four Like Human Toddlers, Study Suggests

Three carrion crows engaged in a simplified version of counting when prompted, and the birds showed signs of planning out their responses | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

Groundbreaking Research Shows Ancient Egyptians Were Conducting Cancer Surgery Over 4,000 Years Ago

By putting an ancient skull under the microscope, scientists are proving that cancer research is about 1,000 years older than previously thought | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

Family Members Infected With Parasitic Worms After Eating Undercooked Bear Meat at Reunion

Six people developed symptoms of roundworm infection after consuming grilled black bear meat and vegetables in July 2022, and all have since recovered | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

The Children of Pompeii Saw Gladiators Fight to the Death—and They Drew Graffiti About It

Researchers recently discovered bloodshed-themed stick-figure sketches in a cluster of houses in the doomed ancient city | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

Robot Sets New Rubik's Cube Speed Record, Completing the Puzzle in 0.305 Seconds

A team of Mitsubishi engineers harnessed high-speed motors and an A.I. algorithm to eclipse the previous record, set six years ago | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

Venus Might Still Have Active Volcanoes, as Recent Lava Flows Suggest 'Ongoing' Eruptions

Astronomers have again discovered evidence of recent volcanic activity on Earth's sister planet in data from the 1990s | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

Why Do Trees Drop So Many Seeds One Year, and Then Hardly Any the Next?

A new paper suggests that plants may use slow seed years to prevent the spread of disease | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

Giant Pandas Are Coming Back to Washington, D.C.

A pair of the bears will arrive at the Smithsonian's National Zoo by the end of 2024 | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago

A Century Ago, This Law Underscored the Promises and Pitfalls of Native American Citizenship

The 1924 Indian Citizenship Act sought to assimilate Native people into white society. But the legislation, signed by President Calvin Coolidge, fell short | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 5 months ago