Lost Silent Film Featuring Clara Bow Discovered in a $20 Box of Old Reels

Bow, who also serves as inspiration for a new Taylor Swift song, was one of Hollywood's first starlets | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 7 months ago

A Study for the Portrait Winston Churchill Famously Abhorred Is for Sale

The final painting, dramatized on Netflix's "The Crown," was secretly burned in the middle of the night | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 7 months ago

11-Year-Old Uncovers Fossils of Giant Ichthyosaur in England, the Largest Marine Reptile Ever Found, Scientists Say

The jawbone fragments belonged to an 82-foot-long creature that represents a new species, according to a new study | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 7 months ago

A Rare Nova Explosion Will Soon Bring a 'New Star' to the Night Sky—How to Catch a Glimpse

In an event that occurs only once every 80 years, a distant remnant of a star will grow much brighter, briefly becoming visible to Earth | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 7 months ago

Overdue Book Returned to Colorado Library After 105 Years

The Fort Collins library waived the fine, which totaled over $14,000 when adjusted for inflation | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 7 months ago

A Stellar Collision Birthed the 'Dragon's Egg' Nebula, a Puzzling Structure in the Milky Way

The colorful cloud of gas and dust has a violent origin—and this explains the unusual traits of two massive stars within it, astronomers say | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 7 months ago

You Can Visit the World's Largest Continuous Dinosaur Trackway, Now on Protected Public Land

In the Late Jurassic, a long-necked dinosaur made a 270-degree turn while walking in present-day Colorado—and left behind a rare treat for paleontologists | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 7 months ago

Two Vandals at Lake Mead Toppled Rock Formations Made From 140-Million-Year-Old Dunes

Authorities are seeking information about the men, whose crime was captured on video on April 7 | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 7 months ago

Journey Under the Sea With 15 Amazing Photos of Marine Life

These Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest images feature the captivating creatures that live beneath the waves | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 7 months ago

See 25 Astonishing Images From the World Press Photo Contest

The winning photographs capture moving moments in the midst of tumultuous global events | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 7 months ago

What Myths About the Anthropocene Get Wrong

These ten misconceptions underplay how much we have altered the global environment and undermine the new perspective we need to deal with a drastically changed world | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 7 months ago

Why Do Some People Always Get Lost?

Research suggests that experience may matter more than innate ability when it comes to a sense of direction | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 7 months ago

Scrabble Introduces a Less Competitive Version of the Classic Word Game

Scrabble Together, now available in Europe, is the first major update to the game in more than 75 years | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 7 months ago

Why the Daughter of an American Archaeologist Sent Her Father's Collection to Peru

Unlike many of his peers, John Howland Rowe viewed the country as a source of partnership, not a laboratory to play in | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 7 months ago

What Happens When Animals Cross the Road

Our byways are an unnatural incursion into the natural world, especially when they’re allowed to fall into disuse. Meet a roadkill scientist and a journalist tracking how roads mess with nature—and what we can do about it | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 7 months ago

Fire Devastates Copenhagen's Historic Stock Exchange

Its signature 184-foot spire collapsed, but rescuers salvaged some of the valuable artworks inside | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 7 months ago

The Olympic Torch Relay Began in Nazi Germany

After a torch-lighting ceremony this week, the Olympic flame began its long journey from Olympia to Paris | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 7 months ago

Astronomers Discover a 'Sleeping Giant' Black Hole in Our Galaxy—the Second-Closest Known to Earth

Called Gaia BH3, the dormant black hole is 33 times more massive than the sun, making it the largest recorded stellar black hole in the Milky Way | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 7 months ago

Hibernating Bumblebee Queens Can Survive Underwater for Up to a Week, Study Finds

Researchers discovered the insects’ unexpected superpower during an accidental laboratory snafu | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 7 months ago

The World's Fourth Mass Coral Bleaching Event Is Underway—and It Could Become the Worst One Yet

The impacted reefs represent 54 percent of the planet's total, and that figure is currently increasing by 1 percent each week, NOAA scientists say | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 7 months ago

What Flaco the Owl’s Death Teaches Us About Making Cities Safer for Birds

Ornithologists and conservationists say humans can take key steps to make urban environments less hazardous for our avian friends | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 7 months ago

You Can Chat With an A.I. Replica of Salvador Dalí

At a Florida museum, "Ask Dalí" allows visitors to speak with the Surrealist artist via a lobster telephone | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 7 months ago

The 18th-Century Baron Who Lent His Name to Munchausen Syndrome

The medical condition is named after a fictional storyteller who in turn was based on a real-life German nobleman known for telling tall tales | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 7 months ago

Family Accidentally Ends Up With 50 Baby Octopuses After Their Pet—Thought to Be Male—Laid Dozens of Eggs

Now, the Oklahoma residents are working with aquariums and researchers that might take the babies | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 7 months ago

The Nepali Army Is Removing Trash and Bodies From Mount Everest

They expect to haul off ten metric tons of garbage and up to five bodies from the world's tallest peak | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 7 months ago

Peek Inside a California Condor Egg Just Before It Hatched, With This CT Scan of the Baby Bird

Last month, the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance welcomed its 250th California condor chick in its breeding program, and the CT scan helped determine the bird was well-positioned for hatching | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 7 months ago

How Museums Are Preserving and Celebrating Selena's Legacy

The singer’s presence can still be felt at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 7 months ago

A Book Bound With Human Skin Spent 90 Years in Harvard's Library. Now, the Binding Has Been Removed

In the late 19th century, a French physician took the skin, without consent, from a female psychiatric patient who had died | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 7 months ago

Chechnya Bans Music That Isn't Between 80 and 116 Beats Per Minute

Officials have given artists until June 1 to rewrite material that does not fall within the accepted range | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 7 months ago

How King's College Added 438 Solar Panels to a 500-Year-Old Chapel

The project sparked debate over how to decrease carbon emissions while preserving the historic structure's architectural beauty | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 7 months ago

To Help the Allied War Effort, These Scientists Got Drunk on Nitrogen

During World War II, British researchers conducted tests on themselves to gauge how submariners' brains would function at extreme depths | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 7 months ago

The English Farmers Who Harvest Rhubarb by Candlelight

The secret to the world’s sweetest rhubarb? Sealed sheds, total darkness and a little old-fashioned flair | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 7 months ago

The Seven Most Amazing Discoveries We’ve Made by Exploring Mercury

Only two robotic missions have made it to the Swift Planet, but they were crucial for upending many false assumptions of that sun-scorched world | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 7 months ago

Male Bonobos, Close Human Relatives Long Thought to Be Peaceful, Are Actually Quite Aggressive, Study Suggests

The new research found bonobos were three times more likely than chimpanzees to commit an act of physical aggression | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 7 months ago

Rare 100-Year-Old Train Carriage Found Buried in Belgium

The wooden LNER train wagon was a "removals truck" used to move people's belongings between residences | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 7 months ago

'Spectacular' Frescoes of Helen of Troy, Apollo and Zeus Unearthed Among the Ruins of Pompeii

Found in an ancient dining hall, the artworks depict characters associated with the Trojan War | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 7 months ago

U.S. Measles Cases Are Rising in 2024, CDC Warns

Health officials urge vaccination against the highly contagious virus, which has caused 121 infections in the country this year | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 7 months ago

Meteorites Are Becoming Harder to Find as They Sink Into Antarctica's Melting Ice

The disappearing space rocks are burying valuable clues into the history and composition of our solar system, according to a new study | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 7 months ago

This ‘Zen’ Motorcycle Still Inspires Philosophical Road-Trippers 50 Years Later

Robert M. Pirsig’s odyssey vehicle takes its final ride as it vrooms into public view for the first time ever at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 7 months ago

Northern Europe and the British Isles

Explore the region's history, culture and natural wonders | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 7 months ago

Did Ancient South Americans Keep Foxes as Pets?

At a cemetery in Argentina, a 1,500-year-old fox buried alongside humans suggests a "close relationship" between the species, researchers say | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 7 months ago

This Play Within a Play Confronts the Power Dynamic Between Sally Hemings and Thomas Jefferson

In "Sally & Tom," Pulitzer Prize winner Suzan-Lori Parks continues her investigation of American myths | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 7 months ago

Pioneering Artist Faith Ringgold Stitched Together Stories of Black Life

The Harlem-born painter, who died this week at age 93, elevated the everyday lives of Black Americans and fought for representation in major museums | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 7 months ago

EPA Sets First Federal Limits on Dangerous 'Forever Chemicals' in Drinking Water

Public water systems will have to test water and reduce levels of six types of PFAS if they aren't in compliance with the new rule | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 7 months ago

Stranded on a Remote Pacific Island, Three Men Spelled 'HELP' With Palm Fronds and Got Rescued

The experienced sailors lived on coconut meat and well water for more than a week, after their boat became damaged | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 7 months ago

Employee Quietly Sneaks His Own Painting Onto the Walls of a German Museum

After discovering the stunt, the Pinakothek der Moderne fired the staffer and reported the crime to the police | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 7 months ago

Arts Center in Gaza Destroyed in Israeli Hospital Siege

Shababeek for Contemporary Art was the last established visual arts center still standing in the enclave | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 7 months ago

The Royal Family Is Opening Balmoral Castle to the Public For the First Time in History

The special interior tours of the royal family's Scottish retreat sold out in less than a day | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 7 months ago