The First A.I.-Generated Art Dates Back to the 1970s

A new show at the Whitney showcases the visionary who devised the art world’s first artificial intelligence | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 9 months ago

The Dugong, a Huggable, Seagrass-Loving Sea Cow, Has a New Best Friend: Drones

Keeping tabs on the species' populations is surprisingly hard. A new aerial effort tracks the marks they leave behind | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 9 months ago

The Remarkable Untold Story of Sojourner Truth

Feminist. Preacher. Abolitionist. Civil rights pioneer. Now the full story of the American icon's life and faith is finally coming to light | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 9 months ago

A Brief History of How Carnival Is Celebrated Around the World

Here’s how Venice, Rio de Janeiro, Trinidad and Tobago, New Orleans, and Quebec City mark the pre-Lenten season | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 9 months ago

Inert Cold War-Era Missile Discovered in a Washington Man's Garage

A resident of Bellevue, Washington, attempted to donate the historic artifact to a museum, which alerted authorities | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 9 months ago

This Organ Is Playing a 639-Year-Long Song. It Just Changed Chords for the First Time in Two Years

The instrument has been playing composer John Cage's "ASLSP" since 2001—and it's scheduled to conclude in 2640 | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 9 months ago

Iceland Volcano Erupts Again, Cutting Off Hot Water From Towns and Spewing Fountains of Lava

This marks the third eruption since December in a region that, prior to 2021, hadn't seen volcanic activity for centuries | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 9 months ago

Stolen Chagall Print Recovered Months After Thieves Stuffed It Into a 1996 Honda and Sped Away

Detectives have arrested two suspects involved in the dramatic heist at a New York City gallery | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 9 months ago

Paleontologists Discover Two New Shark Species From Fossils in Mammoth Cave National Park

The "active predators" prowled the oceans more than 325 million years ago, before the time of Pangea | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 9 months ago

An Icy Moon of Saturn May Be Hiding a Vast Ocean Under Its Crust, Surprising Astronomers

Researchers suggest a global ocean lies 15 miles beneath the surface of Saturn's "Death Star" moon, Mimas—a shocking discovery that could redefine what a habitable world looks like | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 9 months ago

In a First, a Prosthetic Limb Can Sense Temperature Like a Living Hand

The advance may help users feel a greater sense of human connection through touch | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 9 months ago

Is Kyrgyzstan the Next Adventure Travel Destination?

Breathtaking hikes, yurt stays and opportunities for cultural immersion are attracting trekkers from around the world | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 9 months ago

Why Is the Year of the Dragon Considered So Lucky?

The only mythical creature in the Chinese zodiac, the dragon has long been associated with prosperity and imperial power | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 9 months ago

Are You Ready for Some Football? Prep for the Super Bowl With 15 Thrilling Photos of Americans Tossing the Pigskin

Celebrate the cherished American sport before the big game | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 9 months ago

California Hammered by Heavy Rains, Mudslides in Devastating Atmospheric River Storms

Some areas received as much as 13 to 15 inches of rain over a five-day period as storms felled trees, destroyed homes and killed nine people | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 9 months ago

Monumental Sculpture Reimagines 'The Last Supper' With Black Historical Figures

Tavares Strachan's "The First Supper" took four years to sculpt and is now on display at an exhibition in London | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 9 months ago

Archaeologists Discover Rare Roman Funerary Bed Buried Beneath London

The wooden bed was likely dismantled IKEA-style before being buried alongside a high-status individual | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 9 months ago

Earth Clocks Hottest January on Record, Marking 12 Months Above 1.5 Degree Celsius Warming Threshold

Though the world has not officially breached the Paris Agreement, the historic heat on land and at sea is a "significant milestone" | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 9 months ago

Graffiti Artists Tag 27 Floors of Abandoned Skyscraper in Los Angeles

The street art brought new attention to a $1 billion project that's been stalled since 2019 | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 9 months ago

How to Watch the Spectacular Total Solar Eclipse in April 2024

The moon will appear to completely block the sun's light across parts of Mexico, the United States and Canada on April 8—here's how to make the most of this rare celestial phenomenon | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 9 months ago

Paleontologists Are Still Unraveling the Mystery of the First Dinosaur

Two hundred years after it was first named, scientists are just beginning to reveal the secrets of Megalosaurus | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 9 months ago

Was This Villa Pliny the Elder’s Front-Row Seat to Mount Vesuvius' Eruption?

Researchers are wondering whether a newly discovered villa in southern Italy could be linked to the celebrated scholar | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 9 months ago

Abraham Lincoln's Oft-Overlooked Campaign to Promote Immigration to the U.S.

A few weeks after the president delivered the Gettysburg Address, he called on Congress to welcome immigrants as a "source of national wealth and strength" | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 9 months ago

Los Angeles Museum Returns Artifacts to Ghana That Were Taken by British Forces in 1874

Museum officials traveled to the city of Kumasi to return the objects on the 150th anniversary of their seizure | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 9 months ago

After Police Kill Unarmed Black People, Black Americans Lose Sleep, Study Finds

New research draws a link between unequal exposure to police violence and lack of sleep for Black adults | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 9 months ago

See Detailed New Images of Io From Another NASA Flyby of the Solar System's Most Volcanic World

The stunning views show lava flows and volcanic plumes, as scientists seek to learn what causes such volatile conditions on the moon of Jupiter | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 9 months ago

These Photos Capture Every First and Last Subway Stop in New York City

Photographer Rita Nannini traveled across 665 miles of track and snapped some 8,000 images | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 9 months ago

A Lunar New Year Staple, Tang Yuan Are a 'Dose of Luck and Sweetness'

The chewy rice balls ooze with indulgent filling and layers of symbolism | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 9 months ago

These Pits Carved Into Rocks in Kenya Might Be Ancient Game Boards

An archaeologist thinks the small, carved holes were used by herders for games of mancala up to 5,000 years ago | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 9 months ago

Ocean Sponge Skeletons Suggest a More Significant History of Global Warming Than Originally Thought

Analysis of the sea creatures’ skeletal chemistry suggests the world’s temperatures have increased by 1.7 degrees Celsius since pre-industrial times | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 9 months ago

This Peaceful Nature Sanctuary in Washington, D.C. Sits on the Ruins of a Plantation

Before Theodore Roosevelt Island was transformed into a tribute to the nation's "conservation president," a prominent Virginia family relied on enslaved laborers to build and tend to its summer home there | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 9 months ago

Police Find Ancient Teenager’s Body, Preserved in Irish Bog for 2,500 Years

Nicknamed the "Bellaghy Boy," he was likely between 13 and 17 when he died around 500 B.C.E. | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 9 months ago

Do We Need a Category 6 Designation for Hurricanes?

Global warming is leading to more intense storms well above the threshold for Category 5 hurricanes, scientists write in a new paper | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 9 months ago

This Medieval Sword Spent 1,000 Years at the Bottom of a Polish River

Construction crews stumbled upon the weapon while dredging the Vistula River in Włocławek | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 9 months ago

Clownfish Can 'Count' Stripes on Other Fish to Identify Intruders, Study Suggests

Notoriously aggressive, common clownfish may be using basic mathematics to determine if another fish is a friend or foe | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 9 months ago

Three Students Just Deciphered the First Passages of a 2,000-Year-Old Scroll Burned in Vesuvius' Eruption

The trio used artificial intelligence to decode sections of the text, which appear to be a philosophical exploration of pleasure | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 9 months ago

The Moon Is Shrinking, Causing Moonquakes at a Potential NASA Landing Site, Study Finds

Though the risk to astronauts is low, the shaking could cause landslides and impact potential long-term settlements at the lunar south pole | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 9 months ago

Uncovering the Secrets of Colombia's Rich Fossil Deposits

Paleontologists are working hard to understand oceanic remains buried high in the Andes | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 9 months ago

How the Smithsonian Is Helping Black Americans Trace Their Roots

Free sessions hosted by the National Museum of African American History and Culture offer visitors advice on researching their genealogy | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 9 months ago

See Long-Lost Artifacts From Early Black Cinema

Now open in Detroit, "Regeneration: Black Cinema, 1898–1971" showcases nearly 200 rare props, posters, photographs and more | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 9 months ago

Forgotten J.M.W. Turner Watercolor Discovered in an Attic

The painter, renowned for his atmospheric landscapes, created the sketch of Hampton Court Castle in England when he was about 21 | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 9 months ago

Rare Fossil Shows Trees Looked Very Different 350 Million Years Ago

The newly discovered specimen looks like something from the imagination of Dr. Seuss, and it sheds light on a little-understood era of prehistory | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 9 months ago

Should Egypt Renovate This Ancient Pyramid?

Officials have announced plans to rebuild the granite blocks they say once covered the Pyramid of Menkaure | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 9 months ago

Why Do Women Get More Autoimmune Diseases? Study of Mice Hints at Answers

Four in five people with an autoimmune disease are women. New research points to an RNA molecule involved in silencing one of their X chromosomes as a potential culprit | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 9 months ago

Six Big Ways Climate Change Could Impact the United States by 2100

Climate change is expected to affect all parts of the country in the coming decades, threatening everything from our food supply to our coastlines | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 9 months ago

Millennia After Leonidas Made His Last Stand at Thermopylae, a Ragtag Band of Saboteurs Thwarted the Axis Powers in the Same Narrow Pass

A new book chronicles the 16-plus battles that took place in the Greek pass between the ancient era and World War II | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 9 months ago

Stone Age People Used This 35,000-Year-Old Woolly Mammoth Tusk Tool to Make Rope, Scientists Say

To test their hypothesis that the perforated object was a tool, researchers used a replica to create a 16-foot-long rope from cattail reeds | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 9 months ago

Archaeologists Discover a 'High-End' Blacksmith's Iron Age Workshop

Found in Oxfordshire, the "smithy" was active at the beginning of a transformative era in Britain | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 9 months ago