Why We're So Obsessed With Cute

A London exhibition explores how cute became such a powerful—and sometimes dangerous—cultural force | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 9 months ago

Which Dogs Live the Longest? Scientists Say Small and Long-Nosed Canines Outlive Others

A new study of more than 500,000 dogs in the United Kingdom adds more nuance to our understanding of their life expectancy based on breed, size, face shape and other factors | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 9 months ago

Who Stole—and Burned—This Jackie Robinson Statue?

Donations poured in to help replace the bronze statue, which a youth baseball nonprofit unveiled in 2021 | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 9 months ago

Humans and Neanderthals Lived Side-by-Side in Northern Europe 45,000 Years Ago, Study Finds

Archaeologists identified bone fragments of prehistoric modern humans in Germany, suggesting several millennia of coexistence with Neanderthals before the species disappeared | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 9 months ago

Prototype for Mars Helicopter Will Soon Be on Display at National Air and Space Museum

The surprisingly long-serving Ingenuity ended its historic service after breaking a rotor | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 9 months ago

Fifty Years After ‘Jaws,’ We’ve Learned a Lot About Great Whites

Though sport fishing tournaments and other activities led to population declines in the 1970s and 1980s, more recent science and conservation efforts have helped the sharks rebound | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 9 months ago

Hungry Sea Otters Help Prevent Erosion on California's Coast

The marine mammals, which were once hunted nearly to extinction, feed on crabs that would make the land more susceptible to erosion by digging holes in the soil and eating roots | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 9 months ago

Archaeologists Discover 1,700-Year-Old Jade Mask Inside the Tomb of a Maya King

Located in Guatemala, the tomb also held rare mollusk shells, carvings and other funeral offerings | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 9 months ago

Hermit Crabs Are Using Trash as Shells Across the World, Scientists Find

Researchers analyzed photographs of the crustaceans online, identifying nearly 400 examples of artificial shells, which were often plastic bottle caps | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 9 months ago

This Eight-Day Festival Celebrates One of Alaska's Weirdest Worms

Welcome to the Cordova Ice Worm Festival, a quirky local tradition honoring the mysterious creatures that live in glacial ice | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 9 months ago

Newly Discovered Papers From President McKinley's Assassination Are for Sale

The archive belonged to Herman Matzinger, who performed the autopsy on the 25th president and conducted a bacteriological analysis to rule out the possibility of poison-tipped bullets | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 9 months ago

Monarch Butterflies Wintering in California Are Down 30 Percent From Last Year

The insects' population is slowly rebounding from a historic low in 2020, but they remain in crisis, having declined by more than 95 percent since the 1980s | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 9 months ago

This Camera Is Taking a 1,000-Year-Long Exposure Photo of Tucson's Desert Landscape

Jonathon Keats, who devised the plan, hopes the camera will inspire onlookers to contemplate how humanity’s actions affect the environment | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 9 months ago

Thief Who Stole Dorothy's Ruby Slippers Avoids Prison

Terry Martin has been sentenced to one year of supervised release for swiping the iconic "Wizard of Oz" shoes from the Judy Garland Museum in 2005 | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 9 months ago

Syphilis Cases in the U.S. Are the Highest Since 1950

Diagnoses of the sexually transmitted infection rose by nearly 80 percent between 2018 and 2022, according to a new report from the CDC | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 9 months ago

Celebrate Winter in the Wild With 15 Photos of Animals Enjoying the Snow

These chilly but cute creatures will remind you what’s so wonderful about winter | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 9 months ago

Stolen by Mobsters 54 Years Ago, This 18th-Century Painting Was Just Returned to Its Rightful Owners

Authorities presented "The Schoolmistress" to 96-year-old Francis Wood, the original owner’s son, last month | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 9 months ago

Why Are Flying Insects 'Attracted' to Lights? Scientists May Finally Have an Answer

Moths and other insects might turn their backs toward the brightest source of light around—which has historically been the sky—to determine which way is up and which is down, according to a new paper | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 9 months ago

You Can Now Wear a Recreation of Scotland's Oldest Tartan

Fashion designers have created a fabric inspired by the Glen Affric tartan, which was discovered in a peat bog and dates to between 1500 and 1600 | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 9 months ago

Biologists Discover Four New Octopus Species in the Deep Ocean Off Costa Rica

One species was found brooding eggs near low-temperature hydrothermal vents, a rare sight that could unlock new information on deep-sea cephalopods | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 9 months ago

N. Scott Momaday Built the Foundations of Native American Literature

Smithsonian scholars offer their reflections on the author, who died last week at age 89, and his impact on a new generation of Native writers | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 9 months ago

Can a Brain Implant Treat Addiction?

Some experts tout deep brain stimulation as a lifeline for people struggling with opioid use. Others question the hype | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 9 months ago

How Shade Coffee Aids Conservation

When managed in the right way, the farms that provide our morning brew can be a refuge for plant and animal biodiversity | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 9 months ago

Mysterious Bass Sounds Irking Florida Residents Might Just Be Fish Mating Loudly

The Tampa community raised money to fund an investigation, and now, a local scientist will install underwater microphones to look for the source of the racket | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 9 months ago

The Real History Behind 'Feud: Capote vs. the Swans'

Ryan Murphy's new mini-series dramatizes the "In Cold Blood" author's betrayal of an insular group of Manhattan socialites | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 9 months ago

These Parrots Use Their Beaks to Swing Across Branches Like Monkeys

Scientists have documented the unusual movement, dubbed "beakiation," for the first time | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 10 months ago

One of David Hockney's First Pool Paintings Is Going on View for the First Time in 40 Years

"California," which set the stage for the British artist's later poolside pieces, is expected to sell for more than $20 million | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 10 months ago

Nearly 1,000 Manatees Converge on Florida State Park to Keep Warm in Record-Breaking Sighting

The park's naturally heated waters drew unprecedented numbers of the marine mammals, which are especially vulnerable to the cold | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 10 months ago

Everyone Thought This 4,000-Year-Old Tomb Had Been Destroyed. Then, an Archaeologist Found It

Billy Mag Fhloinn located the Altóir na Gréine, thought to have vanished in the 19th century, in southwest Ireland | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 10 months ago

See Dazzling New Images of 19 Spiral Galaxies Captured by the James Webb Space Telescope

These detailed infrared views, which contain millions of stars, will help astronomers better understand star formation and the evolution of spiral galaxies | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 10 months ago

Plagues That Ravaged the Roman Empire Were Linked to Periods of Cold Weather

The changing climate may have had ripple effects that made people more susceptible to disease, new research suggests | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 10 months ago

Scientists Build a Robot Dinosaur to Probe the Mystery of Tiny Wings

Robopteryx—a makeshift dinosaur with training wheels—offers clues to the purpose of prehistoric proto-wings, which are too small to have powered flight | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 10 months ago

Discover the Beasts of Switzerland’s Lötschental Valley

During Carnival, villagers wearing wooden masks and dressing like fearsome “tschäggättä” terrorize the streets | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 10 months ago

This 'Game-Changer' Detector Will Hunt for Giant Ripples in Spacetime

Set to launch in 2035, the European Space Agency's LISA mission will listen for gravitational waves created by colliding black holes and neutron stars—and some might date nearly to the Big Bang | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 10 months ago

These Paintings Reveal How the Dutch Adapted to Extreme Weather During the Little Ice Age

Artists like Pieter Bruegel the Elder and Hendrick Avercamp documented locals' resilience in the face of freezing winters and food shortages | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 10 months ago

Climate Activists Throw Soup at the 'Mona Lisa'

Protected by bulletproof glass, Leonardo da Vinci’s famous masterpiece was not harmed | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 10 months ago

Lost Gustav Klimt Portrait Rediscovered Nearly 100 Years After It Vanished

"Portrait of Fräulein Lieser," one of the last works the Austrian artist painted before his death, could sell for over $50 million | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 10 months ago

DNA From 2,000-Year-Old Skeletons Hints at the Origins of Syphilis

In contrast to a common theory, new findings suggest Columbus-led expeditions may not have transported syphilis to Europe from the Americas, though they cannot disprove the claim with certainty | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 10 months ago

'Extremely Rare' Sighting of Newborn Great White Shark Reported Off California Coast

If confirmed, the discovery could shed light on where the sharks give birth and mate, which has remained mysterious to scientists | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 10 months ago

Have Researchers Found Amelia Earhart's Long-Lost Plane?

A new sonar image shows an airplane-shaped object resting on the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, not far from where Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, went missing in 1937 | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 10 months ago

Archaeologists Uncover Abandoned Ancient Wine Shop in Greece

The Roman-era structure, filled with pottery shards and coins, was destroyed by a sudden and mysterious disaster | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 10 months ago

Iowa Museum Plans to Tear Down Acclaimed Land Art Installation

Known as the country's first urban wetland project, "Greenwood Pond" has been declared "no longer salvageable" due to financial constraints and structural decay | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 10 months ago

This Planned NASA Telescope May Help Us Identify Worlds Like Our Own

The innovative Habitable Worlds Observatory will offer ways to detect signs of life on other planets | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 10 months ago

The Sensation Novelist Who Exposed the Plight of Victorian Women

Wilkie Collins drew on his legal training to dramatize the inequality caused by outdated laws regarding marital and property rights | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 10 months ago

Bodies and Treasure Found in Polish Lake Could Be Connected to Ancient Water Ritual

New research suggests the Chelmno group followed their water burials with mass deposits of bronze jewelry and artifacts | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 10 months ago

These Parrots Won't Stop Swearing. Will They Learn to Behave—or Corrupt the Entire Flock?

A British zoo hopes the good manners of a larger group will rub off on the eight misbehaving birds | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 10 months ago

'Sensational' Medieval Armor Discovered Near a Castle in Switzerland

The rare 14th-century gauntlet is one of the best-preserved artifacts of its kind ever found in the country | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 10 months ago

NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Has Taken Its Final Flight

Originally designed for up to five flights on Mars, Ingenuity performed 72 over three years, until one of its rotor blades was damaged during landing on January 18 | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 10 months ago