This Device Might Be England's Oldest Dated Scientific Instrument

The 712-year-old artifact is a horary quadrant, a medieval tool used to tell time based on the position of the sun | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 11 months ago

During Covid-19 Lockdowns, Fish Flourished in This Park

In the absence of tourists, the animals increased within Mexico’s Cabo Pulmo National Park | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 11 months ago

Descendants of Black Civil War Heroes Wear Their Heritage With Pride

A bold new photographic project asks modern-day Americans to recreate portraits of their 19th-century ancestors in painstakingly accurate fashion | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 11 months ago

Archaeologists Discover Brutal 'Bakery-Prison' at Pompeii

Enslaved workers toiled for hours in a dark, cramped space to grind grain for bread | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 11 months ago

Fossil Hunters Uncover Prehistoric 'Sea Monster' Skull at a U.K. Beach

The six-and-a-half-foot-long pliosaur skull was excavated from a rock cliff in England and may belong to a new species, scientists say | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 11 months ago

Parts of China's Great Wall Are Protected by a 'Living Cover' of Biocrusts

The layer of lichen, moss and cyanobacteria helps shield the historic structure from erosion, a new study finds | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 11 months ago

Meet the Woman Who Set the Stage for Beyoncé, the Olympics and the Royal Opera House

The award-winning set designer Es Devlin explores the art of creating spectacle | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 11 months ago

Eels Can Genetically Modify Nearby Fish With Their Electrical Pulses

In laboratory experiments, gene transfer occurred in 5 percent of zebrafish larvae that were near eels when they discharged electricity | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 11 months ago

These May Be the Last Photos Ever Taken of Florence Nightingale

The rare images are among a collection of artifacts connected to the "Lady with the Lamp" that recently sold at auction | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 11 months ago

Could a 550-Mile Pipeline From the Ocean Save the Great Salt Lake? Scientists Say Probably Not

New research suggests the electricity costs would exceed $300 million per year and carbon dioxide emissions could approach one million metric tons annually | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 11 months ago

A New Encyclopedia Explores Europe's Smelly History

Odeuropa is an online database of scents from 16th- to early 20th-century Europe culled from historical literature and art | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 11 months ago

Giant Goldfish Are Bad News for the Great Lakes

Researchers are tracking invasive goldfish—which, often, were once kept as pets—in Lake Ontario to determine how best to manage them | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 11 months ago

A Book Club Began 'Finnegans Wake' in 1995. After 28 Years, It Finally Reached the End

The group meets once a month to talk about one or two pages of the bewildering James Joyce novel | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 11 months ago

52 Cold-Stunned Kemp's Ridley Sea Turtles Rescued From Cape Cod

The critically endangered creatures were flown by private plane to rehabilitation centers in Florida | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 11 months ago

New Met Exhibition Celebrates Women Fashion Designers

"Women Dressing Women" gives often-forgotten figures in fashion history their due | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 11 months ago

Artists Have Been Flocking to Scottsdale for Decades—Here’s Why You Should, Too

Discover a city that is both a canvas and a muse for creators of all kinds | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 11 months ago

An Asteroid Will Eclipse a Red Star in the Constellation Orion Monday Night

In the U.S., the rare event will only be visible from southern Florida, but it will be livestreamed from Italy for viewers everywhere | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 11 months ago

Peach Fuzz Is Pantone's Color of the Year for 2024

The gentle, pinkish-orange hue was chosen to reflect a collective desire for respite | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 11 months ago

Ancient Egyptians Kept Baboons in Captivity and Mummified Their Remains

A new analysis of the animals' skeletal remains reveals a lack of sunlight and an inadequate diet | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 11 months ago

The Top Ten Dinosaur Discoveries of 2023

From uncovering a tyrannosaur’s last meal to unlocking the secrets of a dino with a really long neck, these were the year’s biggest stories | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 11 months ago

Rare, White Alligator Born at Florida Wildlife Park

The baby gator, which doesn't have a name yet, was born with leucism, a condition that affects pigmentation | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 11 months ago

Alicia Keys' 'Hell's Kitchen' Will Open on Broadway

The musical is loosely based on the 15-time Grammy winner's childhood | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 11 months ago

Once Thought to Be Plants, These Rare Fossils Are Actually Baby Turtles, Scientists Say

The prehistoric specimens found in Colombia could represent one of the oldest and largest turtle species to ever exist | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 11 months ago

Amazing Fossil Preserves Teenage Tyrannosaur’s Last Meal

Stomach contents from a juvenile Gorgosaurus reveal it feasted on small, bird-like species 75 million years ago | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 11 months ago

Anchor From 1906 Shipwreck Found in Florida

The steamship "St. Lucie" went down in a hurricane, killing 26 passengers on board | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 11 months ago

Soar Through the Himalayas With These 15 Breathtaking Photos of Nepal

Travel vicariously to one of the world’s most picturesque locales | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 11 months ago

How James McNeill Whistler Captured Life in the Big City

The painter’s streetscapes and neighborhood scenes mesmerize, but now he is being recognized for documenting a changing urban landscape | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 11 months ago

This Simple Trick Will Help You Brew Better Coffee, According to Scientists

New research explores how moisture affects static electricity and clumping of ground coffee beans | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 11 months ago

Kiss Debuts Digital Avatars That Will Keep the Band 'Forever Young and Forever Iconic'

The rock band is the first in the U.S. to immortalize its performances with a digital recreation | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 11 months ago

The World's Oldest Living Land Animal, a Tortoise Named Jonathan, Turns 191

Even at his advanced age, the Seychelles giant tortoise shows “no sign of slowing down,” his vet tells Guinness World Records | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 11 months ago

You Can Recreate the Iconic 1932 'Lunch Atop a Skyscraper' Photo

Visitors will be safely strapped in as they sit atop a beam hundreds of feet above New York City | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 11 months ago

2023 Will Officially Be the Hottest Year on Record, Scientists Say

A new report finds the global average temperature so far this year is 1.46 degrees Celsius warmer than the pre-industrial average | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 11 months ago

The Ten Best Science Books of 2023

From stories on the depths of the ocean to the stars in the sky, these are the works that moved us the most this year | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 11 months ago

How Children's Book Author Leo Lionni Urged His Readers to Be Change Makers

The multidisciplinary artist wanted us to imagine how we can shape society and uplift our communities | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 11 months ago

New Exhibition Celebrates the Bond Between an Artist and Her Guide Dog

Artist Emilie Gossiaux has been working with a 13-year-old lab named London for a decade | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 11 months ago

The Black Sailor Whose Heroic Actions During a Shipwreck Made Him an Instant Celebrity of the Roaring Twenties

Lionel Licorish earned accolades for rescuing as many as 20 passengers from the wreckage of the S.S. "Vestris" | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 11 months ago

Wild Kiwis Born Near New Zealand's Capital for the First Time in More Than 150 Years

Conservationists discovered two brown kiwi chicks one year after the birds were reintroduced in a Wellington suburb | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 11 months ago

When Keith Haring, Salvador Dalí and Jean-Michel Basquiat Created an Art Amusement Park

A resurrected version of Luna Luna, a fairground started by artist André Heller in 1987, opens in Los Angeles later this month | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 11 months ago

You Can Spend the Night in Santa Claus' Cabin—and Help Sort His Mail

Airbnb is offering one family a chance to spend three festive nights in Rovaniemi, Finland | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 11 months ago

DNA Pulled From Paw Prints May Help Researchers Study Elusive Polar Bears

As rising temperatures threaten the Arctic mammals, scientists are turning to new, non-invasive methods to study them | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 11 months ago

Male Mosquitoes May Have Once Sucked Blood, Amber Fossils Suggest

Today, only female mosquitoes feed on the blood of animals, while males are satisfied with plant juices | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 11 months ago

'Bone Biographies' Reconstruct Lives of Medieval Cambridge Commoners

Researchers have used skeletal remains to compile information about the lives of ordinary residents of the city | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 11 months ago

Norman Lear Brought Big Issues to the Small Screen

At his peak, the television icon, who died at 101, reached more than 120 million Americans with shows like "All in the Family" | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 11 months ago

Scientists Examine Brain Cells That Control How Much Mice Eat

The study—the first to look at these neurons while animals are awake and consuming food—could tell us about our own appetites | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 11 months ago

Here's What We Know About Neanderthals So Far

Today, thanks to new artifacts and technologies, findings about our closest relatives are coming thick and fast | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 11 months ago

Colorado Will Reintroduce Endangered Gray Wolves This Month

In 2020, voters narrowly passed a measure in favor of wolf reintroduction, and now, wildlife officials are about to begin the controversial effort | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 11 months ago

How Zines Brought Power to Those on the Margins of Culture

A new exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum examines zines' role in art history and community building | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 11 months ago

David Hockney Illuminates London's Battersea Power Station With Digital Christmas Trees

The celebrated 86-year-old designed the large-scale holiday displays using his iPad | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 11 months ago