Women Now Live Nearly Six Years Longer Than Men in the United States

Disparities from Covid-19 and opioid overdose deaths are major contributors to the widening gap, according to a new study | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

This Forgotten Masterpiece Was Hanging Above an Elderly French Woman's Hot Plate. Now, It's Heading to the Louvre

The French government gave the museum 30 months to raise the funds to purchase the Cimabue painting | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Are Psychedelics the Future of Eating Disorder Treatment?

The drugs have been shown to reduce depression and anxiety symptoms and make individuals more flexible in their thinking | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Metal Pollution May Be Making More Green Sea Turtles Female

In addition to warming temperatures, new research finds contaminants might contribute to the endangered reptiles' skewed sex ratios | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Why Is Medieval Art So Weird?

Titled "Weird Medieval Guys," a new book examines illustrations of armless frogs, human-sized snails and more | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

U.S. Army Clears 110 Black Soldiers Charged in 1917 Houston Riots

The soldiers have been given honorable discharges, and their families may now be eligible for benefits | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Here's What Causes Fainting, According to New Research

Scientists have discovered a pathway between the heart and brain in mice that appears to be involved during loss of consciousness | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Taylor Swift-Themed Cruise Sets Sail Next Year

The four-night sailing is organized by Swifties, though the singer-songwriter herself won't be on board | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Explore Zagreb Through the Eyes and Works of Ivan Meštrović

Croatia's capital city is a living canvas and a tribute to one of the most profound sculptors of the 20th century | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

How Cabinets of Curiosities Laid the Foundation for Modern Museums

An exhibition at LACMA examines the legacy of Dutch colonization through a fictive 17th-century collector's room of wonders | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

How NASA Captured Asteroid Dust to Find the Origins of Life

The sample of the space rock Bennu that OSIRIS-REx collected could unlock an ancient existential mystery | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

A Robotic 'A.I. Chemist' Could Make Oxygen on Mars

In a lab on Earth, the machine created a catalyst from Martian materials that can extract oxygen from water, for astronauts to breathe or use as fuel | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

See What Your Brain Does When You Look at Art

A new device translates museum-goers' brainwaves into a simplified real-time visualization | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Puking Bird Wins New Zealand's Bird of the Century Contest After John Oliver Campaign

The comedian launched an “alarmingly aggressive” global effort on behalf of the pūteketeke to shore up its victory in the annual popularity competition | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

How to Watch the Dazzling Leonid Meteor Shower This Weekend

The celestial spectacle has been ongoing since the beginning of the month, but it will peak Friday night into early Saturday morning | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Titanic Passengers Dined in Style Before Disaster Struck

A water-stained first-class dinner menu dated April 11, 1912 just sold for more than $100,000 | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Australia's Oldest Known Bird Tracks Are 120 Million Years Old

In that age, the continent was attached to Antarctica, but migrating animals still traveled to the polar region for sustenance | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Shakespeare's Portrait Travels to Edge of Space

The stunt was planned to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the Bard's First Folio | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

How Princess Diana's Death Transformed the Royal Family

The last season of "The Crown" will examine the aftermath of the beloved royal's death in a car accident in 1997 | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Iceland Braces for a Likely Volcanic Eruption as Earthquakes Increase

The country's Reykjanes Peninsula has been experiencing swarms of seismic activity for weeks, as magma accumulates beneath the surface | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Astronauts Lost a Tool Bag During a Spacewalk—and You Can See It Floating From Earth

The bag slipped away while Jasmin Moghbeli and Loral O’Hara were performing routine maintenance on the International Space Station | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

'Femme à la Montre' Becomes Second Most Expensive Picasso Ever Sold

The 1932 painting of the artist's mistress, Marie-Thérèse Walter, fetched $139 at auction | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Watch How Hummingbirds Fly Through Narrow Spaces

Slow-motion video revealed the birds take two different approaches: flying sideways or pinning their wings back and darting like a bullet | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Madrid's Prado Museum Shows What’s Behind Famous Paintings—Literally

The new exhibition “On the Reverse” encourages visitors to think of paintings as three-dimensional objects by showing their back sides | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

How Citizen Scientists Rescued Crucial World War II Weather Data

Newly declassified documents from the Pacific theater have been digitized and could improve climate models | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Beyoncé, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Other Iconic Women Take Their Place at the Smithsonian

This year, the National Portrait Gallery's annual showcase of new acquisitions spotlights female subjects and female artists | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

This Ancient Egyptian Burial Chamber Was Filled With Spells to Ward Off Snake Bites

Although serpents were a symbol of protection for the Egyptians, the discovery suggests some were wary of getting venomous bites after death | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Why Collectors Fall Head Over Heels for the 'Inverted Jenny' Stamp

One of the rare 24-cent misprints sold at auction this week for a record-breaking $2 million | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Why Collectors Fall Head Over Heels for the 'Inverted Jenny' Stamp

One of the rare 24-cent misprints sold at auction this week for a record-breaking $2 million | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

How Stone Walls Became a Signature Landform of New England

Originally built as barriers between fields and farms, the region’s abandoned farmstead walls have since become the binding threads of its cultural fabric | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Scientists Find 'Lost' Echidna Species for the First Time in 60 Years

An expedition team in Indonesia spotted the elusive, egg-laying mammal, which is named after David Attenborough and had not been documented since 1961 | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Only Ten Babe Ruth Rookie Baseball Cards Survive. Now, One Is Going Up for Auction

Bidding starts at $2.5 million, but the auction house expects the 1914 collectible to sell for much more—and possibly break memorabilia records | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Bacteria to Blame for Elephant Deaths in Zimbabwe

Researchers are just now uncovering what may have killed 35 of the animals three years ago | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

This Desert Plant's Salty 'Sweat' Can Collect Water From the Air

The athel tamarisk's hydration trick could improve on human techniques to harvest water in dry environments, researchers say | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Italian Divers Revive Centuries-Old Tradition to Help Save European Perch

Nurseries built from bundles of tree branches may help conserve the freshwater fish in the age of climate change | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Saturn's Rings Will Temporarily Disappear From View in 2025

From Earth’s perspective, we’ll be looking at the gas giant’s rings edge-on, making them nearly impossible to see | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Hadrian's Wall Damaged by Sycamore Gap Tree Felling, Inspection Confirms

Cut down by a chainsaw, the beloved tree fell atop the 1,900-year-old Roman wall in September | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Wind May Have Helped Sculpt Egypt's Famous Sphinx

New research suggests that a natural rock formation served as the famous sculpture's foundation | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Surgeons Perform World's First Whole Eyeball Transplant on Arkansas Veteran

The patient, who suffered a severe electrical accident in 2021, currently has no vision in the transplanted eye, but doctors say he's recovering well | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Dense 'Super Fog' Causes Deadly Car Crashes in Louisiana

The thick haze lowers visibility to less than ten feet and forms when smoke from smoldering leaves, brush or trees mixes with moisture in cool air | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Researchers Have Finally Identified the Mystery Man on a Led Zeppelin Album Cover

Once thought to be a painting, the image of the "stick man" was hiding in a Victorian photo album in England | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Fossil Fuel Production on Track to Increase Despite Climate Promises, Report Finds

World governments are planning to produce 110 percent more coal, oil and gas in 2030 than is allowed under the Paris Agreement, U.N. says | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

How an Ancient Practice Aids Marine Conservation

In French Polynesia, the art of rahui puts everyone in charge of protecting the sea | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Modern Medicine Traces Its Scientific Roots to the Middle Ages

Contrary to popular belief, early medieval doctors relied on rational deduction to understand and treat disease | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Malcolm X Opera Opens in New York

The Afrofuturist production examines the civil rights leader's legacy and lasting influence | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Astronomers Spot the Oldest Black Hole Ever Seen, Shedding Light on the Early Universe

Dating to just 470 million years after the Big Bang, the ancient cosmic structure could help researchers understand how the first black holes formed | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Four Men Charged With 2019 Theft of $6 Million Gold Toilet

Titled "America," the infamous 18-karat loo was created by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Cheetahs Become More Nocturnal in Extreme Heat, Study Finds

Hunting later at night may force the big cats to surrender their prey to larger carnivores, such as lions and leopards | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago