How an Orca Skeleton Made Its Way From Florida to the Smithsonian

Washed up in a rare stranding event, the newly collected specimen will offer rich exploration for researchers | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

The Asteroid Hit by NASA Seems to Be Moving Strangely, High School Students Find

After the DART spacecraft made contact with Dimorphos last year, the space rock's orbit is declining more than expected, according to preliminary research | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

The Met's Free Children’s Studio Is Finally Here

Called 81st Street Studio, the sprawling play space encourages interactive engagement with art and science | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

1,000-Year-Old Mummy With a Full Head of Hair Discovered in Peru

The remains belonged to the Ychsma culture, a group that lived in present-day Peru before the Inca came to power | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Newly Discovered Green Comet Is Passing By Earth This Week

Comet Nishimura, which appears only once every 435 years, is on track to approach the sun and shoot into deep space | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Scientists Grow Part-Human Kidneys in Pig Embryos for Nearly a Month

The new work is a "big step forward" in finding new ways to generate viable organs for human transplants, but it comes with some ethical considerations | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Construction Workers Plow a Shortcut Through the Great Wall of China

They caused "irreversible damage" to the wall when they used an excavator to widen an existing gap | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Inside the Effort to Prevent Conflict Between Humans and Elephants in Africa

Conservationists are inserting beehives as deterrents around farms and building craft breweries that reward farmers for pachyderm-friendly practices | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Archaeologists Unearth Four 1,900-Year-Old Roman Swords in Israeli Cave

Jewish rebels may have hidden the weapons away from the Roman army in the second century C.E. | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Art Made With A.I. Won a State Fair Last Year. Now, the Rules Are Changing

Artists who submit to the competition will need to disclose whether they used A.I. tools like Midjourney | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

What Is This Mysterious Golden Orb Scientists Found on the Ocean Floor?

After bringing the four-inch-diameter blob to the surface, researchers still only know that it is “biological in origin” | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

The Painted Poetry of Jessica Diamond

The Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum hosts the artist’s largest installation yet | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

A Third Installment of the Popular Art Festival, Artupunktura, Awakens Zagreb This Fall

As the days of summer wane, art provides an infusion of creativity aimed at awakening the capital city’s vital energy | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Tomislav Gotovac Loves Zagreb

As one of the city’s most significant late 20th century artists, Gotovac’s work continues to celebrate the surreal | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

How the 'Wild Beasts' of Fauvism Took the Art World by Storm

A new exhibition examines the short-lived movement—and sheds new light on its women members | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

How a Small Snake Can Eat Meals Many Times Larger Than Its Head

The egg-eating African reptile uses its stretchy jaw skin to swallow huge prey, a feat that not even a python can match | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Explore the Great Outdoors With Photography From U.S. National Parks

Travel the country's beautiful natural wonders from home with these breathtaking highlights from the Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Manchester Museum Returns 174 Artifacts to Indigenous Australians

After years of planning, the museum handed over dolls, baskets, maps and other objects acquired in the 1950s | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Japan Launches X-Ray Satellite and Lunar Lander to Space

The satellite will study large bodies in the cosmos, while the lander will attempt to land at a precise location on the moon's surface | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Christie's Cancels Auction Tied to Nazi-Era Wealth

In the 1930s, Helmut Horten purchased businesses that Jewish owners sold "under duress" | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

This 'Weird,' Bird-Like Dinosaur Had Really Long Legs

Paleontologists discovered the 150-million-year-old creature in southeast China | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Why Historical Markers Matter

Few realize that the approval process for these outdoor signs varies widely by state and organization, enabling unsanctioned displays to slip through | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Readers Respond to the July/August 2023 Issue

Your feedback on quilts, Los Alamos and more | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Why You Should Grow Native Plants in Your Garden

Entomologist Doug Tallamy explains how doing so can help insects and birds | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Venice Will Start Charging an Entry Fee Next Year

By charging daytrippers to visit on peak travel days, the city hopes to combat overtourism | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

The Unlikely, Enduring Friendship Between Ireland and the Choctaw Nation

One act of generosity during the Great Famine forged a bond that transcends generations | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Meet Brother Jonathan, the Predecessor to Uncle Sam

Older, but by no means wiser, the political cartoon character symbolized a mischievous young nation | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

The Remarkable Story of WWII’s 6888th Battalion, as Told by the Women Who Were There

Learn about the accomplishments of the Black Americans who served their country abroad, even as they faced discrimination at home | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

See Keith Haring's Computer Drawings, Hidden on Floppy Discs Since the 1980s

The never-before-seen images will be sold as NFTs at an upcoming Christie’s auction | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

What's Killing Minnesota's Moose? Studies Reveal Sites of Deadly Brainworm Transmission

Carried by deer and spread by snails and slugs, a lethal parasite is infecting the large ungulates, which have recently declined dramatically | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

See When Brilliant Fall Foliage Will Peak With This Interactive Map

The tool's county-by-county predictions will help you plan the best leaf-peeping trips | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

India Launches Mission to Study the Sun and Space Weather

The Aditya-L1 spacecraft will examine the star's outer layers and aim to shed light on its violent—and potentially damaging—storms | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Five Places Worth Traveling to This Fall

New museums, a monumental exhibition and a skywatcher’s dream festival beckon in the coming months | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Historians Discover 'Remarkably Intact' Shipwreck, Undisturbed Beneath Lake Michigan for 142 Years

Built for cross-lake grain trade, the poorly maintained schooner met its watery end in 1881 | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

The Revolutionary Influence of the First English Children’s Novel

"The History of Little Goody Two-Shoes" told the tale of a bold heroine who forged her own path | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

The Quest to Save the World’s Most Coveted Chocolate

For these ambitious scientists in the rainforests of Ecuador, helping the environment has never tasted so sweet | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

See Ten Breathtaking Images From the Wildlife Photographer of the Year Contest

The highly commended shots call to mind both the wonders of the animal kingdom and the risks wild creatures face | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Divers Pull Wreckage of Tuskegee Airman's Plane From the Depths of Lake Huron

During World War II, a young pilot named Frank Moody died while training in Michigan | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Meet Peanut, the World's Oldest Living Chicken at 21 Years of Age

Peanut had a rough start to life but ultimately grew up happy and healthy on a 37-acre farm in Chelsea, Michigan | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Austria Offers Free Rail Travel in Exchange for Getting a Tattoo

Six people with a "Klimaticket" tattoo received an unlimited one-year public transit pass | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

New Satellite Tracking Air Pollution Releases Its First Images

The instrument, called TEMPO, will make hourly measurements of pollutants over North America that could help reduce exposure to unhealthy air | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Using A.I. to Track Air Pollution From Open-Top Coal Trains

Scientists in California are working with communities—and a suite of tools—to better monitor air quality | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Where Did the QWERTY Keyboard Come From?

From laptops to iPhones, the first successful typewriter’s keyboard layout lives on | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

How Roads Have Transformed the Natural World

A brief history of road ecology, the scientific discipline that is helping us understand our impact on the environment and how to diminish it | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Ten Wildlife Photographers Zoom In on Their Favorite Birds

Get up close and personal with a birder’s-eye view of the United States, as reflected by our beloved feathered neighbors | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Archaeologists Are Using Modern Tools to Learn About Visitors to an Ancient Egyptian Temple

Pilgrims who left behind ancient graffiti are the subject of new research in the middle of the Nile | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Nebraska Volleyball Sets New World Record for Attendance at a Women's Sporting Event

A total of 92,003 fans packed into the university's football stadium on Wednesday night | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Five Million Bees Fall Off a Truck in Canada

Local beekeepers rushed to the scene to help collect as many of the disoriented insects as possible | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago