Nile Crocodiles Recognize and React to the Sound of Crying Babies

The reptiles may be aware that primate infants are in trouble—and an easy meal | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

You Can Now Buy a Lighthouse of Your Very Own in Michigan

So far, bidding is only up to $16,000 for the historic 68-foot-tall structure in Lake Superior | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Swiss Seniors Are Suing Over Climate Change's Threat to Their Health

Amid record-setting heat, the group of women argue that their government's failure to cut fossil fuel emissions has violated their human rights | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Coal Miners Discover Ancient Roman Boat in Serbia

Measuring nearly 43 feet long, the ship's remains were found near the bustling Roman city of Viminacium | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Two Baby Condors At Pinnacles National Park Are Healthy, 'Adorable Fluffballs'

The nestlings provide some good news for California condors, which faced a major setback from bird flu earlier this year | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

James Webb Telescope Captures the Glowing Ring Nebula in Magnificent Detail

The colorful ring, located some 2,600 light-years away from Earth, is made from the remnants of a dying star | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

These Climbers Just Set a New Record for Ascending the World's 14 Highest Peaks

Kristin Harila and Tenjin Sherpa completed the series of climbs in just over three months | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Sports Legend Althea Gibson Served Up Tennis History When She Broke Through in 1950

Her athletic performance in New York impressed onlookers of all colors and cracked opened the door for a new generation of Black players to come | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

How the War of 1898 Changed History Forever—in the United States and Beyond

When the nascent naval power invaded Puerto Rico, three artists captured the moment, each explaining its significance in their own way | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Stunning Fields of Sunflowers Are Blanketing North Dakota

Sunflower seekers can consult an online map to determine where the best views can be found | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Minnesota Starts Work on a New State Flag

The old flag—often criticized for its poor design and offensive images—is slated to be replaced in May | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

New Moms Can Soon Take a Pill for Postpartum Depression

The FDA approved the first oral medication to treat the serious mental condition on Friday | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

This Italian Town Silenced a Historic Bell That Kept Tourists Awake. Now, Locals Can't Sleep

The bell battle in Pienza, located in Tuscany, is just the latest example of Italy's tourism troubles | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

How to Watch the Highly Anticipated Perseid Meteor Shower

This weekend, sky conditions will be almost perfect to catch a glimpse of shooting stars during one of the year's best celestial shows | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

See the Baby Glow-in-the-Dark Shark Hatched at the Tennessee Aquarium

In coastal waters, swell sharks appear a glowing green color to other members of their species due to a special eye adaptation | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

These 17th-Century Poems Painted Pictures on the Page—and Defied the Church of England's Rejection of Religious Images

George Herbert's shaped poetry subtly pushed back against the iconoclasm of the English Reformation | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

View 15 Beautiful Lighthouses That Lead the Way to Serene Scenes

These highlights from the Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest include cliffside towers and lovely landscapes | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

DNA Links 42,000 Living People to Enslaved and Free African Americans Buried in Maryland

The research, initiated by the local African American community, could be a roadmap for future genealogy studies | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

A Mysterious Portrait Was Discovered Beneath a René Magritte Painting

Researchers found the image using infrared reflectography, and they think it may depict the artist's wife, Georgette | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

The Lunar Codex Will Archive the Work of 30,000 Artists—on the Moon

A series of time capsules will honor and preserve contemporary art from around the globe | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

California’s Waves Are Getting Bigger With Climate Change

Storms that produce massive swells are also occurring more frequently as the planet warms, a new study suggests | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Grappling With Climate Change and Overtourism, Italy Is Betting Big on Train Travel

New rail routes will help throngs of tourists get around the country in a sustainable way | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

The Next Superfoods May Come From Australia

But Indigenous people—who stand to benefit the most from the commercialization of “bush tucker”—represent only 1 percent of the industry | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Spinning 'Fire Whirls' Tear Through the Mojave Desert Amid California's Largest Wildfire This Year

The dangerous columns of fire can rapidly change direction and spread embers over long distances | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

A Brief History of the Letter 'X,' From Algebra to X-Mas to Elon Musk

A math historian explores how "x" came to stand in for an unknown quantity | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

July Was Likely Earth's Hottest Month on Record

With El Niño and human-caused climate change expected to bring more heat in the future, scientists say July's extreme temperatures could soon be surpassed | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

He Was Wrongfully Imprisoned for 41 Years. Now He Has His First Solo Exhibition

In "We Are the Willing," quilter Gary Tyler revisits his time in prison and explores his newfound freedom | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Sun Bears Are Not Humans in Disguise, but They Deserve to Go Viral Anyway

Learn five reasons the ursines are so amazing, including their ten-inch-long tongues | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

This Massive Extinct Whale May Be the Heaviest Animal That Ever Lived

The newly discovered behemoth could unseat the blue whale for the title, but scientists can only make educated guesses about its weight | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Airlines Will Be Required to Make Bathrooms More Accessible

Single-aisle planes will face new rules from the U.S. Department of Transportation—but they won’t go into effect for more than a decade | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Drake Buys the Most Valuable Hip-Hop Artifact Ever Sold: Tupac Shakur's Ring

Shakur designed the piece himself and wore it during his last public appearance before his death in 1996 | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Can Psychopathic Tendencies Help You Achieve Success?

New research is reframing this often sensationalized and maligned set of traits and finding some positive twists | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

UNESCO Recommends Adding Venice to List of World Heritage in Danger

Throngs of tourists and rising water levels are threatening to overwhelm the historic city | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Henrietta Lacks' Family Settles Lawsuit Over the Use of Her Cells Without Consent

Lacks' endlessly replicating cancer cells, collected without her knowledge in 1951, have enabled major medical breakthroughs | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Archaeologists Discover 900-Year-Old English Cathedral's Hidden Medieval Crypt

The team also found the original foundations of Exeter Cathedral's high altar, Roman-era structures and empty graves | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Get a Bird’s-Eye View on the Minnesota Zoo's New Elevated Walkway

Inspired by New York's Highline, the 1.25-mile pedestrian loop repurposes the zoo's shuttered monorail track | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Melting Swiss Glacier Reveals Remains of Climber Who Disappeared in 1986

As climate change warms the planet, more discoveries of human remains and objects in ice are expected to occur | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

A Meat Allergy Linked to Tick Bites May Be Increasing in the U.S., CDC Report Finds

As many as 450,000 people may have the potentially life-threatening condition, with thousands of those cases undiagnosed, the agency estimates | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

See the First Stunning Test Images From the Euclid Space Telescope

Meant to study the “dark universe,” Europe's space observatory will eventually peer ten billion years into the past and map more than one-third of the sky | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Roman-Era Cemetery With Over 100 Tombs Unearthed in Gaza

The "unprecedented" dig also yielded two rare lead sarcophagi decorated with images of grapes and dolphins | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

These 508-Million-Year-Old Fossils May Be Earth’s Oldest Swimming Jellyfish

Researchers found the rare remains in Canada | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

NASA Hears 'Heartbeat' From Voyager 2 After Losing Touch With the Distant Probe

The space agency has been trying to contact the 46-year-old craft after accidentally causing its antenna to point two degrees away from Earth | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

4,000-Year-Old Cemetery Discovered Beneath Future Rocket Launch Pad in U.K.

Artifacts found at the site will help scientists shed new light on the groups living on the Shetland Islands | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Have Archaeologists Finally Found Emperor Nero's Lost Theater?

Ahead of a planned luxury hotel, excavations have revealed what may be the ruins of the venue | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Rare Pink Bird Spotted in Wisconsin for the First Time in 178 Years

A roseate spoonbill ventured far outside of its usual territory to make an appearance near Green Bay, delighting local birdwatchers in the process | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Taylor Swift Concerts Are Generating Seismic Activity

The artist's two recent shows in Seattle shook the ground so much that they registered on a nearby seismometer | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Why President Warren G. Harding's Sudden Death Sparked Rumors of Murder and Suicide

The commander in chief's unexpected death in office 100 years ago fueled decades of conspiracy theories but was most likely the result of a heart attack | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Servants at Machu Picchu Came From Distant Corners of the Inca Empire

The city's servant class was a genetically diverse community, according to a new study of ancient DNA | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago