How to Find the Ten Brightest Stars in the Night Sky

From Aldebaran to Vega, these gleaming beacons dazzle Northern Hemisphere viewers at various times of the year and provide a useful entry point into amateur astronomy | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 month ago

Delight in These 15 Photos That Capture the Exotic Undersea Lives of Jellyfish

Despite their often dangerous stings, these creatures create serene scenes as they float through the deep dea | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 month ago

The Real Story Behind the 'Lee' Movie and Lee Miller, the Legendary Surrealist Photographer and World War II Journalist Who Inspired It

In a new biopic starring Kate Winslet, Miller's many lives—as an artist, model, muse, cook and war correspondent—need little embellishment | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 month ago

Off-Road Drivers Are Destroying Ancient Artworks Stretching Across Chile's Deserts

As hundreds of motorists take to the desert, their tracks damage the massive geoglyphs made by Indigenous groups in northern Chile | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 month ago

Heart Tissue Shows Signs of Aging After Just One Month in Space, Study Finds

Scientists sent bioengineered heart tissue samples to the ISS to study how to keep astronauts safe during future long-term space travel | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 month ago

DNA Reveals Identity of Officer on the Lost Franklin Expedition—and His Remains Show Signs of Cannibalism

Researchers recently identified James Fitzjames, a captain on the ill-fated HMS Erebus that went looking for the Northwest Passage in 1845 | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 month ago

Meet Pesto, the Biggest Baby Penguin This Australian Aquarium Has Ever Seen

Most adult king penguins weigh between 31 and 37 pounds. At nine months old, a 51.8-pound Pesto is already looming over his parents | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 month ago

Earth Is on the Brink of Breaching a Seventh of Nine 'Planetary Boundaries' That Support Life

A new “health check” for our planet sounds an alarm bell on rising ocean acidification, which is driven by carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 month ago

These 3,000-Year-Old Arrowheads Are Pivotal Clues in the Mystery of 'Europe's Oldest Known Battlefield'

While no written records exist, new research has illuminated key details of the battle fought in northern Germany during the 13th century B.C.E. | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 month ago

Rare and Elusive Australian Bird, Once Thought Extinct for 100 Years, Discovered by Indigenous Rangers and Scientists

Using sound recordings, the team identified the largest known population of the night parrot, a secretive species known as the "Holy Grail of birdwatching" | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 month ago

An All-Female Crew Sailed 1,000 Miles in a Traditional Voyaging Canoe to Help Save Humpback Whales

The team traveled from New Zealand to Tonga along a humpback highway to collect environmental DNA and raise awareness of the plight of the marine mammals | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 month ago

Students Stumble Upon a Message in a Bottle Written by a French Archaeologist 200 Years Ago

The mysterious missive was written by P.J. Féret, who conducted an archaeological dig at the same site in northern France in 1825 | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 month ago

Scientists Discover a New Species of Elusive Ghost Shark

Called the Australasian narrow-nosed spookfish, the cryptic species lives deep in the ocean off the coasts of New Zealand and Australia | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 month ago

The Highest Peak in Great Smoky Mountains National Park Will Now Be Called by Its Cherokee Name

In 1858, the mountain was named for a Confederate general. Now, it will once again be known as "Kuwohi" | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 month ago

Mysterious 'Mechanical-Sounding' Noise Near the Mariana Trench May Now Have an Explanation

An acoustic survey in 2018 and new analysis with A.I. suggest the sounds are vocalizations from the elusive Bryde’s whale | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 month ago

America's Oldest Surviving Tombstone Probably Came From Belgium

Researchers analyzed tiny fossils embedded in the limestone to determine the age and origins of the grave maker, which marked the final resting place of a prominent Jamestown colonist | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 month ago

Watch Octopuses Team Up With Fish to Hunt—and Punch Those That Don't Contribute

The collaboration across species reveals a surprising social behavior of octopuses, researchers say | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 month ago

Why the Debut Issue of America's First Newspaper Was Also the Publication's Last

On this day in 1690, "Publick Occurrences Both Forreign and Domestick" attracted colonial officials' ire by repeating a scandalous rumor and condemning a British alliance with the Mohawk | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 month ago

Rare Jaw Fossils Discovered in Texas Shed Light on a 20-Foot-Long Mosasaur

Unearthed last year, the remains could reveal new information on the extinct sea reptile, which crushed mollusks and shelled creatures with its large, round teeth | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 month ago

See Newly Discovered Nazca Drawings That Depict Llamas, Human Sacrifices and More

An A.I.-assisted study identified 303 previously unknown geoglyphs in the Peruvian desert. The art features surprising figures, like orcas holding knives | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 months ago

Mathematicians Discover a New Class of Shape: the 'Soft Cell'

If the structures look familiar, it's probably because nature has been using them for a long time in places like nautilus shells, zebra stripes and onions | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 months ago

Why the World's First Pet Cemetery Was Revolutionary

A new book charts the history of pet cemeteries and honors the universal experience of grieving an animal companion | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 months ago

This Lost Mozart Composition Hasn't Been Heard for Centuries. Now, You Can Listen to It

More than 250 years after a teenage Mozart wrote "Serenade in C," a copy of the piece has surfaced in the collections of a German library | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 months ago

See Ten Striking Images From the Bird Photographer of the Year Awards

The annual contest unveiled its winners, highlighting avian photos that focus on conservation issues, the beauty of birds and their sometimes hilarious behavior | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 months ago

Virginia State Parks Install Viewfinders for People With Colorblindness, Just in Time for Leaf-Peeping Season

The viewfinders are outfitted with special lenses that help people with red-green colorblindness distinguish between hues | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 months ago

'Adorable' Baby Hippo Moo Deng Is More Than a Viral Sensation. She Offers a Rare Glimpse of an Endangered Species

The baby pygmy hippopotamus in a Thailand zoo has taken the internet by storm, and keepers hope she will help gain momentum for conservation efforts | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 months ago

A Japanese Soldier's Son Receives a Memento of His Father, Who Was Killed During World War II

The so-called good-luck flag, which hung on an American veteran's wall for many years, returned home last month after nearly eight decades | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 months ago

World's First Ultra-Precise Nuclear Clock Is Within Reach After Major Breakthrough, Researchers Say

The technology, enabled by thorium atoms, could keep time more accurately than atomic clocks and enable new discoveries about gravity, gravitational waves and dark matter | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 months ago

Heat Waves Can Make Bumblebees Lose Their Sense of Smell, Study Finds. Here's Why That's a Problem

Female worker bees, which forage for the whole colony, struggle more to detect scents in the heat than males do, per the recent research | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 months ago

You Can Climb Aboard a Massive Reproduction of a 17th-Century Spanish Galleon That's Sailing Around the World

The Galeón Andalucía, which is now making its way to London, was designed to resemble the armed merchant vessels manufactured by Spain and Portugal between the 16th and 18th centuries | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 months ago

What Are Wind Phones, and How Do They Help With Grief?

A clinical social worker explains the vital role of the old-fashioned rotary phone for those dealing with death and loss | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 months ago

Just How Much Can We Trust A.I. to Predict Extreme Weather?

Computer scientist and meteorologist Amy McGovern has studied the technology for two decades, and she weighs in with some answers | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 months ago

Earth Is Getting a New 'Mini Moon' for the Next Two Months, Astronomers Say

A roughly 33-foot-long asteroid called 2024 PT5 will chart a horseshoe-like path around our planet | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 months ago

'The Starry Night' Accurately Depicts a Scientific Theory That Wasn't Described Until Years After van Gogh's Death

Researchers say that the iconic painting's swirling sky lines up with Kolmogorov's theory of turbulence, suggesting that the artist was a careful observer of the world around him | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 months ago

Remarkable 200-Year-Old Rock Painting May Depict a Strange Animal That Went Extinct 250 Million Years Ago

The Horned Serpent Panel from southern Africa predates the first Western scientific description of the dicynodont, a large mammal ancestor with tusks, by at least a decade | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 months ago

The World's Best Pizza Is in New York City, According to Italy-Based Rankings

Una Pizza Napoletana on the Lower East Side has claimed the top spot in an annual ranking of pizzerias around the globe | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 months ago

See 15 Remarkable Photos That Will Make You Fall in Love With Italy

These shots from the Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest show why it’s one of the most-visited nations on earth | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 months ago

In Case Humans Go Extinct, This Memory Crystal Will Store Our Genome for Billions of Years

Scientists have created "a form of information immortality" meant to instruct future species on how to recreate humans. But who, or what, will find it? | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 months ago

Astronomers Discover Record-Breaking Jets Escaping a Black Hole, the Longest Ever Seen

The energetic streams are together 23 million light-years in length—roughly as long as 140 Milky Way galaxies lined end to end | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 months ago

See an Ancient Egyptian Temple's Brilliant Colors, Newly Revealed Beneath Layers of Dust and Soot

Experts are carefully uncovering traces of the original paint and fragments of gold leaf that once adorned the 2,000-year-old Temple of Edfu | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 months ago

Dinosaurs Evolved Feathers for Far More Than Flight

Fluff and fuzz helped the creatures keep warm, blend in and communicate | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 months ago

From Zagreb to the World: The Lasting Legacy of Julije Knifer

Celebrating one artist’s century of geometric mastery. | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 months ago

Van Gogh Painted Some of His Most Breathtaking Works During His Two Years in the South of France

A blockbuster exhibition in London examines the Dutch Post-Impressionist's creative output between 1888 and 1890, which was one of the most productive periods of his career | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 months ago

A Runaway Capybara Is Evading Capture and 'Living Her Best Life' in England

The “beloved” rodent named Cinnamon was spotted this week with help from drones. She has been wandering and eating grass after escaping her zoo enclosure last Friday | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 months ago

In a Landmark Study, Scientists Discover Just How Much Earth's Temperature Has Changed Over Nearly 500 Million Years

Researchers show the average surface temperature on our planet has shifted between 51.8 to 96.8 degrees Fahrenheit | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 months ago

Did Earth Once Have a Ring Like Saturn? Geologists Find Evidence for a Halo of Orbiting Space Rocks 466 Million Years Ago

A ring could explain a mysterious arrangement of impact craters near the equator and might even have caused an ice age, according to a new study | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 months ago

Low Water Levels Reveal Sunken Nazi Ships Full of Unexploded Munitions in the Danube River

Due to a drought in Eastern Europe, the scuttled German vessels are reemerging 80 years after they disappeared beneath the river's surface | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 months ago

Scientists Play Matchmaker for Beloved Sea Snails in the Florida Keys

To boost the iconic queen conch's population, researchers are relocating the heat-stressed creatures to cooler, deeper waters to help them find mates | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 2 months ago