Where Did Chaco Canyon's Timber Come From?

In a nearly treeless desert, Ancestral Puebloans built Great Houses with more than 200,000 massive log beams | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

New York City's First 'Rat Czar' Will Fight Its Rodents

Kathleen Corradi says she will "bring a science- and systems-based approach" to the job | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Fashion World Remembers Mary Quant, the Miniskirt Pioneer

Quant captured London's "Swinging Sixties" with her cutting-edge designs | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Why Is Tax Day in April?

These are the reasons behind the timing of many Americans' least favorite holiday | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Super Mario Bros., Madonna and More Join the National Recording Registry

Every year, the Library of Congress selects 25 recordings that are "culturally, historically or aesthetically important" | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

How Life Could Have Survived the Frozen ‘Snowball Earth’

During a prehistoric ice age when the planet was enveloped in glaciers, algae could have made a living in patchy, open oceans, study suggests | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Juice Mission Launches to Explore Jupiter and Its Icy Moons

The spacecraft will investigate oceans that might lie beneath the moons' surfaces and study whether they could support life | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

See the Sharp New Image of a Supermassive Black Hole

Astronomers used machine-learning technology to improve a 2019 visualization of the M87 black hole, located some 54 million light-years away from Earth | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

This License Plate Just Became the Most Expensive in the World

The vanity plate, which features the characters “P7,” sold for $15 million at an auction in Dubai | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

How to Watch the Spectacular Lyrid Meteor Shower

One of the oldest recorded annual showers, the Lyrids will peak on April 22 | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Why It’s Time for a Worldwide Lights-Out Program

A new Smithsonian exhibition delves into the issue of light pollution, with easy solutions offering an immediate change | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

For Young Threatened Desert Tortoises, These Technologies Have Arrived to Help

Biologists are deploying 3D-printed replicas of hatchlings, lasers and drones to curb predation | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Want to Help the FBI Find Stolen Art? There's an App for That

A new mobile app provides access to the National Stolen Art File, a database of 8,000 missing items | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

The Time Thief Who Stole 106 Rare Clocks in a Daring Heist

Authorities eventually recovered 96 of the lost timepieces, including a $30 million watch commissioned for Marie Antoinette | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Wealthy Residents' Pools and Gardens Are Driving Water Crises

Urban elites use a disproportionate share of water compared to their lower-income peers, according to a new study | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Man Rescued After Getting Trapped Inside Famous Sculpture

A 26-year-old man was trying to climb the Talus Dome in Edmonton, Alberta, when he slipped through an opening | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Medieval Eclipse Records Help Scientists Understand Volcanic Eruptions

Descriptions of lunar eclipses from monks and poets can shed light on how volcanoes affect Earth's climate in a new study | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

California Man Admits to Helping Create Fake Basquiat Paintings

Michael Barzman agreed to plead guilty in connection with a scandal that rocked the Orlando Museum of Art | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

U.S. Proposes Cuts to Colorado River Water Usage

Negotiations between states have not produced an agreement on how to allocate the dwindling water, so the federal government has offered tentative plans | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

What Centuries-Old Indian Court Paintings Tell Us About Climate Change

This month’s Smithsonian podcasts include a deep dive into India’s monsoon weather patterns and discussion of animals in flight | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

This Tiny Hawaiian Island Is Free of Invasive Rats

Now scientists are trying to coax back lost seabird colonies | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Archaeologists Discover 1,400-Year-Old Murals of Two-Faced Men in Peru

The new finds are shedding light on the Moche people, who lived on Peru's northern coast | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

The 92-Year-Old Queen Who Shaped the History and Future of Drag

Darcelle XV, the world’s oldest performing drag queen, died in March, but her spirit will live on | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Volcanic Eruption Spews Ash 12 Miles Into the Air in Russia

The volcano Shiveluch coated villages in dust and prompted flight warnings | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

This Hong Kong Museum Is Giving Away 10,000 Tickets to Yayoi Kusama Show

College students can get free admission to the museum as part of a broader government-led mental health initiative | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

See the James Webb Telescope's Stunning New Snapshot of an Exploded Star

The supernova, known as Cassiopeia A, is located roughly 11,000 light-years from Earth and could offer insights into cosmic dust and star death | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Black Hole Hurtling Through Space Leaves a Trail of Stars in Its Wake

Researchers theorize a stream of stars 200,000 light-years long came from a black hole ejected from its galaxy | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Paleontologists Discover 52-Million-Year-Old Bat

The fossil represents the earliest-known species of the flying mammal | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

These Male Ants Have Two Separate Sets of DNA

A genetic condition called chimerism may have helped yellow crazy ants become a dominating invasive species, a new study suggests | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

'Moana' Will Set Sail Again in Disney's Live-Action Remake

Dwayne Johnson will co-produce the film—and reprise his role as the demigod Maui | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

How Alberghi Diffusi Turn Villages Into Hotels

Originating in Italy, "scattered hotels" turn alleyways into hallways and piazzas into living rooms | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Utah Shatters Snowpack Records, but Its Drought Remains

Unprecedented winter storms may provide temporary relief for the state's water problems | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Rebuilding Ukraine's Cultural Sector Will Require Nearly $7 Billion, UNESCO Says

The agency's director-general traveled to the war-torn country to pledge additional support | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Watch This Elephant Peel a Banana With Her Trunk

Pang Pha likely learned to de-skin the yellow fruits while observing her human caretaker in her youth | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

DNA Evidence Sheds Light on One of America's Oldest Black Churches

New research links human remains in Williamsburg, Virginia, to the first permanent building of the First Baptist Church | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Extinct Tasmanian Tigers May Have Survived Longer Than Previously Thought

Though the last documented thylacine died in 1936, a new study based on alleged sightings suggests the species lived for decades more | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Who Was the Woman Aboard This Famed 17th-Century Swedish Warship?

DNA analysis has revealed that a woman was among the 30 who died when the 'Vasa' sank on its maiden voyage | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Controversial Yellowstone Hunt Kills More Than 1,100 Bison

The hunt is an effort to control the animal's population and protect cattle outside the park | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Ancient Europeans Took Hallucinogenic Drugs 3,000 Years Ago

Hair strands from the Bronze Age reveal the first direct evidence of drug use in Europe | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

James Webb Telescope Captures Detailed Image of Uranus’ Rings

The high-tech observatory also observed two storm clouds on the planet, a polar cap, six moons and distant galaxies | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

The Art Market Is Rebounding—But Only at the Top

Sales increased in 2022, but growth was concentrated largely at the high end of the market | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Take a Peek Inside the Candy Wrapper Museum

Your trash is my treasure—and a sweet reminder of the past | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

At Fort Pillow, Confederates Massacred Black Soldiers After They Surrendered

Targeted even when unarmed, around 70 percent of the Black Union troops who fought in the 1864 battle died as a result of the clash | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

These Robot Dogs Are Learning to Paint. Soon, You Can Watch Them Work

Agnieszka Pilat and her automated artists will be featured in the National Gallery of Victoria's Triennial | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

This Mummified Ice Age Squirrel Was Found Frozen in Canada

Scientists identified the curled-up creature as an Arctic ground squirrel that likely died while hibernating some 30,000 years ago | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

U.S. Returns $33 Million of Looted Antiquities to Turkey

The collection of 12 items included a headless bronze statue dating to 225 C.E. | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Everything You Need to Know About the 2024 Total Solar Eclipse

A veteran eclipse chaser explains how to get ready for one of the planet’s biggest celestial events | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

These Lizards Stress-Eat When Loud Military Aircraft Fly Overhead

Colorado checkered whiptails on a U.S. Army base show increased stress levels and altered behavior after noisy jets and helicopters pass by, a study finds | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago