Los Angeles Becomes Latest City to Hire 'Chief Heat Officer'

As temperatures rise, these new leaders in L.A., Miami and Phoenix are trying to reduce heat-related deaths and hospitalizations | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Antarctica’s 'Doomsday Glacier' Melting at Fastest Rate in 5,500 Years

Researchers used penguin bones and shells to track ice loss in the Thwaites and Pine Island glaciers | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Panama

Explore the history, culture and natural wonders of the Central American country | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Panama's Sancocho Is a Soup That Can Cure It All

The cherished stew is a welcome remedy for homesickness—or even a hangover | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Stingray Found in Cambodia Sets Record for World’s Largest Freshwater Fish

The enormous fish is 13 feet long and weighs 661 pounds | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Enacted 50 Years Ago, Title IX Is More Relevant Than Ever

New exhibit highlights female athletes who gained opportunities and the controversies that still surround the statute | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

A Doghouse Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright Is Now on Display

The architect sketched "Eddie’s House," named for a Labrador retriever, on the back of an envelope in the 1950s | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Endangered Whooping Crane Hatches at Smithsonian National Zoo Site

An abandoned egg from a wild nest in Wisconsin was given to surrogate parents in Virginia | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Ahead of Planned Rail Line, Archaeologists Uncover Early Medieval Cemetery

The team found 138 graves and a large assortment of artifacts and personal objects | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

How the Earth's Mantle Sends Water Up Toward the Surface

A new model suggests "mantle rain" ensures we will always have a surface ocean | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

At Museum for Rescued Art, Italy Displays Stolen Artifacts It Has Recovered

The museum will showcase items before returning them to their original locations | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Regenerative Tourism Invites Travelers to Get Their Hands Dirty

Vacations that allow tourists to participate in conservation activities, such as habitat restoration, are growing in popularity | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

An Early Run-In with Censors Led Rod Serling to ‘The Twilight Zone’

His failed attempts to bring the Emmett Till tragedy to television forced him to get creative | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Recently Discovered Drawings for Statue of Liberty Hint at a Last-Minute Change

Sketches from the workshop of French engineer Gustave Eiffel suggest a different plan for Lady Liberty’s upraised arm | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

A Clever Population of Polar Bears Survives on Glacial Ice in Greenland

The genetically distinct group of predators uses calved ice to hunt seals when the sea ice has melted | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

The Pumpkin Toadlet’s Miniature Size Makes It a Lousy Hopper

These amphibians’ tiny inner ear canals make balancing mid-jump a challenge | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

A New Satellite Tool Shows You How the Planet’s Landscape Changes Day by Day

From forests and wetlands to urban development, color-coded maps explore Earth’s evolution in great detail | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Where Did the Black Death Start? Thanks to Ancient DNA, Scientists May Have Answers

The devastating disease possibly began in what is now northern Kyrgyzstan | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Who Was Piet Mondrian Before He Painted His Iconic Abstract Grids?

A new exhibition explores the evolution of the Dutch artist’s style, 150 years after his birth | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

The First-Ever Broadway Museum Makes Its Debut

Interactive exhibits will walk visitors through the Great White Way's history and evolution | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

EPA Warns Against Toxic ‘Forever Chemicals’ in Drinking Water

The federal agency’s new limits on drinking water contaminants take aim at synthetic substances called PFAS that are linked with health issues | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Stranded Abroad, Kyiv City Ballet Announces Its First American Tour

The dance company has been staying in Paris since the Russian invasion of Ukraine | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

In a First, Microplastics Are Found in Fresh Antarctic Snow

The research highlights the extent of plastic pollution and transmission even in remote regions of the world | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

The Selective Breeding of English Bulldogs Has Led to a Lot of Health Problems

Their deep facial folds, pronounced underbite and other distinctive features lead to issues | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

How Vivian Maier, the Enigmatic Nanny Who Took 150,000 Photographs, Found Her Place in History

The late artist is getting her first full-scale exhibition in the United Kingdom this summer | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Eight Works of Art in Unlikely Places

In a new art atlas, author Grace Banks takes readers on a journey to some of the most fascinating artworks found outside of museums and galleries | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

What Extreme Flooding in Yellowstone Means for the National Park's Gateway Towns

These communities rely almost entirely on tourism for their existence—yet too much tourism, not to mention climate change, can destroy them | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

The Monkeys and Parrots Caught Up in the California Gold Rush

Researchers combed through 19th-century records and found evidence of the species, which joined a menagerie that included Galapagos tortoises and kangaroos | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Inside the Effort to Restore Synagogues in Venice's 500-Year-Old Jewish Ghetto

A new project focuses on three 16th-century synagogues in the Italian city, where the Jewish population has dropped to 450 | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

New Dinosaur Species With Bulldog-Like Face Uncovered in Egypt

The fossil is the first evidence of a bipedal abelisaurid in the one of the world’s richest fossil deposits | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Hundreds of Little Blue Penguins Are Turning Up Dead in New Zealand

Rising ocean temperatures are likely causing the flightless birds to starve to death | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

399-Year-Old Copy of Shakespeare's First Folio Could Fetch $2.5 Million at Auction

Without the printed collection, many of the playwright's most iconic works could have been lost to history | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

When Cats Chew Catnip, It Works as a Bug Spray

Plant leaves that repel mosquitoes release a more effective repellant after being crushed up by felines | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

How Did Thousands of Frog Bones End Up Buried at an Iron Age Settlement?

Archaeologists are trying to make sense of the remains, found in a ditch in England | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

In Early Modern Russia, the Majority of Accused 'Witches' Were Men

Orthodox Russians deployed magic for practical purposes, like inflicting illness, harming business competitors and attracting lovers | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

FDA Approves First Drug to Treat Hair Loss Caused By Alopecia

In a clinical trial with 1200 patients, more than half grew their hair back after a year | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Seals Use Their Whiskers to Help Hunt in the Deep Ocean

New video footage shows rhythmic whisker movements that have never been observed before in seals in the wild | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Extreme Flooding Devastates Yellowstone, Forcing the Closure of All Park Entrances

Rock slides, flooding and heavy rain washed out roads and bridges | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Trove of 13,000 Artifacts Sheds Light on Enigmatic Chinese Civilization

The Bronze Age Sanxingdui culture is known for its intricate masks and artworks | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

After Long Absence, the Folklife Festival Returns to the National Mall

The much-loved summer event, featuring the United Arab Emirates and Earth Optimism programs, opens with a concert hosted by Yo-Yo Ma | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

When Abortion Was Illegal, Chicago Women Turned to the Jane Collective

A new documentary spotlights the group that helped thousands seeking abortions in the 1960s and '70s | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

This Underwater Canyon Could Become America's Newest Marine Sanctuary

Hudson Canyon, the largest submarine canyon on the East Coast, is home to hundreds of species of fish and marine mammals | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Wreck of Long-Lost Royal Battleship Discovered Off English Coast

Divers discovered the H.M.S. "Gloucester" in 2007, but authorities kept the news buried for 15 years as they waited to secure the site | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

The Black Buffalo Soldiers Who Biked Across the American West

In 1897, the 25th Infantry Regiment Bicycle Corps embarked on a 1,900-mile journey from Montana to Missouri | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

This Past Winter Was the Busiest Ski Season Ever

As the pandemic still raged, more and more Americans took part in the snowy sport | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

FDA Says Both Moderna and Pfizer Covid-19 Vaccines Are Effective for the Youngest Children

A panel of experts is set to vote Wednesday on whether the agency should authorize the use of the vaccines for little kids | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

Hidden Life Found Far Beneath World's Largest Ice Shelf

Hundreds of shrimp-like creatures were found living 1640 feet beneath Antarctica's Ross Ice Shelf | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago

These Salt Flats in Puerto Rico Are Cotton-Candy Pink

The distinct color of Las Salinas comes from a combination of algae, bacteria, salt and water | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 year ago