A painting of the San José, which sank off Cartagena, Colombia, in 1708. Archaeologist Roger Dooley commissioned this illustration based on his research on the galleon.

Archaeologists Discovered the ‘Holy Grail’ of Shipwrecks a Decade Ago. Now, They’re Finally Beginning to Unravel the Secrets of the ‘San José’

A new book by author Julian Sancton explores the lengthy quest to find the Spanish galleon—and the political firestorm that has engulfed the wreck ever since

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Alex Honnold climbed Taipei 101 without ropes or safety equipment.

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See How Alex Honnold Climbed a Dizzying 1,667-Foot-Tall Skyscraper Without Ropes

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This Magnificent Mural by Leonardo da Vinci Will Go on Display for a Brief Window During the Winter Olympics in Milan

January 27, 2026 4:33 p.m.

Archaeologists Unearthed a 430,000-Year-Old Stick. After Careful Analysis, They Say It Could Be the Oldest Wooden Tool Ever Discovered

January 27, 2026 3:18 p.m.

Three Billion Years Ago, Mars May Have Been Half Covered by a Sea the Size of the Arctic Ocean

January 27, 2026 3:00 p.m.

Researchers Discover a New Phase of Ice by Squeezing Water Between Diamonds

January 27, 2026 2:32 p.m.

Anthropologists Recover DNA of Syphilis-Causing Bacterium Relative From 5,500-Year-Old Human Remains, the Earliest Ever Found

January 27, 2026 12:00 p.m.

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Archaeologists Discovered the ‘Holy Grail’ of Shipwrecks a Decade Ago. Now, They’re Finally Beginning to Unravel the Secrets of the ‘San José’

January 27, 2026 8:00 a.m.

In 1823, 17 enslaved people were sold at an auction in Barbados in the name of Britain's then-king, George IV.

History

The British Crown Enslaved Thousands at the Height of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. New Research Reveals Their Stories

January 26, 2026

Shovel-tusked elephants like Amebelodon were discovered nearly a century ago, and paleontologists have learned more about their anatomy and behavior with time. This 1932 illustration was later found to be inaccurate, as Amebelodon actually had a longer and narrower trunk.

Science

Strange, Shovel-Tusked Elephants Puzzled Paleontologists, Until Experts Took a Closer Look at Their Teeth

January 26, 2026

A still from Down the Barrel (of a Lens), Kameron Neal, two-channel video installation with sound, 2023

At the Smithsonian

See the Stunning Artworks by the Winners and Featured Artists of This Boundary-Pushing National Portrait Competition

January 23, 2026

A gentoo penguin peers up from its colony’s nesting grounds on Booth Island, in the Antarctic Peninsula. The species, an adaptable forager that can switch prey when krill are scarce, has expanded into parts of the Antarctic Peninsula that were once too icy to inhabit.

Science

The Penguins That Thrive—and the Ones Left Behind—as Antarctica Warms

January 23, 2026

A historic marker at Jackson State University, ca. 1950, from the “At the Vanguard” exhibition at the National Museum of African American History and Culture

At the Smithsonian

How Historically Black Schools Create and Preserve Their Own History Through Amazing Artifacts, From Paintings to Marching Band Hats

January 23, 2026

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January/February 2026

History The Haunting of Young George Washington

New evidence helps resolve enduring mysteries about a 1758 incident that nearly cost the future president his life—and shaped his views on the battles yet to come

OPENER - Southern rockhoppers fearlessly approach the camera at Murrell Farm in the Falklands. The birds’ features include their spiky crests, which resemble wild eyebrows.

Science Penguins With Attitude

A visit to the Falkland Islands, where the fearless seabirds navigate the rugged topography with tenacious spunk, shows the new challenges they face

Science Back to the Future

Scheduled to launch in early 2026, NASA’s Artemis 2 is part of the bold 21st-century vision for returning astronauts to the lunar surface

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Rare Twin Mountain Gorillas Born in the Congo, Giving Hope to Those Working to Conserve the Endangered Animals

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Archaeologists Say They’ve Finally Found a Long-Lost Basilica That Matches the Description the Architect Wrote 2,000 Years Ago

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Archaeologists Say They’ve Detected the Largest Stand-Alone Ancient Roman Villa Ever Unearthed in Wales

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A Little Boy’s Library Book Was Due in 1989. Thirty-Six Years Later, He Realized His Parents Had Never Returned It

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Strange, Shovel-Tusked Elephants Puzzled Paleontologists, Until Experts Took a Closer Look at Their Teeth

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Explore the history, culture and natural wonders of the continent's most celebrated ports

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Can Venice’s Iconic Crab Dish Survive Climate Change?

Crabs not yet at the molting stage are thrown back into the Venice lagoon.

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Go Behind the Scenes at an Iconic Irish Library as Staff Move 700,000 Historical Treasures Into Storage

A bust of Plato in the Long Room at Trinity College Dublin

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See Greece in All Its Gorgeous Glory

Brightly colored homes line the caldera in Santorini, a contrast to much of the blue-and-white motif.

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This is a picture taken through the branches of a tree laying in the desert in Monument Valley in the late afternoon.

A Tree’s View In Monument Valley

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Smithsonian Podcast: There’s More to That

Smithsonian magazine covers history, science and culture in the way only it can — through a lens on the world that is insightful and grounded in richly reported stories. In There’s More to That, meet the magazine’s journalists and hear how they discover the forces behind the biggest issues of our time.

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The Foods and Flavors That Make Our Holidays Delicious

December 18, 2025 | 33 minutes

The Astronomical Problem of Space Junk

December 4, 2025 | 26 minutes

Why Are There So Many Shipwrecks in the Great Lakes?

November 20, 2025 | 32 minutes

The ‘Edmund Fitzgerald’ Sank Half a Century Ago. We’re Still Fascinated.

November 6, 2025 | 28 minutes

History

This late 16th-century portrait of Anne Boleyn (left) closely resembles a circa 1590 portrait of Elizabeth I (right), as well as two separate likenesses of Mary I and Edward IV. The paintings appear to share the same established “face pattern” of the then-queen, Elizabeth.

Why Do These Tudor-Era Portraits of Anne Boleyn and Elizabeth I Look So Strikingly Similar?

The artist behind the works may have used Elizabeth’s likeness as a template in other royal portraits to visually emphasize her resemblance to previous monarchs and reinforce her status as the legitimate Tudor heir

January 26, 2026

Archaeologists Discovered the ‘Holy Grail’ of Shipwrecks a Decade Ago. Now, They’re Finally Beginning to Unravel the Secrets of the ‘San José’

January 27, 2026 8:00 a.m.

The British Crown Enslaved Thousands at the Height of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. New Research Reveals Their Stories

January 26, 2026

More History

Science

Strange, Shovel-Tusked Elephants Puzzled Paleontologists, Until Experts Took a Closer Look at Their Teeth

The animals’ extended lower jaws were seemingly made for scooping, but research over the past few decades has found they could do a lot more than initially expected

January 26, 2026

The Penguins That Thrive—and the Ones Left Behind—as Antarctica Warms

January 23, 2026

Three Stunning Ways Biologists Aim to Edit Animal and Plant Genes to Fight Diseases and Extinction

January 21, 2026

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Innovation

MIT professor Joseph Weizenbaum developed Eliza in the mid-1960s. His views on artificial intelligence were often at odds with many of his fellow pioneers in the field.

Why the Computer Scientist Behind the World’s First Chatbot Dedicated His Life to Publicizing the Threat Posed by A.I.

Joseph Weizenbaum realized that programs like his Eliza chatbot could “induce powerful delusional thinking in quite normal people”

January 15, 2026

Three Stunning Ways Biologists Aim to Edit Animal and Plant Genes to Fight Diseases and Extinction

January 21, 2026

Inspired by Octopus Skin, This Synthetic Material Can Change Color and Texture on Demand

January 9, 2026

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Travel

The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art is finally set to open in L.A.’s Exposition Park on September 22.

These Are the Top Ten Most Anticipated Museums Opening Around the World in 2026

New institutions dedicated to digital art, exploration, hip-hop, conservation and more are expected to welcome visitors this year

January 21, 2026

Why Gen Z Is Trading Night Clubs for Japanese-Style Listening Bars

January 22, 2026

The Race Is On to Save the Alps’ Famous Huts and Trails as Melting Permafrost Threatens to Destroy Them

January 13, 2026

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Arts & Culture

A written description (left) of New Zealand flax (illustrated on the right) references an Indigenous name for the plant: “haragag.”

Newly Digitized Records Reveal How Indigenous People Shared Their Knowledge of New Zealand’s Plants With Captain Cook’s Crew

Long-overlooked documents housed at London’s Natural History Museum testify to the exchange of information between 18th-century European botanists and their Indigenous counterparts

January 8, 2026

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