Innovation

The OSIRIS-REx sample return capsule (foreground) landed in the Utah desert on September 24, carrying samples collected from the near-Earth asteroid Bennu (background). 

There's More to That

How NASA Captured Asteroid Dust to Find the Origins of Life

The sample of the space rock Bennu that OSIRIS-REx collected could unlock an ancient existential mystery

The "Inverted Jenny," 1918, one of the rarest and most valuable stamps in the world, celebrates the first air mail in the U.S.—by depicting an inadvertently upside-down airplane.

Why Collectors Fall Head Over Heels for the 'Inverted Jenny' Stamp

One of the rare 24-cent misprints sold at auction this week for a record-breaking $2 million

In recent years, the European perch (Perca fluviatilis) population has been steadily declining due to the combined impact of climate change, pollution and overfishing.

Italian Divers Revive Centuries-Old Tradition to Help Save European Perch

Nurseries built from bundles of tree branches may help conserve the freshwater fish in the age of climate change

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The Never-Ending Race to Build the World’s Tallest Structure

From ancient Egypt to present-day Dubai, a close look at some of the buildings that held the height record

A view of a Zamboni machine at work during a game between the Vancouver Canucks and the Anaheim Mighty Ducks at the Arrowhead Pond in Anaheim, California.

How the Zamboni Revolutionized Fun on the Ice

The story behind the most efficient—and intriguing—piece of hardware in all of sports

A new generation of blood pressure measuring devices that don’t require an inflatable cuff around the arm may make it easier to manage hypertension.

New Devices Could Change the Way We Measure Blood Pressure

Embedded in a cellphone or in accessories such as rings, bracelets or watches, the novel tools aim to make it easier to manage hypertension

Architect William Van Alen’s plans for the building’s formidable steel helmet grew taller and more ambitious over time.

The Precarious History of New York’s Iconic Chrysler Building

Towering ambitions built the most charming skyscraper in America

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How Scientists Tracked the Movements of a 17,000-Year-Old Woolly Mammoth

Isotopes tell the epic tale of one ancient mammal’s odyssey across Alaska

TranscribeGlass is an attachment device that can pick up speech or audio from across a lecture hall.

This Augmented Reality Tool Could Change Communication for Some Deaf and Hearing Impaired People

TranscribeGlass attaches to any pair of glasses and projects real-time subtitles in the user’s field of vision

Sphere lights up during its grand opening on September 29, 2023 in Las Vegas, Nevada. 

The Sphere Is Here. Are We Ready for More High-Tech Architecture?

The new Las Vegas performance venue challenges musicians and visual artists to produce content for its demanding format

Mass Audubon's science coordinator Mark Faherty examines a horseshoe crab in Pleasant Bay, where he has conducted research on them for years.

New Synthetic Horseshoe Crab Blood Could Mean Pharma Won't Bleed the Species Dry

The “living fossils” have been vital for testing intravenous drugs, but a few large pharmaceutical companies are using a lab-made compound instead

Could this innovation provide a solution to one of our era’s biggest scourges?

Scientists Have Created Synthetic Sponges That Soak Up Microplastics

Made from starch and gelatin, the biodegradable sponges remove as much as 90 percent of microplastics in tap water and seawater

Consumer products made from carbon capture can't undo the damage we’ve done to our planet—but each of them exists thanks to innovations that could. 

Little Luxuries Made With Captured Pollution Hint at Big Frontiers in Climate Science

Entrepreneurs are using jewelry, fragrances and clothing to demonstrate what’s possible with repurposed carbon—and environmentalists have questions

Across the United States, around 70 percent of coal travels by rail.

Using A.I. to Track Air Pollution From Open-Top Coal Trains

Scientists in California are working with communities—and a suite of tools—to better monitor air quality

Sholes and Glidden gussied up an early model with floral ornaments, in imitation of sewing machines.

Where Did the QWERTY Keyboard Come From?

From laptops to iPhones, the first successful typewriter’s keyboard layout lives on

One ancient graffiti artist carved this creature at the Philae temple complex—most likely a horse.

Archaeologists Are Using Modern Tools to Learn About Visitors to an Ancient Egyptian Temple

Pilgrims who left behind ancient graffiti are the subject of new research in the middle of the Nile

Firefighters, still dressed in their smoke- and soot-stained bunker gear, take a breather after a harrowing day of battling a particularly stubborn brush fire.

Smithsonian Photo Contest Galleries

15 Scenes of Americans at Work

These highlights from the Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest commemorate Labor Day

Installation photography of Musical Thinking: New Video Art and Sonic Strategies, Smithsonian American Art Museum, 2023.

Video Artists Set the American Experience to Music

The Smithsonian American Art Museum brings its latest time-based media art to the widest possible audience, including the deaf and hearing impaired

A team including research scientists at Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute became the first in the world to successfully cryopreserve coral using a technique called isochronic vitrification.

Scientists Cryopreserve and Revive Coral Fragments in a World First for Conservation

The new freezing technique could reinvigorate corals suffering from warming oceans—or even preserve human organs in the future

To recreate the face of a pregnant Egyptian woman, Hew Morrison first digitally mapped her skull, then added muscles and soft tissues—and, finally, the most subjective element: the eyes.

Art Meets Science

How One Forensic Artist Brings the Dead to Life

Using DNA analysis and historic records, his work allows us to look ancient humans in the eye

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