Lonnie G. Bunch III, Secretary of the Smithsonian, at the Natural History Museum

Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III Announces Retirement as Head of the Smithsonian After 38 Years of Service to the Institution

With a storied career dating back to the 1970s, Bunch leaves a remarkable legacy, most notably the founding of the National Museum of African American History and Culture

Brian Wolly

The treasure was found at a home in Rebild, a municipality in northern Denmark.

Smart News

Routine Yard Work Reveals a Trove of Viking Silver—the Largest Treasure of Its Kind Ever Discovered in Denmark

September 8, 2026 8:00 a.m.

Smart News

Stealing Candy From Children, Splash-Proof Urinals and Buried Panties, Oh My! Here Are the Winners of the 2026 Ig Nobel Prizes

September 8, 2026 4:50 p.m.

Thieves Broke Into a French Museum and Made Off With Renoir Paintings Worth More Than $2.5 Million

September 8, 2026 3:21 p.m.

These Adorable, Critically Endangered Pygmy Raccoons in Cozumel Are Teaching One Another to Turn Trash Into Toy Balls

September 8, 2026 2:49 p.m.

Scientists May Have Finally Detected a Hint of Dark Matter, the Mysterious, Invisible Stuff That Holds the Universe Together

September 8, 2026 11:23 a.m.

Routine Yard Work Reveals a Trove of Viking Silver—the Largest Treasure of Its Kind Ever Discovered in Denmark

September 8, 2026 8:00 a.m.

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Latest Features

A hawksbill sea turtle munches away on a sponge near Juno Beach.

Science

Journey Under the Sea With 20 Amazing Photos of Marine Life, From Seahorses to Manta Rays to Orcas to Turtles

Updated: September 8, 2026 1:28 p.m. | Originally Published: April 18, 2024

At the Smithsonian

Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III Announces Retirement as Head of the Smithsonian After 38 Years of Service to the Institution

September 8, 2026 12:18 p.m.

History

How Did the Nation Get Its Name? Other Suggestions Included the United Colonies, Columbia and the United States of Alleghania

September 8, 2026 7:45 a.m.

Kermit the Frog and Miss Mousey in "The Muppets Valentine Show"

At the Smithsonian

Kermit the Frog Was Just Trying to Put on a Variety Show. Fifty Years Later, the Muppets Are Some of the Biggest Stars in Television History

September 4, 2026

Palaka represents the many cultures that have come to create the Hawaiian Islands of today through their traditions and hard work.

Travel

A Signature Hawaiian Textile With a Rich History Is Making a Splash in the Fashion World

September 3, 2026

A diagram of David Bushnell's Turtle submersible

History

To Defeat the Royal Navy During the American Revolution, a Rebel Inventor Designed a Secret Weapon: a Bomb-Carrying Submarine

September 3, 2026

Uncovering the past. Understanding the present. Informing the future.

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September/October 2026

Travel The Marvelous Museums of Mexico City

The ancient capital has plenty of artwork and fossils, if that’s what you like. Or tour the writing rooms of a Nobel winner, the fortified home of an exiled Russian revolutionary and towers of skulls

OPENER - A giant Atlantic cockle lies open on the beach in Fort Myers, Florida, while a beachcomber searches for shells in the background.

Science Who Dwells in a Shell?

Before they become sandy souvenirs, the baubles in the bubbles of the shoreline serve as a veritable fortress for creatures like clams, mussels and conchs

Innovation Solving the Long Covid Puzzle

Long Covid saps the strength and vitality of patients, who have little recourse to fight it. A team of specialists—including an afflicted researcher working mostly from her bed—is looking for answers

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Smart News

Archaeologists Discover a 4,000-Year-Old Tomb With a False Door at Egypt’s Ancient Saqqara Necropolis

Voices

In 1680, Pueblo Natives in the Southwest Launched the First Successful, Although Short-Lived, American Revolution

Smart News

Scientists Recreated the Long-Lost Chirps of Jurassic Insects. Listen to the Simulated Soundscape of 165 Million Years Ago

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This Man Got Cancer from a Tapeworm

Smart News

Why Was This 17th-Century Polish Woman Buried With a Padlock on Her Toe and an Iron Sickle Across Her Neck?

Special Report

America at 250: The Revolutionary Spark

A Smithsonian magazine special issue in celebration of the nation's 250th

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Featured Stories

Arts & Culture

Georgia O’Keeffe Ignored Advice to Mimic Great European Masters. Her Goal Instead Was to Be a Great American Painter

O’Keeffe’s New Mexico studio Ghost Ranch. Opposite, a 1918 photo portrait by future husband Alfred Stieglitz.

History

Born in 1810, Margaret Fuller Was Labeled a Child Prodigy. She Later Used Her Intellect to Ask Important Questions About Women’s Role in America

A portrait of Fuller, inspired by her 1845 Woman in the Nineteenth Century, which argued for equality of the sexes. The book’s opening illustration featured mystical symbols of harmonizing opposites, including the Ouroboros, a snake eating its own tail.

History

The American Revolution’s Overlooked Influence? Physics. How ‘Common Sense’ Spelled Out Astronomical Expectations for a New Nation

After Isaac Newton, above, revolutionized celestial mechanics, admirers such as Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin and Paine, left, saw in Newton’s natural laws a model for democratic self-government.

Photo of the Day

Sunrise light filters behind the sea stacks of Ribeira da Janela in Madeira, illuminating the moss-covered rocks as waves gently wash over them. A moment that blends rugged coastline, soft motion, and warm morning glow.

Guardians of Madeira

By Diego De Munari

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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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Latest Episodes

The Remarkable, Amazing Stories of Route 66 Reflect the Twists and Turns of 100 Years of Americana

April 23, 2026 | 34 minutes

A Photographer’s Glimpse Into the Dwindling World of the Cascade Red Fox

April 9, 2026 | 32 minutes

The Real Story Behind Abigail Adams’ ‘Remember the Ladies’ Letter

March 26, 2026 | 31 minutes

Venomous Snakes Represent a Serious Public Health Problem. Scientists Are Biting Back With a Groundbreaking Antidote

March 12, 2026 | 28 minutes

History

Records uncovered by researcher Christopher Moore indicate that stones from Sandown Castle were repurposed in a Victorian-era extension of Constable's Gate at Dover Castle (pictured here).

Stones From One of Henry VIII’s Fortresses Spent More Than a Century Hidden in Plain Sight. New Research Suggests the Victorians Repurposed Them as Building Materials

Recently discovered archival records indicate that workers constructing an extension of the Constable’s Gate at Dover Castle in the late 19th century reused fragments of the Tudor-era Sandown Castle

September 1, 2026

Why Was This 17th-Century Polish Woman Buried With a Padlock on Her Toe and an Iron Sickle Across Her Neck?

August 27, 2026

This American Commando Parachuted Behind Enemy Lines in Both the European and Pacific Theaters of World War II

August 27, 2026

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Science

In loud conditions, a tokay gecko adjusts its call, which is typically used to find a mate or defend territory.

Reptiles Make a Surprising Amount of Noise. Here’s What Those Sounds Might Mean, From Pops to Hoots to Bellows

Scientists are realizing that turtles, lizards and crocodilians communicate vocally more than they once thought

September 2, 2026

Tennis Matches Are Heating Up, Literally. Here’s How the Court Became a Living Laboratory for Managing Extreme Temperatures

August 27, 2026

Spain’s White-Headed Ducks Have a Signature Color Right in the Name. And That Isn’t Even Their Most Remarkable Hue

September/October 2026

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Innovation

Why Gen Z Is Learning to Paint Like 19th-Century Artists

Paint groups are popping up in parks. Art schools are seeing a surge in applications. The rise of A.I. has people turning to more traditional art forms

August 18, 2026

The Global Web of Subsea Cables That Connects the World Can Now Detect Whales—Even When They’re Silent

August 13, 2026

Australia’s Social Media Ban for Teens May Not Be the Best Solution, But It’s Certainly Getting People Talking

August 17, 2026

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Travel

At its peak, the movement grew to include more than 130 participating restaurants. Today, 111 authentic trattorias still promote regional cuisine in this special way.

In Some Trattorias in Italy, Diners Can Enjoy a Meal and Take the Plate It Was Served on Home as a Souvenir

The Piatti del Buon Ricordo, or “Plates of Good Memories,” tradition dates back to 1964, when a clever marketer came up with it to encourage Italians to travel across the country and taste regional dishes

August 25, 2026