A total solar eclipse, as seen from the European Southern Observatory's La Silla Observatory in Chile in 2019

Were Two Ancient Chinese Astronomers Beheaded for Failing to Predict an Eclipse in 2134 B.C.E.? The Story May Be a Myth, but It Underscores the Real Risks of Interpreting Celestial Events

Experts say that an oft-circulated anecdote about two royal astronomers drunkenly failing to foresee an eclipse thousands of years ago contains hints of truth

Georgia Michelman

Researchers examined three cemeteries across the Peak District.

Smart News

To Understand Social Divides in Medieval England, Archaeologists Examined Tooth Enamel From Lead Mining Communities

October 21, 2026 7:00 a.m.

Smart News

Archaeologists May Have Solved the Mystery of a Roman Sarcophagus Excavated at Westminster Abbey in 1869

October 21, 2026 4:34 p.m.

African Elephants Shape the Savanna Ecosystem—and Continue Doing So Long After They’ve Died, Study Suggests

October 21, 2026 2:47 p.m.

Shanghai’s ‘Audacious’ New Opera House Just Opened Its Doors—and a Gravity-Defying Staircase—to the Public

October 21, 2026 1:50 p.m.

Where Exactly Were the First Humans to Be Captured in a Photograph Standing? Three Obsessed Filmmakers Solved the Nearly 200-Year-Old Mystery

October 21, 2026 12:29 p.m.

She Painted the First Known Self-Portrait of an Artist at Work—and Signed It—Nearly 500 Years Ago. Who Was Catharina van Hemessen?

October 21, 2026 12:01 p.m.

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Latest Features

A female green turtle digs through sand to create a nest on Aldabra atoll.

Science

Green Sea Turtles Are Making a Remarkable Comeback on the Remote Aldabra Atoll and Around the World. But Their Recovery Is Far From Complete

October 21, 2026 3:00 p.m.

History

Were Two Ancient Chinese Astronomers Beheaded for Failing to Predict an Eclipse in 2134 B.C.E.? The Story May Be a Myth, but It Underscores the Real Risks of Interpreting Celestial Events

October 21, 2026 7:45 a.m.

After finding cold seeps on the seafloor of the Arctic Ocean, scientists collected samples of the sediment, which sometimes rested more than 1,000 feet below the surface.

Science

The Race for Hydrogen Fuel Has Taken These Scientists to the Arctic Seafloor. But Can They Unlock Its Secrets Before It’s Too Late?

October 20, 2026

The Spanish invite-only club Behomm, founded in 2013, is aimed at creatives. Some of the featured homes, like this one in Porto, Portugal, would sit comfortably in the pages of Elle Décor.

Travel

How a Bunch of Broke Teachers Created a Hot New Way to Vacation

October 19, 2026

Two sperm whales come to the surface in the waters off Black River district in Mauritius on October 3, 2026

At the Smithsonian

In the New Movie ‘Whalefall,’ a Cetacean Swallows a Diver Whole. The Sperm Whale’s Remarkable Anatomy and Feeding Habits Shape the Survival Thriller

October 16, 2026

Dams block the flow of a river to hold water in a reservoir, which can be used for agriculture, recreation, household needs or industry. The flow of water through a dam can generate hydroelectric power. Aging dams are being dismantled across the country, restoring the natural flow to rivers.

Science

Dam Removals Are Bringing Fish Back Across the Northeastern United States, Striking Down One Tiny Barrier at a Time

October 16, 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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At the Smithsonian

In the New Movie ‘Whalefall,’ a Cetacean Swallows a Diver Whole. The Sperm Whale’s Remarkable Anatomy and Feeding Habits Shape the Survival Thriller

Smart News

A Family of Barn Owls Has Moved Into New York City’s Upper West Side, Perhaps the First to Nest in Manhattan in Modern History

History

What Really Happened to Michael Rockefeller

Smart News

Microplastics Have Been Linked With Myriad Human Health Problems. Scientists May Have Finally Figured Out How They Harm the Body

Smart News

A Community-Led Archaeology Dig on a Tiny Scottish Isle Has Unearthed a Medieval Monastery of ‘International Importance’

Special Report

America at 250: The Revolutionary Spark

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

View Full Report

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

After a long search, the greylag geese finally found a small patch of water in this cracked, drought-stricken saline landscape. Their shadows stretch long in the late-afternoon light, as if telling the story of the journey they have made.

The Last Remaining Water

By Timea Ambrus

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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

The Roman sarcophagus is on view in the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Galleries at Westminster Abbey.

Archaeologists May Have Solved the Mystery of a Roman Sarcophagus Excavated at Westminster Abbey in 1869

New research suggests that the ancient coffin was repurposed in the 10th or 11th century to hold the remains of an abbot who had overseen the London monastery

October 21, 2026 4:34 p.m.

She Painted the First Known Self-Portrait of an Artist at Work—and Signed It—Nearly 500 Years Ago. Who Was Catharina van Hemessen?

October 21, 2026 12:01 p.m.

Were Two Ancient Chinese Astronomers Beheaded for Failing to Predict an Eclipse in 2134 B.C.E.? The Story May Be a Myth, but It Underscores the Real Risks of Interpreting Celestial Events

October 21, 2026 7:45 a.m.

More History

Science

Green Sea Turtles Are Making a Remarkable Comeback on the Remote Aldabra Atoll and Around the World. But Their Recovery Is Far From Complete

One year after the species was reclassified from “endangered” to “least concern,” green turtles in the western Indian Ocean exemplify that return—and the subtleties a global designation can miss

October 21, 2026 3:00 p.m.

The Race for Hydrogen Fuel Has Taken These Scientists to the Arctic Seafloor. But Can They Unlock Its Secrets Before It’s Too Late?

October 20, 2026

Dam Removals Are Bringing Fish Back Across the Northeastern United States, Striking Down One Tiny Barrier at a Time

October 16, 2026

More Science

Innovation

The user, if pregnant, will feel raised bumps on both sides of the flat lollipop—a reaction to hCG, a hormone that the body produces during pregnancy.

This Lollipop Could Help Blind Women Independently Detect Pregnancy

Design student Sneha Rao is developing Tact, an edible pregnancy test that allows people with vision impairment to feel its results on their tongues

October 6, 2026

The Humble History of the Bedpan

September 24, 2026

This Brain Implant Allows People With Paralysis to Speak and Gesture at the Same Time Via a Mind-Controlled Virtual Avatar

October 6, 2026

More Innovation

Travel

All of the sites on the Shikoku Pilgrimage are associated with Kobo Daishi, a Japanese monk who lived during the ninth century and founded Shingon, a major school of Buddhism that focuses on the attainment of enlightenment during a practitioner’s lifetime.

Japan’s Smallest and Least-Populated Major Island Is a World of Pilgrimages, Delicious Food and Plenty of Forest Bathing

Each year, more than 100,000 people hike at least part of a 750-mile route on Shikoku that connects 88 Buddhist temples and other sacred sites

September 29, 2026

Seven Places in Europe That Legends Say Were Built by Giants, Devils or Dragons

September 25, 2026

These 15 Wonderful Photographs of Kenya’s World-Class Wildlife Will Have You Booking a Flight to the Savanna

September 25, 2026

More Travel

Arts & Culture

Jack Nicholson peering through an axed-in door in The Shining.

Stanley Kubrick’s Personal Archive Is Going Up for Auction, Including the Ax From ‘The Shining’ and the Star Child From ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’

The legendary director’s on-set chair, annotated scripts and props give a glimpse into the meticulous moviemaking process behind films like “Full Metal Jacket” and “Eyes Wide Shut”

October 7, 2026

In the New Movie ‘Whalefall,’ a Cetacean Swallows a Diver Whole. The Sperm Whale’s Remarkable Anatomy and Feeding Habits Shape the Survival Thriller

The film, an adaptation of Daniel Kraus’ 2023 novel, tells the story of a young man with an extremely challenging task: make it out of a whale’s stomach alive

October 16, 2026

Watch Five Adorable Newborn Cheetah Cubs Grow on a Livestream From the Smithsonian’s Conservation Biology Institute

October 9, 2026

At the Bodega, Customers Can Get Pork Rinds, Plantains and Just About Anything They Need. Here’s How These Stores Became a ‘Community Anchor’ of Latino Life

October 15, 2026

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