Ghostface, the primary antagonist of the Scream franchise, is one of the many horror icons featured in the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures' latest exhibition.

From Slasher Films to Vampire Flicks, Horror Movies Are More Popular Than Ever. Relive the Genre’s Scariest Moments—if You Dare—at a New Exhibition

The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures' latest show features nearly 350 props, costumes and artifacts from such films as "Psycho," "The Shining" and "Sinners"

Matthew Taub

In this 1956 photo, Salvador Dalí works on the book's cover, which is made of bronze and bejeweled with gems, pearls, forks and shells.

Smart News

Thieves Pulled Off Another Shocking Art Heist in France. This Time, They Took a 330-Pound Bronze Book Cover Designed by Salvador Dalí

October 8, 2026

Smart News

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

October 9, 2026 5:05 p.m.

A Digital Swamp Coming to New York City’s MoMA Is ‘Made to Envelop You’ in Nature With the Help of Cutting-Edge Technology

October 9, 2026 4:39 p.m.

Raised in Apartheid South Africa, 2026 Nobel Peace Prize Winner Navi Pillay Is One of the World’s Leading Human Rights Jurists

October 9, 2026 2:53 p.m.

Scientists Took a Cheek Swab From the World’s Oldest Tortoise. His DNA Could Reveal Hints to Longevity

October 9, 2026 1:28 p.m.

This One-of-a-Kind Bronze Ring Offers a Tantalizing Glimpse at the Lighthouse of Alexandria, a Lost Wonder of the Ancient World

October 9, 2026 11:21 a.m.

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Latest Features

A Bubble Barrier creates a diagonal line of whiter water in Amsterdam's Westerdok.

Innovation

Could This Dutch Invention Help Tackle Plastic Pollution in America’s Waterways?

October 9, 2026 1:49 p.m.

A member of the Muscogee Creek Nation pauses at the edge of the dance circle in traditional regalia at an event in Nashville.

Arts & Culture

Celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day With These 15 Dramatic Images of the Rich, Enduring Traditions of Native Americans

October 9, 2026 11:00 a.m.

History

From Slasher Films to Vampire Flicks, Horror Movies Are More Popular Than Ever. Relive the Genre’s Scariest Moments—if You Dare—at a New Exhibition

October 8, 2026

Tyrannosaurus rex’s image has seen major adjustments over the past century.

Science

Five Discoveries That Changed Our Understanding of T. Rex Forever, From Warm Blood to Lips

October 7, 2026

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.

Innovation

This Lollipop Could Help Blind Women Independently Detect Pregnancy

October 6, 2026

The specimen of the last known passenger pigeon, Martha, preserved in the Smithsonian’s collection. Martha died in 1914 at the Cincinnati Zoo.

At the Smithsonian

These Five Birds Have Disappeared Forever. Their History Offers a Valuable Lesson for the Future

October 5, 2026

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

Give a Gift Renew

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

A Shark Was Spotted Swimming Through the Flooded Streets of New Jersey During the Nor’easter

Smart News

A New Exhibition Spotlights 4,500 Years of Broken, Shot-Up and Degraded Artworks to Explore the ‘Power of the Fragment’

Smart News

See the Hilarious Animal Shenanigans Captured in Photos and Videos Shortlisted for the 2026 Nikon Comedy Wildlife Awards

Smart News

Meet This Year’s Chonky Champion of Fat Bear Week: Backpack, a Laid-Back 20-Year-Old Male Who’s a ‘Stoic Presence on the River’

Smart News

England’s Beloved Sycamore Gap Tree Is Showing Signs of Life, Three Years After Vandals Chopped It Down

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

Farming has always served as a significant part of American culture. This photo highlights the simplicity, yet the complexity of this craft.

The Monochrome Tractor

By Owen Prucey

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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

An underwater archaeologist examines a bronze signet ring discovered off the coast of Alexandria, Egypt.

This One-of-a-Kind Bronze Ring Offers a Tantalizing Glimpse at the Lighthouse of Alexandria, a Lost Wonder of the Ancient World

Archaeologists in Egypt discovered the signet ring while conducting excavations on the island of Antirhodos, which once housed a lavish Ptolemaic palace

October 9, 2026 11:21 a.m.

From Slasher Films to Vampire Flicks, Horror Movies Are More Popular Than Ever. Relive the Genre’s Scariest Moments—if You Dare—at a New Exhibition

October 8, 2026

Just Inches Below the Forest Floor, Archaeologists in Germany Unearthed a Roman Temple Likely Dedicated to Mars, the God of War

October 8, 2026

More History

Science

Five Discoveries That Changed Our Understanding of T. Rex Forever, From Warm Blood to Lips

Paleontologists are still unraveling the secrets of the world’s most famous dinosaur, such as its outward appearance or the way that it hunted. With each new finding, our view of the “tyrant lizard king” has gotten a little clearer—and sometimes has radically shifted

October 7, 2026

Ancient Pottery Reveals the Earliest Known Traces of Chocolate East of the Mississippi, Painting a Picture of Connection in the Americas

October 2, 2026

Is More Protein Always Better? Despite the Craze Around the Nutrient, Research-Backed Evidence About Its Benefits Is Complicated

September 30, 2026

More Science

Innovation

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

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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

For Years, the Smithsonian Strove to Bring the African American History and Culture Museum to the National Mall. Now, It Celebrates a Decade as a Beacon of Understanding, Community and Resilience

September 22, 2026

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