Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Director Steven Spielberg on the set of Disclosure Day, his latest UFO-inspired film

History

What’s Behind Steven Spielberg’s Lifelong Obsession With Flying Saucers and Extraterrestrial Visitors?

Half a century after "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," the director returns to the subject of UFOs with "Disclosure Day." His science fiction films are informed by his fascination with alien encounters in American suburbia

Jake New

A slice of the rare angrite meteorite NWA 12774 shows olivine crystal (green), a mineral rich in magnesium.

Smart News

A Rare Meteorite Found in the Sahara Desert Offers Evidence of a Lost Protoplanet

Smart News

Latest Features

Stay Up to Date

Get the latest from Smithsonian magazine in your inbox.

Get the latest stories delivered to your inbox every weekday.

A bi-weekly newsletter bringing you thought-provoking perspectives on art, culture and exciting destinations.

A bi-weekly newsletter sharing new discoveries, fascinating stories and enhanced understandings of our past.

A monthly newsletter bringing you the most interesting new research on wildlife, the environment, space, psychology, paleo history and beyond.

Stay connected to new research, exhibits and fascinating stories stemming from the collections of your favorite Smithsonian museums.

Email Powered by Salesforce Marketing Cloud (Privacy Notice / Terms & Conditions)

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

Give a Gift Renew
Smithsonian magazine April/May 2026 issue cover
The adult female fox, Shadow, was around 5 months old when Stuart first documented and named her in 2022.
Science The Fox Family of Mount Rainier
Even the scientists who study the animals rarely see them except on camera. But Gretchen Kay Stuart spent a season documenting them up close
Opener
History Plunder at the Pink Temple
Clara and André Malraux conspired to loot the pink temple of Banteay Srei, but their failure started a battle of reclamation
OPENER - Two U.S. Navy officers stroll past the sunlit Georgian splendor of Middleton Tavern in Annapolis, Maryland. Horatio Middleton established the tavern here in 1750. Today, visitors can order classic Chesapeake seafood, including oysters and rockfis
Travel Drafting the Revolution
Taverns, public houses and inns served as meeting places before the war and unofficial headquarters during it. Some still stand—including these nine, where you can raise a glass in memory of the founders
More from the Current Issue
  image   image

Most Popular

None

Innovation

The Man Who Created a Written Language for the Cherokee Did It So Efficiently and Elegantly, His Peers Thought It Was Magic

None

Smart News

In a First, NASA’s Experimental X-59 Plane Flew Faster Than the Speed of Sound, Setting the Stage for ‘Quiet’ Supersonic Aircraft

None

Smart News

500 Years Ago, Leonardo da Vinci’s Notebook Was Cut Up and Separated. Now, the Inventor’s Manuscripts and Drawings Are Reconstructed in an Online Archive

None

Smart News

Workers Dredging the Savannah River Stumbled Upon 19 Cannons That Had Been Underwater Since the Revolutionary War

None

History

Among All the Great Things Benjamin Franklin Invented or Discovered, His Alter Egos Gave Him the Most Freedom

Photo of the Day

Every time I’m in Africa, I hold no expectations about what wildlife I’d like to see. I always figure nature will give me what I’m meant to see. But it seems nature is always holding out on African Wild Dogs. These ferocious, wildly mobile, piranha-like animals are an enigma – difficult to find, much less to photograph. Recently though, I had the opportunity to observe a pack of dogs. The adults relaxed, all the while keeping alert, while the puppies played, rested, and behaved like piranhas when it was feeding time. It was amazing to see the pack being the social animals they are known to be.

Puppy Tug-of-War

By Christine Dorrestein

Get the Photo of the Day directly to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter.

Sign Up

Smithsonian Videos

Preview thumbnail for video 'The Remarkable, Amazing Stories of Route 66 Reflect the Twists and Turns of 100 Years of Americana

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

Preview thumbnail for video 'A Photographer's Glimpse Into the Dwindling World of the Cascade Red Fox

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

Preview thumbnail for video 'The Real Story Behind Abigail Adams' 'Remember the Ladies' Letter

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

More Videos

Podcast

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.

Listen In

Latest Episodes

Podcast artwork

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

April 23, 2026 | 34 minutes

Podcast artwork

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

April 9, 2026 | 32 minutes

Podcast artwork

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

March 26, 2026 | 31 minutes

Podcast artwork

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

March 12, 2026 | 28 minutes

History

Theodore Roosevelt greeting supporters shortly before the assassination attempt in October 1912

Theodore Roosevelt Survived an Assassination Attempt Because a Speech Tucked Inside His Pocket Slowed the Bullet. He Insisted on Delivering His Remarks Anyway

“I am very much uninterested in whether I am shot or not,” he told an audience in Milwaukee. Newly discovered documents shed light on how the 26th president wanted the incident to shape his legacy

These Italian Teenagers Stayed Overnight at Their School. They Found Ancient Roman Ruins Hidden in the Basement

During the Revolution, American Women Fought for Freedom, Spied on the British, Cared for the Sick and Fell in Love. A New Exhibition Reveals Their Rich Wartime Stories

More History

Science

The “Ether Dome” at Massachusetts General Hospital is now a National Historic Landmark.

The Operating Room Where Anesthesia Was First Demonstrated Is Now a Landmark. But for the Men Who Claimed Credit, There Was Much Misery

Medical procedures used to be a scream-filled endurance test until doctors at this Boston institution learned to tame the pain of patients

‘Stupid Hot’: Heat Waves Muddle the Minds of Animals and Humans as Confusion and Aggression Seem to Rise With the Temperature

A Blip on a Telescope in a Colorado Parking Lot Bolstered a Space Mission That Has Found Thousands of Planets … and Counting

More Science

Innovation

None

Because of a Mathematician From Rural Virginia’s Work on Global Positioning, You Have No Excuse for Getting Lost

Gladys West had an “insatiable thirst for knowledge.” She used computers, radars and satellites to make calculations that led to the GPS technology that allows us to pinpoint any spot on the globe

This Playful Interactive Reveals the Medical Advances That Have Made Life Better … and Sometimes Longer

The Gin and Tonic Is a Cocktail With a Storied History. Don’t Overlook Scotland’s Connection to the Classic

More Innovation

Travel

The view from Olana State Historic Site in Hudson, New York.

America’s Original Travel Influencer Drew Up a Revolutionary Itinerary 200 Years Ago. There’s Still Plenty to See Along the Way

Follow along as we retrace the route one journalist laid out in “The Fashionable Tour,” from New York City to Niagara Falls, when memories of the fight for independence were still fresh

In a Plea to Preserve Them, One Photographer Has Captured 1,200 American Movie Theaters and Counting

From Casa Vicens to the Sagrada Familia, Architect Antoni Gaudí Left an Indelible Mark on Barcelona

More Travel

Arts & Culture

Museumgoers can read the labels on the backs of the paintings, which may provide clues about each work's provenance.

Who Are the Owners of These Nazi-Looted Masterpieces—and Could Displaying Them at One of France’s Most Popular Museums Help Track Them Down?

A new permanent display at the Musée d’Orsay showcases artworks that may have been stolen or sold under suspicious circumstances during World War II. Officials are still hoping to find the families of their rightful owners

The Real Winnie-the-Pooh Lives at the New York Public Library. When Queen Camilla Visited the Bear, She Reunited Him With a Dear Friend

How the Classic American Game of Twister Went From Risqué to Record-Breaking

More Arts & Culture

At the Smithsonian

Liberty, Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, painted terra cotta and tin, ca. 1884

This Remarkable Statue of Liberty Model Made by the Sculptor of the Original Has a New Summer Home at the Smithsonian Castle

Artist Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi’s small maquette represents the big ideals of the iconic national monument in New York Harbor

Four Rare Guam Kingfisher Chicks Hatch at Virginia Facility, Making an ‘Incredibly Valuable’ Addition to the Small Population of Extinct-in-the-Wild Birds

Young Blue Crabs Have Been Mysteriously Dwindling in the Chesapeake Bay for Years. This Winter, They Saw a Boost in Numbers. What’s Driving These Trends?

More At the Smithsonian