History, Travel, Arts, Science, People, Places Smithsonian Magazine

Dozens of Smithsonian Institution professionals share their favorite reads from this year.

AT THE SMITHSONIAN

Smithsonian Scholars Pick Their Favorite Books of 2021

The writings of many fine authors support the research and ambitious undertakings of an Institution rising to the challenges ahead

Beth Py-Lieberman

Astronomers and planetary scientists interested in understanding how often or when the weather patterns occur use past and present images to compare how the planets change over time.

Say Cheese, Outer Planets! Hubble Captures New Images of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune

Smart News

Albatrosses Mate for Life, but Climate Change Has Doubled Their 'Divorce' Rates

November 30, 2021 4:13 p.m.

Ten Hilarious Winners of the Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards

November 30, 2021 2:57 p.m.

'Living Ink' Made From E. Coli Could One Day Be Used in Cancer Treatments or Self-Healing Buildings

November 30, 2021 2:07 p.m.

Found in a Candy Tin: One of the First Coins Struck in Colonial North America

November 30, 2021 1:15 p.m.

Why Vulture Bees Prefer Rotting Flesh Over Pollen

November 30, 2021 9:10 a.m.

Archaeologists Unearth 800-Year-Old Mummy in Peru

November 30, 2021 7:00 a.m.

Latest Features

A growing body of work shows that marine animals are attracted to the sounds of healthy environments.

Playing Recordings of a Healthy Ocean Can Help Restore Marine Ecosystems

November 30, 2021 8:00 a.m.

This year's list includes Four Lost Cities, About Time and The Man Who Hated Women.

The Ten Best History Books of 2021

November 30, 2021 6:30 a.m.

A booster shot is administered in Stony Brook, New York in November. Such a shot can help spur a person’s immune system to ramp up defenses against Covid-19.

Six Questions About Waning Immunity to Covid-19 Answered

November 29, 2021

"As soon as this idea of aerial application for farming began to take shape, nearly everyone agreed this was the way to go,” says Dorothy Cochrane, curator at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum, where one of only two known to exist, is on view.

AT THE SMITHSONIAN

The Little 'Puffer' That Could, and Did, Change an Industry

November 29, 2021

This year's picks include Trails, Cascadia and the Initiative.

The Best Board Games of 2021

November 29, 2021

Andrew Pelling adds cells to an ear-shaped scaffold made from apple flesh.

Inside the Innovative Lab Growing Mammal Tissue Using Plants as Scaffolds

November 29, 2021

Dozens of Smithsonian Institution professionals share their favorite reads from this year.

AT THE SMITHSONIAN

Smithsonian Scholars Pick Their Favorite Books of 2021

November 24, 2021

This composite photograph shows the bison herd with one of the newly discovered petroglyphs overlaid on the sky.

Bison in Canada Discover Ancient Petroglyphs, Fulfilling an Indigenous Prophecy

November 24, 2021

Current Issue
December 2021

Smithsonian magazine December 2021 issue cover

Most Popular

1.

British Teenager Discovers Rare Bronze Age Ax Hoard

Milly Hardwick, a 13-year-old from Suffolk, stumbled onto a cache of 65 artifacts dated to around 1300 B.C.E.

2.

The Best Board Games of 2021

These new offerings are sure to entertain, as more gatherings of families and friends are happening

3.

Six Questions About Waning Immunity to Covid-19 Answered

Experts weigh in on when a reduced immune response occurs and how boosters can help restore defenses

4.

Is the Old Testament Historically Accurate?

Beneath a desert in Israel, a scholar and his team are unearthing astonishing new evidence of an advanced society in the time of the biblical Solomon

5.

Huge Roman Mosaic Depicting Scenes From the 'Iliad' Found Beneath U.K. Field

The artwork features scenes from the Iliad showing Achilles’s defeat of Hector

Special Report

<p>Artist's rendering of "Futures," an upcoming exhibition at the Smithsonian's Arts and Industries Building</p>

Futures

The Smithsonian's Arts and Industries Building reopens on November 20 with a thought-provoking exploration of what lies ahead for humanity

View Full Report

A New, Interactive Sculpture by Suchi Reddy Illuminates Our Hopes and Fears About the Future

From Floating Cities to Biodegradable Burial Pods and Flying Cars, the Smithsonian Envisions a Multitude of Futures

Secretary Lonnie Bunch on What Excites Him About the Smithsonian's New Futures Exhibition

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Smithsonian Channel

Preview thumbnail for video 'How the Meaning of Thanksgiving Has Changed

How the Meaning of Thanksgiving Has Changed

Preview thumbnail for video 'Manta Rays Are Smart Enough to Give These Fish Instructions

Manta Rays Are Smart Enough to Give These Fish Instructions

Preview thumbnail for video 'These Traditional British Sweets Have the Best Names

These Traditional British Sweets Have the Best Names

Photo of the day

The two little herons stare at their mother combing their feathers.

Mother Is So Beautiful

History

This composite photograph shows the bison herd with one of the newly discovered petroglyphs overlaid on the sky.

Bison in Canada Discover Ancient Petroglyphs, Fulfilling an Indigenous Prophecy

Reintroduced to Wanuskewin Heritage Park in 2019, the animals' hooves uncovered four 1,000-year-old rock carvings

The term “Crusade” has always been an anachronism—a way of looking back at complex, often disconnected movements with a wide array of motivations, membership, tactics and results and organizing them into a single coherent theology or identity. Pictured: A 19th-century painting of the 1177 Battle of Montgisard by Charles-Philippe Larivière

The Many Myths of the Term 'Crusader'

This 1925 painting depicts an idealized version of an early Thanksgiving celebration in Plymouth.

How to Tell the Thanksgiving Story on Its 400th Anniversary

Science

Andrew Pelling adds cells to an ear-shaped scaffold made from apple flesh.

Inside the Innovative Lab Growing Mammal Tissue Using Plants as Scaffolds

Researchers at the University of Ottawa have used apple flesh to create human tissue in the shape of an ear and asparagus stalks to regenerate spinal cords

Not much is known about mysterious quasisatellites because of their small dimensions, distance, and ability to conceal themselves in the shadows. Kamoʻoalewa is the first quasisatellite to move within observing range of large telescopes.

A Chip Off the Moon May Be Tailing Earth on Its Orbit Around the Sun

This glass fish was found in a fairly modest private house in Amarna, buried under a plaster floor along with a few other objects. It may once have contained ointment.

A Brief Scientific History of Glass

Innovation

The much-lauded exposition-style celebration invites “all dreamers, makers, and changers of tomorrow to imagine a more exciting, equitable, and sustainable future.”

At New 'Futures' Show, Big Dreamers and Changemakers Activate a Better Way Forward

Smithsonian’s 175th anniversary exposition opens with big-name speakers, family fun and a 21st-century peek into the world ahead

What the History of 'Spirit Photography' Portends for the Future of Deepfake Videos

For the Deep Space Food Challenge, teams were asked to design food production technology that would support a crew of four astronauts during long-term space missions without resupplying and achieve the most outstanding amount of food output with minimal inputs and virtually no waste. (Pictured: NASA Astronaut Megan McArthur aboard the ISS)

From an Electric Cow to Space Bread, NASA Announces First-Round Winners of Deep Space Food Challenge

Arts & Culture

Dozens of Smithsonian Institution professionals share their favorite reads from this year.

Smithsonian Scholars Pick Their Favorite Books of 2021

The writings of many fine authors support the research and ambitious undertakings of an Institution rising to the challenges ahead

Swift's extended version of "All Too Well" surpassed the length of the previous record holder, Don McLean's 8-minute, 42-second "American Pie (Parts I and II)."

Taylor Swift Sets Record for Longest No. 1 Song, Beating Out 'American Pie' and the Beatles

The black-and-white stills represent the spirit rendered by King Richard, the new film starring Will Smith as the Williams sisters’ father, coach and mentor.

These Vintage Photos of Venus and Serena Williams Reveal the Truth of 'King Richard'

Travel

Travel by way of these ten titles.

The Ten Best Books About Travel of 2021

With many of our wings still clipped by Covid-19 this year, we needed to travel vicariously through these adventurous reads

To make true Roquefort cheese, the law requires that it must be produced from local ingredients and ripen for months in a cave in southern France.

How Much Longer Will Roquefort Reign as the King of Cheese?

Bound for Chicago with a hold full of Christmas trees, the Rouse Simmons was lost with all hands in a November gale in 1912.

The Newest National Marine Sanctuary Is in Lake Michigan. Here's How to Explore It

At the Smithsonian

Dozens of Smithsonian Institution professionals share their favorite reads from this year.

Smithsonian Scholars Pick Their Favorite Books of 2021

The writings of many fine authors support the research and ambitious undertakings of an Institution rising to the challenges ahead

In "New Glass Now," at the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Renwick Gallery, works by 50 artists, including the hot-sculpted glass work of James Akers, (above: TThe Wild One (B), 2018) amplify the stunning advancement of the artform since the last major survey.

Two New Shows Reflect the Shining Versatility of Glass

"As soon as this idea of aerial application for farming began to take shape, nearly everyone agreed this was the way to go,” says Dorothy Cochrane, curator at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum, where one of only two known to exist, is on view.

The Little 'Puffer' That Could, and Did, Change an Industry