Look up throughout the year to catch a wide array of astronomical sights.

Don’t Miss These Ten Celestial Events in 2026, From Aligned Planets to a Total Solar Eclipse

The upcoming year will offer a blood-red moon, spectacular meteor showers and the first glimpse of the sun’s corona since April 2024

Carlyn Kranking

Flat-headed cats are rarely observed in the wild, in part because of their nocturnal habits.

Smart News

This Wild Cat Is Considered ‘Possibly Extinct’ in Thailand. Researchers Just Caught It on Camera for the First Time in About 30 Years

December 30, 2025 8:00 a.m.

Smart News

After Living Alongside Humans for Millennia, These Italian Brown Bears Have Evolved to Become Less Aggressive

December 30, 2025 9:55 a.m.

This Wild Cat Is Considered ‘Possibly Extinct’ in Thailand. Researchers Just Caught It on Camera for the First Time in About 30 Years

December 30, 2025 8:00 a.m.

These Urban Birds Evolved Longer Beaks During Covid-19 Lockdowns. Then, They Changed Back

December 29, 2025

Archaeologists Are Using Lasers to Clean Decades of Grime Off a Towering 1,800-Year-Old Marble Column in Rome

December 29, 2025

Some Ants Sacrifice Stronger Exoskeletons for Larger Colonies, Which May Help Them Take Over New Environments

December 29, 2025

More Smart News

Latest Features

Science

Don’t Miss These Ten Celestial Events in 2026, From Aligned Planets to a Total Solar Eclipse

December 30, 2025 8:30 a.m.

Golden apple snails have eyes that are similar to humans’—and they can regenerate an amputated eye in just a month. Scientists uncovered a gene related to that process, laying the groundwork for more research that could help humans with eye injuries.

Innovation

Eight Fascinating Scientific Discoveries From 2025 That Could Lead to New Inventions

December 30, 2025 8:00 a.m.

Fascinating finds unveiled in 2025 ranged from an Auguste Rodin sculpture to a ring bearing the likeness of the goddess Venus Victrix.

History

Seventy-Two Fascinating Finds Revealed in 2025, From a Luxury Spa in Pompeii to a Pair of World War I Messages in a Bottle

December 29, 2025

Our most-read stories of the year spotlighted a Eugène Delacroix painting, horseshoe crabs, the Dionne quintuplets and more.

History

Ten Top Smithsonian Stories of 2025, From Eerie Clay Puppets With Detachable Heads to a New Look at the American Revolution

December 26, 2025

The protagonist of Louisa May Alcott's “A Christmas Dream, and How It Came True,” embarks on a journey much like Ebenzer Scrooge's in A Christmas Carol.

History

A Forgotten Louisa May Alcott Story Showcases the Author’s Twist on Charles Dickens’ ‘A Christmas Carol’

December 24, 2025

Newly discovered species filled gaps in dinosaur evolution and shed light on historic migrations, while other studies offered new ways to date remains and made key insights about diets.

Science

The Top Ten Dinosaur Discoveries of 2025, From Preserved Blood Vessels to the Return of a Short King

December 23, 2025

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

Give a Gift Renew

December 2025

OPENER - Chubby the macaw arrived with self-plucking injuries, which are typically caused by stress, boredom, anxiety or life changes. Chubby was 22 at the time of being photographed in 2025, and she has since been adopted.

Science Gimme Shelter

Best Friends Animal Society has a sprawling campus in the canyons of Utah, but its influence has grown to reach almost every shelter in the country

OPENER - The Tugunbulak settlement was inhabited between the 6th and 11th centuries.

History The Lost City of the Silk Road

Researchers are uncovering what they think is the metropolis of Marsmanda, an iron-making city that could rewrite the history of the famed trade route

History A Grand New Design

A train wreck that caused the death of more than a dozen commuters near the turn of the 20th century was the impetus behind a monumental project that changed the urban landscape

Most Popular

Smart News

Archaeologists Are Using Lasers to Clean Decades of Grime Off a Towering 1,800-Year-Old Marble Column in Rome

Smart News

Can You Read This Cursive Handwriting? The National Archives Wants Your Help

History

Seventy-Two Fascinating Finds Revealed in 2025, From a Luxury Spa in Pompeii to a Pair of World War I Messages in a Bottle

Smart News

These Urban Birds Evolved Longer Beaks During Covid-19 Lockdowns. Then, They Changed Back

Travel

The Oldest Restaurant in the World Just Turned 300 Years Old

Special Report

Washington Crossing the Delaware, Emanuel Leutze, 1851

To mark the 250th anniversary of America’s founding on July 4, 1776, Smithsonian magazine is highlighting the people, places and events that shaped the United States’ fight for independence from Great Britain

View Full Report

Featured Stories

History

This Forgotten Founding Father Hoped to ‘Die Up to My Knees in Blood’ in the Fight for American Independence. He Got His Wish

This John Trumbull painting of the Battle of Bunker Hill presents a romanticized version of Joseph Warren's death.

History

Discover Patrick Henry’s Legacy, Beyond His Revolutionary ‘Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death’ Speech

A 19th-century lithograph of Patrick Henry's "give me liberty or give me death" speech

History

These Daring Revolutionary-Era Artists Promoted the Patriot Cause From the Heart of Enemy Territory

An engraving by Edward Savage, after Robert Edge Pine's 1784-1788 painting Congress Voting Independence

Photo of the Day

Mohawk Mini-Mart

By James Mcdonnell

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

Sign Up

Smithsonian 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