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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
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Who Was the Inspiration Behind the ‘Gibson Girl’ Illustrations? The Artist Said She Was Every Woman
Charles Dana Gibson’s archetype became the original American “it girl” in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and helped transform fashion and beauty
Smart News
The Public Baths of Ancient Pompeii Were Actually Pretty Gross—Until the Romans Built an Aqueduct
Contents of a Wolf Pup’s Stomach From 14,400 Years Ago Are Teaching Researchers About the Lives of the Last Woolly Rhinos
All Nine of Jan van Eyck’s Surviving Portraits Are Coming Together for the Very First Time in History
Greenland Sharks Can Survive for Centuries—and Maintain Long-Lasting Vision, Despite Living in the Dark
Jupiter’s Moon Europa Is a Top Candidate for Hosting Alien Life. But It May Lack the Geologic Activity Needed to Birth Microbes
Latest Features
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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
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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
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Special Report
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Coastal Cities of Europe
Explore the history, culture and natural wonders of the continent's most celebrated ports
Featured Stories
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Photo of the Day
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Sitting On the Dock
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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.
Latest Episodes
The ‘Edmund Fitzgerald’ Sank Half a Century Ago. We’re Still Fascinated.
November 6, 2025 | 28 minutes
History
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Why the Computer Scientist Behind the World’s First Chatbot Dedicated His Life to Publicizing the Threat Posed by A.I.
Joseph Weizenbaum realized that programs like his Eliza chatbot could “induce powerful delusional thinking in quite normal people”
Science
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The Hidden World of Cold-Water Corals Rises to the Surface With These Glass Sculptures That Are Resurrecting a Lost Craft
As increased industrial activity puts fragile deep-sea ecosystems at risk, one artist is raising awareness about imperiled corals through scientific model making
Innovation
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Seven Fascinating Inventions Unveiled at the 2026 Consumer Electronics Show
A smart wheelchair, an A.I.-powered tennis ball launcher, a mirror that reports on your health and more were on display at the annual Las Vegas trade show
Travel
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Can Venice’s Iconic Crab Dish Survive Climate Change?
For more than 300 years, Italians have fried soft-shell green crabs, called moeche. But the culinary tradition is under threat
Arts & Culture
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Newly Digitized Records Reveal How Indigenous People Shared Their Knowledge of New Zealand’s Plants With Captain Cook’s Crew
Long-overlooked documents housed at London’s Natural History Museum testify to the exchange of information between 18th-century European botanists and their Indigenous counterparts
At the Smithsonian
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These 15 Stunning Microscopic Snowflake Images Helped Change the Way We See the World
Farmer Wilson Bentley was the first to photograph the tiny snow crystals individually, and his collection reveals that each has its own pattern