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

The pages were disposed of as scrap and pasted into an unrelated book.

Rediscovered Medieval Manuscript Offers New Twist on Arthurian Legend

The 13th-century pages, found by chance at a British library, show a different side of Merlin, the magician who advised Camelot's king

The colorful critter features fabulously patterned wings, though it rarely uses them. Instead, the bug hops from plant to plant to devour vegetation.

Kansas Boy's Bug Collection Garners Blue Ribbon at State Fair—and Federal Investigation

Smart News

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope Will Launch Into Orbit in December

September 21, 2021 4:08 p.m.

DNA Analysis Rewrites Ancient History of Japan

September 21, 2021 12:41 p.m.

Pfizer Says Covid-19 Vaccine Safe and Effective for Kids Ages 5 to 11

September 21, 2021 11:33 a.m.

This Bioartificial Organ Could One Day Save 'Millions' Living With Kidney Disorders

September 21, 2021 9:53 a.m.

FDA Advisory Panel Recommends Covid-19 Booster for Older and High-Risk Americans

September 21, 2021 9:52 a.m.

Marie Antoinette's Diamond Bracelets Are Going Up for Auction

September 21, 2021 8:19 a.m.

Latest Features

Aaron Bolds, a former college basketball player, graduated from medical school in 2018. He’s now a doctor at Mount Sinai Health System in New York, specializing in rehabilitation medicine.

To Boost Black Men in Medicine, Advocates Turn to Sports

September 21, 2021 7:00 a.m.

During the 2017 Grocery Walk, more than 500 protestors demanded greater investment in food access programs and healthy food retail options in a local Washington D.C. community.

AT THE SMITHSONIAN

In a City Flush With Power and Wealth, D.C.'s Ward 8 Faces Food Inequity

September 20, 2021

Courtney Gallaher’s Women in Science students at Northern Illinois University created quilt blocks representing astrophysicist Margaret J. Geller, biologist Rachel Carson, and mathematician Ada Lovelace.

Inside the Growing Movement to Share Science Through Quilting

September 20, 2021

Riders outside the Patee House Museum in St. Joseph, Missouri, the route's eastern terminus. Every year the National Pony Express Association conducts an annual re-ride of the famous delivery route.

Six Stops on the Pony Express That You Can Still Visit

September 17, 2021

A diver swims over a bleached section of the Great Barrier Reef near Heron Island.

The Planet Has Lost Half of Its Coral Reefs Since 1950

September 17, 2021

Natural disasters do not destroy buildings evenly. By studying which fall and which are left standing, engineers can develop new strategies for the future.

When a Natural Disaster Hits, Structural Engineers Learn From the Destruction

September 16, 2021

A bone tool from Contrebandiers Cave likely used for making clothes out of the skin of predators.

Evidence of Fur and Leather Clothing, Among World's Oldest, Found in Moroccan Cave

September 16, 2021

L’Arc de Triomphe, Wrapped (Project for Paris, Place de l’Étoile-Charles de Gaulle) is almost ready to enact its transformative magic on Paris from September 18 through October 3.

The Arc de Triomphe Is Wrapped in Fabric, Just as the Late Artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude Planned It

September 15, 2021

Current Issue
September 2021

Smithsonian magazine September 2021 issue cover

Most Popular

1.

Mass Graves of 13th-Century Crusaders Reveal Brutality of Medieval Warfare

Found in Lebanon, the 25 soldiers' remains bear unhealed wounds from stabbing, slicing and blunt force trauma

2.

DNA Analysis Rewrites Ancient History of Japan

A new study suggests the island's modern populations trace their ancestry to three distinct groups, not two as previously proposed

3.

See Edward Sherriff Curtis' Photos of Indigenous Alaskan Culture

New exhibition and book feature more than 100 images captured by Edward Sherriff Curtis for his seminal chronicle of Native American life

4.

Marie Antoinette's Diamond Bracelets Are Going Up for Auction

The jewels carry an estimate of $2 to $4 million but may fetch a far higher price

5.

How 1960s Mouse Utopias Led to Grim Predictions for Future of Humanity

John Calhoun studied behavior during overcrowding in mice and rats

Special Report

<p>The Smithsonian's Race and Our Shared Future: Reckoning With Our Racial Past initiative centers on six pillars.</p>

Race in America

To mark the Smithsonian's multi-year initiative, Our Shared Future: Reckoning With Our Racial Past, which will confront the history and legacy of race and racism through live and virtual events, pop-up exhibitions, digital resources, and other offerings, Smithsonian magazine has compiled this collection of relevant coverage.

View Full Report

Secretary Lonnie Bunch on Why the Smithsonian Is Talking About Race

158 Resources for Understanding Systemic Racism in America

The Relationship Between Race and Wellness Has Never Been More Pressing

Missing Caption

Xiao Qi Ji's First
Birthday Collection

Hurry! Ends September 17.

Smithsonian Channel

Preview thumbnail for video 'This Ancient Egyptian Mega-Tomb Is the Largest of Its Kind

This Ancient Egyptian Mega-Tomb Is the Largest of Its Kind

Preview thumbnail for video 'This Truffle Dog Is Facing a Really Challenging Truffle Hunt

This Truffle Dog Is Facing a Really Challenging Truffle Hunt

Preview thumbnail for video 'Meet the Majestic Giant Manta Ray

Meet the Majestic Giant Manta Ray

Photo of the day

Just a random garage spider that filled a doorway with its web.

Cute Blue Spider

History

Joshua Reynolds, Portrait of Omai, circa 1776

The Polynesian 'Prince' Who Took 18th-Century England by Storm

A new nonfiction release revisits the life of Mai, the first Pacific Islander to visit Britain

Over the span of two years, Washington visited all 13 original states (14 if you count Maine, which was then part of Massachusetts), traveling on horseback and by carriage along rutted dirt roads and over rising rivers.

When George Washington Took a Road Trip to Unify the U.S.

Boats arrive at Manhattan's Battery to rescue New Yorkers from the devastation wrought by the 9/11 attacks.

On 9/11, a Flotilla of Ferries, Yachts and Tugboats Evacuated 500,000 People Away From Ground Zero

Science

Courtney Gallaher’s Women in Science students at Northern Illinois University created quilt blocks representing astrophysicist Margaret J. Geller, biologist Rachel Carson, and mathematician Ada Lovelace.

Inside the Growing Movement to Share Science Through Quilting

The classic medium allows researchers, students and artists to tell stories about science, technology, engineering and math

A diver swims over a bleached section of the Great Barrier Reef near Heron Island.

The Planet Has Lost Half of Its Coral Reefs Since 1950

A bone tool from Contrebandiers Cave likely used for making clothes out of the skin of predators.

Evidence of Fur and Leather Clothing, Among World's Oldest, Found in Moroccan Cave

Innovation

Natural disasters do not destroy buildings evenly. By studying which fall and which are left standing, engineers can develop new strategies for the future.

When a Natural Disaster Hits, Structural Engineers Learn From the Destruction

StEER engineers assess why some buildings survive hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes and tsunamis, and why others do not

The microCOVID project was started by a group of friends and housemates who wanted to be more equitable about safety precautions.

This Calculator Estimates Your Risk of Getting Covid-19

Can a machine be taught to understand the plant world?

Is This Weed-Spotting, Yield-Predicting Rover the Future of Farming?

Arts & Culture

Poet and Met Gala co-chair Amanda Gorman channeled the Statue of Liberty in this sheer blue Vera Wang dress. Her clutch, emblazoned with the phrase "Give Us Your Tired," references Emma Lazarus' "The New Colossus," which is inscribed on a plaque at the American landmark.

Met Gala Asks What Is American Fashion—and Who Gets to Define It?

From inaugural poet Amanda Gorman to pop star Billie Eilish, here's how stars interpreted this year's theme

Mickalene Thomas, Jet Blue #25 (detail), 2021

Mickalene Thomas' Dazzling Collages Reclaim Black Women's Bodies

L’Arc de Triomphe, Wrapped (Project for Paris, Place de l’Étoile-Charles de Gaulle) is almost ready to enact its transformative magic on Paris from September 18 through October 3.

The Arc de Triomphe Is Wrapped in Fabric, Just as the Late Artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude Planned It

Travel

Riders outside the Patee House Museum in St. Joseph, Missouri, the route's eastern terminus. Every year the National Pony Express Association conducts an annual re-ride of the famous delivery route.

Six Stops on the Pony Express That You Can Still Visit

Established 160 years ago, the short-lived route was once the quickest way to deliver mail across the United States

The interactive map will be updated with the latest predictions in mid-September.

See When Fall Foliage Will Peak With This Interactive Map

At the foot of North Idaho's Bitterroot Mountains sits Wallace, an incredibly resilient, Old West mining town.

The 15 Best Small Towns to Visit in 2021

At the Smithsonian

During the 2017 Grocery Walk, more than 500 protestors demanded greater investment in food access programs and healthy food retail options in a local Washington D.C. community.

In a City Flush With Power and Wealth, D.C.'s Ward 8 Faces Food Inequity

Eleven percent of U.S. households experience hunger; an expansive, new exhibition focuses how a local community manages this national problem

“The history of racial violence is often erased and highly contested in the battle to define American memory," says the museum's director Anthea Hartig, "and this vandalized sign demonstrates the ramifications of ongoing efforts of remembrance and social justice."

Smithsonian Displays Bullet-Riddled Sign That Documented Emmett Till's Horrific Murder

Shaped mostly like a diamond, Washington, D.C. is organized by geographical divides centered on the U.S. Capitol and the White House, using mathematical principles employed by the original designer, Pierre Charles L’Enfant.

Track the Hidden Histories Lurking in the Street Names of Washington, D.C.