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Latest Features

Julia Child in her kitchen with husband Paul behind her

AT THE SMITHSONIAN

See the Tools and Gadgets From Julia Child’s Kitchen That Reveal How the Beloved Chef Cooked

Thirty-six homes—the world’s last topped with a traditional eelgrass roof—all sit here on Laeso.

INNOVATION

Could Eelgrass Be the Next Big Bio-Based Building Material?

U.S. Army Pfc. Chyna Williams (left) helps Staff Sgt. Janeen Butler at a voter assistance drive on a base in Qatar, 2008

AT THE SMITHSONIAN

What the Long History of Mail-In Voting in the U.S. Reveals About the Election Process

Seemingly still waters wind through colorful canopies displaying warm autumn hues on a hazy September morning.

ARTS & CULTURE

See 24 Beautiful Photos of Fall Foliage in Its Most Vibrant Colors

John Kunst (left), Ambassador Robert Neumann (center) and David Kunst (right) in Kabul, Afghanistan, on September 30, 1972

HISTORY

Why a Minnesota Man Walked Around the World, Traversing 13 Countries and 14,450 Miles in Four Years

A worker of the fungus-farming ant species Mycetophylax asper, collected in Santa Catarina, Brazil, in 2014, on its fungus garden

AT THE SMITHSONIAN

Ants Farmed Fungi in the Wake of Dinosaurs’ Demise 66 Million Years Ago

480 Otis, a beloved brown bear made popular by the Explore.org bear cams of Alaska’s Katmai National Park and Preserve, hunts for salmon at a popular bear fishing spot known as “the jacuzzi” on July 20, 2014.

SCIENCE

The Chonky Superstar of Fat Bear Week Is Missing, and the Competition Won't Be the Same Without Him

Agafia Lykova was born while her family was living alone in the wilderness. She is the only surviving member of the family.

HISTORY

This Russian Family Lived Alone in the Siberian Wilderness for 40 Years, Unaware of World War II or the Moon Landing

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Smithsonian magazine September/October 2024 issue cover

Most Popular

1.

Air & Space Magazine

The 727 That Vanished

A case pursued by the FBI, the CIA, the U.S. Departments of State and Homeland Security, CENTCOM, and the sister of Ben Padilla

2.

History

This Russian Family Lived Alone in the Siberian Wilderness for 40 Years, Unaware of World War II or the Moon Landing

In 1978, Soviet geologists stumbled upon a family of five in the taiga. They had been cut off from almost all human contact since fleeing religious persecution in 1936

3.

Smart News

How to Catch a Glimpse of the Draconid Meteor Shower

While the annual shower usually makes for a sleepy showing, it has been known to produce fantastic outbursts in the past

4.

Travel

Divers in Mexico's Underwater Caves Get a Glimpse of Rarely Seen Artifacts, Fossils and Human Remains

Cenotes in the Yucatán Peninsula are time capsules preserving remnants of Maya culture and fossils of extinct megafauna

5.

History

Inside Disney's Controversial Plan to Open a Theme Park Inspired by American History

In the early 1990s, historians and the public alike questioned how Disney's America would accurately and sensitively document the nation's thorny past

Smithsonian Voices
National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute

Inside the Zoo: A Rare and Life-Preserving Cheetah Surgery

National Museum of American History

Bernice Johnson Reagon's Lessons for Living

Smithsonian American Women's History Museum

Fannie Lou Hamer and the Fight for Voting Rights

Smithsonian Books

Five Photographs That Reveal the Beauty of Airport Towers

Smithsonian Associates

An Evening With Henry Winkler and More Programs in October

National Museum of Natural History

Fearsome Flies: Meet the Scientist Studying the Top Predators in the Insect World

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Our Sustainable Future

A hub dedicated to the latest on how global change affects life on Earth today and on what solutions scientists, including those at the Smithsonian, are researching to build a more sustainable planet

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Featured Stories

In Miami, the Nation’s First Chief Heat Officer Charts a Course for Surviving on a Warming Planet

Inside the Effort to Save Earth's Biocrusts

Can the Noise in Sports Arenas Be Turned Into Electricity?

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The Ultimate Skywatching Guide for Every Season

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10 Enchanting Butterfly Facts Revealed!

Photo of the day

This is an Atlantic puffin. Puffin V

History

John Kunst (left), Ambassador Robert Neumann (center) and David Kunst (right) in Kabul, Afghanistan, on September 30, 1972

Why a Minnesota Man Walked Around the World, Traversing 13 Countries and 14,450 Miles in Four Years

Fifty years ago, on October 5, 1974, David Kunst completed the first verified circumnavigation of the globe on foot. Along the way, he met Princess Grace of Monaco, raised money for UNICEF and lost a brother to bandits

Agafia Lykova was born while her family was living alone in the wilderness. She is the only surviving member of the family.

This Russian Family Lived Alone in the Siberian Wilderness for 40 Years, Unaware of World War II or the Moon Landing

A wall painting of a crowned woman with scepter (upper left), a procession of men behind her carrying objects (upper right) and a textile workshop (below)

See a Newly Uncovered Throne Room in Peru That May Have Belonged to an Ancient Queen

Science

480 Otis, a beloved brown bear made popular by the Explore.org bear cams of Alaska’s Katmai National Park and Preserve, hunts for salmon at a popular bear fishing spot known as “the jacuzzi” on July 20, 2014.

The Chonky Superstar of Fat Bear Week Is Missing, and the Competition Won't Be the Same Without Him

While other bears battled over fish in a prime spot, Otis would sit off to the side and wait for the fish to come to him. But so far this year, he hasn’t been spotted in Katmai National Park and Preserve

Scientists observed two bowhead whales synchronizing dive schedules whenever they were within earshot of each other.

How Did Two Bowhead Whales That Were 60 Miles Apart Sync Their Diving?

A wildfire burns in Quebec, Canada, in June of last year. Smoke from the fires drifted south to the United States.

Is Wildfire Smoke Causing Birds to Tend to Empty Nests?

Innovation

A rendering of the 3D-printed rounded hotel rooms

Workers Just Started Building the World's First 3D-Printed Hotel in the Texas Desert

In the dusty landscape surrounding the city of Marfa, a huge 3D printer is constructing 43 new rooms and 18 residential homes as part of an expansion of El Cosmico

The first wind phone was built in 2010 in Otsuchi, Japan.

What Are Wind Phones, and How Do They Help With Grief?

Some artificial intelligence models have predicted where hurricanes would make landfall earlier than numerical weather models.

Just How Much Can We Trust A.I. to Predict Extreme Weather?

Arts & Culture

A self-portrait taken in New York by Vivian Maier in 1954

Meet Vivian Maier, the Reclusive Nanny Who Secretly Became One of the Best Street Photographers of the 20th Century

The self-taught artist is getting her first museum exhibition in New York City, where she nurtured her nascent interest in photography

The Museum of Perfume, presented by Paris’ Fragonard Perfumery, is dedicated to exploring the methodology and history behind perfume making.

Museums in Paris That Surprise and Delight, From Medical History to Magic to Marie Curie

The weapons are adorned with gold and silver designs and an engraved image of Napoleon.

Napoleon's Elaborately Decorated Pistols Sell for $1.8 Million at Auction

Travel

Massive columns and karst formations decorate the vast chamber of Cenote Xulo.

Divers in Mexico's Underwater Caves Get a Glimpse of Rarely Seen Artifacts, Fossils and Human Remains

Cenotes in the Yucatán Peninsula are time capsules preserving remnants of Maya culture and fossils of extinct megafauna

The Hinemoana Halo Waka Moana Initiative recruited 12 crew members from the Cook Islands, New Zealand, Samoa and Tonga.

An All-Female Crew Sailed 1,000 Miles in a Traditional Voyaging Canoe to Help Save Humpback Whales

Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz eloped in 1940. Eleven years later, “I Love Lucy” premiered on CBS, and they would become one of the most iconic couples for decades to follow.

Desi Arnaz Is Getting a Much-Deserved Historical Marker in Miami Beach

At the Smithsonian

1980, OSGEMEOS, mixed media with sequins on MDF, 2020

The Colorful World of These Brazilian Identical Twins Bridges Dreams and Reality

The artists known as OSGEMEOS showcase the largest exhibition of their work in the United States at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden

Blossom Time, Willard Metcalf, oil on canvas, 1910

How Century-Old Paintings Reveal the Indigenous Roots and Natural History of New England Landscapes

Bokmakierie's nest and eggs from the collection of the Natural History Museum at Tring

See the Wonders of Bird Engineering in These Photos of Intricate Nests