Meilan Solly

Meilan Solly

 

Meilan Solly is Smithsonian magazine's associate digital editor, history.

A wild southern sea otter off Moss Landing in California

Parasite Spread by House Cats Is Killing California’s Sea Otters

To counter the parasite's spread, cat owners should keep their pets indoor and dispose of feline feces in the trash rather than the toilet or outdoors

Art installation above the Brandenburg Gate

Thirty Years After Fall of Berlin Wall, a Citywide Celebration

A week-long arts festival will feature concerts, immersive exhibitions, art installations, panel discussions and more

Artist Rudolf Bleschka created the diseased fruit models between 1924 and 1932

Glass Models of Decaying Fruit Set to Go on View After Two Decades in Storage

Designed to serve as teaching tools, the delicate glassware reveals the ravages of such diseases as peach leaf curl, pear scab and gray mold

Visitors interact with living sound artworks in the "Sonic Succulents" installation by Adrienne Adar

Listen to the Sounds of Succulents at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden

An ongoing installation encourages visitors to interact with prickly cacti, palm plants and potted succulents

Iwo Jima by David Levinthal, from the series "History," 2013

What David Levinthal’s Photos of Toys Reveal About American Myth and Memory

A new show at the Smithsonian American Art Museum reflects on iconic events including JFK's assassination, flag raising at Iwo Jima and Custer's last stand

Aaron Burr (left) and his son, abolitionist John Pierre Burr (right)

155 Years After His Death, Abolitionist John Pierre Burr's Epitaph Updated to Include His Father, Aaron Burr

Descendant Sherri Burr's research shows that the vice president had children with Mary Emmons, a servant in his household

Blindfolded insect larvae opted to perch on twigs matching their body coloring about 80 percent of the time

These Caterpillars Can Detect Color Using Their Skin, Not Their Eyes

In experiments, peppered moth caterpillars successfully camouflaged themselves even when blindfolded

Females of the species boast blue-hued legs, as well as an iridescent sheen on their outer shell and abdomen

Turquoise-Tinted Tarantula Discovered in Sri Lanka

The species is only the second member of its genus ever found in the South Asian country

After Roger Fenton, Prince Albert, May 1854, 1889 copy of the original

Thousands of Unseen Photographs, Documents Digitized for Prince Albert’s 200th Birthday

The collection highlights the royal consort’s role in shaping Victorian society, from his interest in photography to his passion for social reform

The earliest recorded reference to Tholey Abbey dates to 634 A.D.

New Stained Glass Is Coming to Germany’s Oldest Monastery

Gerhard Richter is set to design a trio of windows for the Benedictine Tholey Abbey

Potential explanations for the disorder include infectious disease, rat poison, toxic algae and nutritional deficiencies.

Florida Authorities Investigate a Disorder Affecting Panthers' Ability to Walk

The crippling condition appears to hamper the big cats’ back leg coordination

The latest fire forecast from the European Union's Copernicus satellite.

Three Things to Know About the Fires Blazing Across the Amazon Rainforest

Experts say the majority of blazes were set by farmers hoping to clear land for agricultural endeavors

The 8-year-old girl lived in the Andes around 1470

500-Year-Old Inca Mummy Repatriated to Bolivia

Dubbed Ñusta, or 'Princess,' the mummy represents the first archaeologically significant set of remains to be repatriated to the Andean country

Alvin Baltrop, "Untitled (Portrait of Marsha P. Johnson)," undated

Bronx Exhibition Spotlights Alvin Baltrop, Photographer Who Documented Manhattan’s Underground Queer Community

Baltrop took thousands of snapshots at New York's West Side Piers between 1975 and 1986

Experts hope the bridge will enable mountain lions to find potential mates and increase the local population's genetic diversity

California Will Build the Largest Wildlife Crossing in the World

The overpass will provide safe passage for mountain lions, coyotes, deer, lizards, snakes and other wild animals crossing the 101 Freeway

One critic of the proposed redefinition says, "It would be hard for most French museums—starting with the Louvre—to correspond to this definition, considering themselves as ‘polyphonic spaces'"

The Term ‘Museum’ May Be Getting Redefined

But experts are divided on the proposed new definition

The spider species featured in the study is unusually social, living in colonies of several hundred females and exhibiting either aggressive or docile tendencies

Hurricanes Are Making This Spider Species More Aggressive

The new findings have broader implications for understanding extreme weather events’ effects on animal behavior

Graduate student Karen Fleming recreated Hilda's face using wax

See the Face of Hilda, a Toothless Iron Age Druid Woman

A Scottish university student has recreated Hilda's likeness out of wax

The underground shelter was transformed into a Resistance command post the week before Paris' liberation

Paris Basement Used as WWII Resistance Headquarters Transformed Into Museum Centerpiece

The soon-to-open museum also explores the lives of Resistance leaders Jean Moulin and General Leclerc

A Beloved Baby Dugong Has Died After Ingesting Plastic

The orphaned marine mammal became an internet sensation after images of her nuzzling human caretakers went viral

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