Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Stories from Sarah Kuta

The V-shaped traps funneled animals downhill into a circular enclosure.

High in the Andes of Northern Chile, Hunters Once Used These Stone Wall Traps to Capture Prey

Archaeologist Adrián Oyaneder discovered dozens of structures called chacu while reviewing satellite images of the Camarones River Basin

Scientists gathered samples from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Permafrost Tunnel Research Facility in central Alaska.

Scientists Resurrect 40,000-Year-Old Microbes From Alaskan Permafrost. What They Found Raised Worries About the Future of a Warming Arctic

The experiments offer new insights into one of the “biggest unknowns” in how the climate will change in the years to come

The hunt includes around $10,000 worth of treasures, with individual prizes ranging from $300 to $3,500.

A Real-Life Treasure Hunt Is Underway in These American Cities

Stack’s Bowers Galleries is hiding certificates for rare coins and banknotes this month as it celebrates the 90th anniversary of its first auction in October 1935

Two new studies are shedding more light on the behavior and lifespans of naked mole rats.

Scientists Explore the Mysterious Lives and Longevity Superpowers of Naked Mole Rats

The nearly hairless rodents are extremely resistant to cancer—and can live to be 37 years old

The liver came from a genetically modified cloned pig with ten gene edits.

Surgeons in China Perform First Pig Liver Transplant in Human Patient

The patient lived with part of a pig liver for 38 days before surgeons removed it, surviving 171 total days after the procedure

Maria Corina Machado, the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize winner, has spent much of the last year in hiding and has not been seen publicly since January.

María Corina Machado, Venezuela’s ‘Iron Lady,’ Wins Nobel Peace Prize

Machado, who leads the Vente Venezuela opposition party against President Nicolás Maduro, was lauded for her “tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela”

Scientists converted a Type A kidney to a Type O kidney, then transplanted it into a brain-dead patient.

Scientists Converted a Kidney’s Blood Type, Then Implanted It Into a Brain-Dead Patient for the First Time

This area of research is still in the early stages, but it could someday help reduce wait times for patients needing kidney transplants

László Krasznahorkai, seen here in Spain in 2018, won the 2025 Nobel Prize in Literature.

This Hungarian Author Once Wrote a 400-Page Book With a Single Period. Now, László Krasznahorkai Is a Nobel Prize Winner

The 71-year-old recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature is known for his long, winding sentences

The goats are expected to clear roughly 25 acres of the ski area.

This Ski Area Hired a Herd of Goats and Sheep to Help With Landscaping

Jay Peak Resort in Vermont brought in a team of hungry ungulates to help tame overgrown vegetation on its slopes before the snow flies

One of the artifacts on display is an urgent order for four windows that dates to between 1295 and 1186 B.C.E.

This New Exhibition Explores the Lives of Ancient Egyptian Makers

These talented craftspeople specialized in ceramics, sculpture, jewelry, stonemasonry, coffin decorating and other art forms

Students will have a chance to study the mysterious artifacts in a new course slated to launch in the fall of 2026.

Someone Donated These Mysterious Artifacts to a Thrift Shop. Experts Think They Might Date to Medieval Times

A shopper who said he was an archaeologist spotted the 11 rings and two medallions and alerted a volunteer

Pine martens are shy, solitary creatures, but they play an important role in woodland habitats.

Watch These Shy, Adorable, Nocturnal Creatures Explore Their New Home After Being Reintroduced in Southwest England

Wildlife biologists recently released 19 pine martens into Exmoor National Park, where they’ve been locally extinct for more than a century

Jace Tunnell, director of community engagement at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi's Harte Research Institute, spotted more than ten pink meanies while wandering the beach in late September.

Rare ‘Pink Meanie’ Jellyfish Are Blooming Off the Coast of Texas

The large, vibrantly hued creatures can weigh up to 50 pounds and have tentacles up to 70 feet long

Dandelions are strategic about when to disperse their seeds, new research suggests.

Scientists Are Uncovering the Secrets of How Fluffy, White Dandelions Spread Their Seeds

Their seed dispersal strategies have helped these ubiquitous plants flourish all over the world, new research suggests

The four individuals lived in the Andes in Colombia between 1216 and 1797.

These Individuals Were Buried in Colombia Wearing ‘Death Masks.’ Researchers Just Digitally Removed the Skull Coverings to Reveal Their Faces for the First Time

See the portraits of a 6- or 7-year-old child, a woman in her 60s, and two young men who were buried in Colombia between the 13th and 18th centuries

Generations of bearded vultures return to the same nesting sites for centuries, offering archaeologists a glimpse into the past.

Generations of Bearded Vultures Stashed Humans’ Treasures, Including a 650-Year-Old Sandal, in These Bird Nests

Researchers recovered more than 200 human artifacts from historical nests in southern Spain

Smoke from wildfires can cause off-putting, ashy flavors in wine.

Wildfires Are Ruining Your Favorite Wines. These Bacteria Might Be Able to Help

Microbes already growing on grape plants may help neutralize one of the compounds responsible for wildfire-exposed grapes’ off-putting flavors, new research suggests

Large whales can get wrapped up in fishing lines, buoys, nets and other gear, which can lead to injuries and death.

U.S. Whale Entanglements Are on the Rise, New Data Shows

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration confirmed 95 large whale entanglement cases last year, a 48 percent increase from 2023

During the summer of 2025, a team of divers pulled up 1,051 silver coins known as reales, five gold coins called escudos and other gold artifacts.

Divers Recover More Than $1 Million Worth of Gold and Silver Coins From 310-Year-Old ‘Treasure Fleet’ Shipwrecks

The vessels sank in a violent hurricane off the coast of Florida in July 1715, when they were traveling from Cuba to Spain with an estimated $400 million worth of coins and jewels from the New World

New research suggests that the Salmon River in northwest Alaska is full of toxic metals.

Why Is This Remote and Rugged River in Alaska Turning Orange?

New research suggests the Salmon River is full of toxic metals that are likely harming fish and other aquatic creatures

Page 14 of 86