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Camels stay cool through a combination of sweat and insulating fur.

Why This New Technology Inspired by Camel Fur Is Super Cool

A two-layered material that mimics the animals’ sweat glands and insulating fur chills surfaces 400 percent longer than traditional methods

A march in support of the Vote 18 movement in Seattle in 1969 and buttons advocating for youth enfranchisement in the Smithsonian's collections.

100 Years of Women at the Ballot Box

How Young Activists Got 18-Year-Olds the Right to Vote in Record Time

In 1971, more than 10 million 18– to 20-year-olds got the right to vote thanks to an amendment with bipartisan support

On his last day of service in Vietnam in 1963, Harvey Pratt (Cheyenne and Arapaho) poses in Da Nang carrying his rappelling rope that he used to descend from helicopters to clear landing fields. Pratt is the designer of the National Native Americans Veterans Memorial.

The Remarkable and Complex Legacy of Native American Military Service

Why do they serve? The answer is grounded in honor and love for their homeland

Several line items in Alexander Hamilton's cashbook indicate that the Founding Father purchased enslaved labor for his own household.

New Research Suggests Alexander Hamilton Was a Slave Owner

Often portrayed as an abolitionist, Hamilton may have enslaved people in his own household

Now is a good time to explore the world right at our feet.

Ten Surprising Facts That Will Make Your Walk Around the Block More Interesting

With Covid-19 keeping you close to home, now is a good time to learn about elements of your neighborhood that you take for granted

An unveiling ceremony takes place virtually on November 11, 2020 at the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian.

Native American Veterans Receive a Place of Their Own to Reflect and to Heal

After two decades in the making, a veterans memorial is dedicated at the National Museum of the American Indian

A woman scratches her forearm.

The Search for What Causes Chronic Itching

Scientists are making headway on parsing the condition’s biological underpinnings, in hope of better treatments

Farms have been processing their heritage turkeys earlier to keep them small.

Turkey Farmers Scramble to Meet Need for Smaller Thanksgiving Birds

They’ll just be thankful when the year is over

The longtime "Jeopardy" host died of pancreatic cancer on November 8.

Alex Trebek on Why ‘Jeopardy’ Represents the American Dream

The game show host, who died Sunday at age 80, donated items to the Smithsonian in 2013

Scientists caught a juvenile female vaquita in October of 2017 and released her after she showed signs of stress.

Vaquita Genome Offers Hope for Species’ Survival

A new study suggests the marine mammal can recover naturally if illegal fishing is eliminated

Martin Johnson Heade, Black-eared Fairy, ca. 1863-1864, oil on canvas, 12 1/4 x 10 in.

Smithsonian Voices

Scholars Are Finding New Clues to Understanding a Gorgeous Hummingbird Series of Artworks

The 19th-century artist Martin Johnson Heade abandoned his effort to paint his ‘Gems of Brazil,’ but why?

This artist's rendering shows the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft descending towards asteroid Bennu to collect a sample.

NASA Snags Its First Asteroid Sample

On a mission more than 200 million miles away from Earth, the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft grabbed rocks from Bennu

An extinct group of lizardlike amphibians known as albanerpetontids boasts the earliest example of a slingshot-style tongue. This CT scan shows an exquisitely preserved 99-million-year-old albanerpetontid skull with its long, specialized tongue.

Scientists Find the World’s Oldest Chameleon-Like Tongue Preserved in Amber

A skull and soft tissue perfectly kept in resin show that an ancient amphibian had a tongue that was both fast and extendable

The Peruvian tern's desert camouflage makes it almost impossible to track, but that’s exactly what our research team set out to do.

Smithsonian Voices

Searching for the Invisible, Invincible Peruvian Tern

The Peruvian tern’s desert camouflage makes it almost impossible to track, but that’s exactly what the research team set out to do

This month's book picks include A Demon-Haunted Land, South to Freedom and The Light Ages.

Books of the Month

The Heiress Who Stole a Vermeer, Witchcraft in Post-WWII Germany and Other New Books to Read

These five November releases may have been lost in the news cycle

Those who missed the site-specific version of artist Koo Jeong A's density can now conjure it up at home, hovering over the couch or floating over their beds.

Innovation for Good: Game Changers

With Augmented Reality, You Can Now Superimpose Publicly Exhibited Artworks in Your Home

Art institutions are embracing AR during the Covid-19 pandemic—and making art more accessible in the process

Senator John F. Kennedy speaks to supporters at Chicago Stadium four days before the 1960 election.

Four Times the Results of a Presidential Election Were Contested

“Rigged” may not be the way to describe them, but there were definitely some shenanigans happening

In the ninth edition of the Renwick Invitational, artists Lauren Fensterstock, Timothy Horn (above: Gorgonia 12, 2016), Debora Moore and Rowland Ricketts offer viewers entrancing new perspectives on the natural world.

Nature and Artifice Collide at the 2020 Renwick Invitational

In an era of isolated anxiety, “Forces of Nature” offers room to breathe

Keara Teeter treating William H. Johnson’s Historical Scene with Mary McLeod Bethune, ca. 1945, oil on paperboard

Smithsonian Voices

A Conservator Weighs in on the Preserving of Artist William H. Johnson’s ‘Fighters for Freedom’ Series

By preserving these artworks, the artist’s message will continue to inspire future generations and elicit meaningful dialogue about the meaning of freedom

More ships are cruising through Arctic waters but when disaster strikes, there is little information on how it might affect the environment, and little preparation for quick action.

The Race to Study Arctic Waters

In the far north, researchers are scrambling to record baseline environmental data as communities brace for future shipping disasters

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