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Pirsig’s 1966 Honda Super Hawk motorcycle, featured in his novel Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values.

Why Robert Pirsig’s ‘Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance’ Still Resonates Today

The author’s meditation on technology treads a whole new path in the modern, digital world

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Alexander von Humboldt

Alexander von Humboldt: The Man History Forgot

Rediscover the 19th-century naturalist who traveled on four continents, wrote 2,500 letters, 36 books and hugely influenced early America

When Alexander von Humboldt (right) traveled to England in 1790, he met a young chemist named James Smithson, the founder of the Smithsonian. Humboldt's influence still resonates throughout the massive museum and research complex.

Alexander von Humboldt

How the Revolutionary Thinker Alexander von Humboldt Helped to Create the Smithsonian

The 19th-century polymath continues to influence the Institution’s research; a major Smithsonian exhibition explains how and why

Badger Clark in 1954.

Saddle Up With Badger Clark, America’s Forgotten Cowboy Poet

The unsung writer, known to many as “Anonymous,” led a life of indelible verse

This marks the first time the fossil has been back in America since 1847, when it made its way through Europe and ultimately ended up at The Hessisches Landesmuseum Darmstadt in Germany.

Alexander von Humboldt

This Mastodon Is a Centerpiece of an Art Exhibition. Why?

Meet the hugely influential Alexander von Humboldt, who foretold of climate change and inspired artists, writers and presidents

A humpback whale breaches off the coast near Alameda, California. Ships collide and kill an estimated 80 endangered whales a year off of the West Coast.

Innovative New Whale Detection System Aims to Prevent Ships From Striking Animals

Whale Safe launches in Southern California waters to help reduce deaths of the iconic marine mammals

The Virtual Online Museum of Art (VOMA) features art by global artists, including "Pinga," a powder-coated steel sculpture by Misha Milovanovich.

Education During Coronavirus

The World’s First Entirely Virtual Art Museum Is Open for Visitors

VOMA—the Virtual Online Museum of Art—is a free and fully immersive art experience

Teaching computers to assess the emotional tone of a piece of writing—a task called sentiment analysis—is becoming more widely used as researchers, companies and even mental health professionals delve into people’s social media musings for insights.

How Algorithms Discern Our Mood From What We Write Online

While sentiment analysis is far from perfect, it distills meaning from huge amounts of data—and could one day even monitor mental health

The courtyard at Mexico City's Museo Nacional de Antropología could be a good model for a socially distant lobby space in future museums.

Covid-19

How Will Covid-19 Change the Way Museums Are Built?

The global pandemic will have long-lasting effects on the form and function of future museums

Picture of the top and bottom sides of the chips with integrated microfluidic cooling, next to the miniaturized power converter

A New System for Cooling Down Computers Could Revolutionize the Pace of Innovation

A Swiss team has created tiny, fluid-filled channels in microchips to spirit away heat and save energy

Poultney Bigelow. Sketch by Poultney Bigelow for Edith Weir (detail), 1884 April 18. Weir family papers.

Smithsonian Voices

Important Hudson River School Archive Is Now Fully Digitized

Prominent artists like Edwin Austin Abbey, Augustus Saint-Gaudens and Eastman Johnson are featured in the Weir Family Papers

Letters are a key part of Jane Austen's novels

A New Edition of ‘Pride and Prejudice’ Crosses Its T’s and Dots Its I’s

Barbara Heller used period handwriting—and new material—to bring the novel’s colorful letters to life

In Boston's Mattapan on August 15, 2020, protesters march from Jubilee Christian Church to protest police brutality, systemic racism and other oppressive systems unfavorable to Black and Brown people.

Why Black, Indigenous and Other People of Color Experience Greater Harm During the Pandemic

Scholars take a deep dive into how structural racism intersects with public health

A great spotted woodpecker eats a hazelnut. Bird beaks may have allowed the animals to eat seeds and nuts after an asteroid hit the earth, wiping out many forms of life.

Why Birds Survived, and Dinosaurs Went Extinct, After an Asteroid Hit Earth

Paleontologists think that beaks may have given birds an advantage over other creatures

3D-printed masks made for a New Hampshire hospital amid PPE shortages in March.

Covid-19

Covid-19 Has Designers Reimagining Personal Protective Equipment

The global pandemic has led to a surge in demand for PPE. Inventors have responded—with mixed results.

Denzel Washington won an Oscar for his role as one of the soldiers of the 54th Massachusetts.

Based on a True Story

Why ‘Glory’ Still Resonates More Than Three Decades Later

Newly added to Netflix, the Civil War movie reminds the nation that black Americans fought for their own emancipation

Spindly legs and thick, red fur have earned maned wolves the nickname “foxes on stilts,” but the animal is neither fox nor wolf.

Smithsonian Voices

What the Rhythm of a Maned Wolf’s Heart Reveals

Smithsonian researchers are monitoring stress rates of this keystone species for better ways to manage them

Heian Period Cats

Japan’s Love-Hate Relationship With Cats

From shapeshifters to demonic corpse eaters, supernatural cats have roamed for centuries in the country’s folklore

A doctor checks the temperature of a child at a mobile clinic.

Covid-19

What Happens When Children’s Covid-19 Symptoms Won’t Go Away

Some parents say their kids have been sick for months, and experts aren’t sure what’s going on

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