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The bony growths found in pre-Hispanic skulls in Panama suggest communities were diving for oysters and pearls thousands of years ago.

Panama

Skulls With ‘Surfer’s Ear’ Suggest Ancient Pearl Divers in Panama

Thought to occur mainly in cold-water environments, a new study shows “surfer’s ear” bone spurs can grow even in the tropics

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America at War

This Map Shows Where in the World the U.S. Military Is Combatting Terrorism

The infographic reveals for the first time that the U.S. is now operating in 40 percent of the world’s nations

Kevin Lafferty emerges from the waters off Anacapa Island near Ventura, California, after spearing fish in March 2018. He’s advising a UCSB PhD student on research to determine if reef fish inside protected marine reserves have more or fewer parasites than depleted fish populations outside the reserve. It’s to test a pattern that has emerged in other studies: that parasites thrive with richness and abundance of marine life.

In Praise of Parasites

They worm into snails and infect the brains of fish. They’re also examples of sophisticated evolution and keys to ecosystem balance.

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Ingenious Minds

How Drag Helped Sasha Velour Cope With the Loss of Her Mother

The drag queen talks with breast cancer specialist Laura Esserman about gender identity, expression and celebration

Damage to the Philippine Legislative Building as a result of World War II. At the time, the Philippines was a U.S. colony.

Telling the History of the U.S. Through Its Territories

In “How to Hide an Empire,” Daniel Immerwahr explores America far beyond the borders of the Lower 48

A polarized-light microscopy image (in background) of a section from the Allende meteorite is one-thousandth of a millimeter thin.

The Oldest Material in the Smithsonian Institution Came From Outer Space

Decades after the Allende Meteorite plunged to Earth, scientists still mine its fragments for clues to the cosmos

The ‘Pole of Inaccessibility’ Has Eluded Adventurers for More Than a Century

This winter, explorers will once again set out for the most remote part of the Arctic Ocean

One of this issue's questions is about the starfish's namesake shape.

Why Are Starfish Shaped Like Stars and More Questions From Our Readers

You asked, we answered

Poe coined the phrase “the imp of the perverse” in an 1845 story of that title about an almost perfect murder.

How Edgar Allan Poe Became Our Era’s Premier Storyteller

Fans of the mystery writer have no shortage of ways to pay homage to the scribe behind “The Raven” and so much more

Tom Hanks (center) won an Oscar for his portrayal of Andrew Beckett, a gay man suffering from AIDS.

Looking Back at ‘Philadelphia,’ 25 Years Later

What would the breakthrough movie about the AIDS crisis look like if it were made today?

Marina Amaral can often find clues to inform her colorization in the shades of gray in the original image

No Color Photos of Jazz Singer Mildred Bailey Existed… Until Now

An artist shows us that the past was not black-and-white

By providing disincentives for discarding trash—and adding musical motivation for doing things right—Taiwan has achieved a recycling rate many envy.

How Taiwan Has Achieved One of the Highest Recycling Rates in the World

Once nicknamed “Garbage Island,” the region now has a success story to share

This image taken by the Long-Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) is the most detailed of Ultima Thule returned so far by the New Horizons spacecraft. It was taken at 5:01 Universal Time on January 1, 2019, just 30 minutes before closest approach from a range of 18,000 miles (28,000 kilometers), with an original scale of 730 feet (140 meters) per pixel.

Behold the Most Distant Object Ever Visited by Spacecraft

The New Horizons spacecraft has transmitted images from its New Year’s Day approach back to Earth

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Ingenious Minds

March for Our Lives Activist Naomi Wadler Isn’t Like Most 12-Year-Olds

Disney Imagineer Bei Yang interviews the young activist about social media, gun violence, hope and her future

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Introducing Our Special Issue on America at War

The nation’s epic, expanding fight against terrorism overseas

All programs and events will be postponed, relocated to non-federal locations or cancelled. All Smithsonian facilities will remain shuttered until the federal government reopens.

Smithsonian Museums and the National Zoo Close for the U.S. Government Shutdown

Museum buildings and research centers shuttered, most federal employees furloughed, while excepted Zoo staff continue care of the animals

Previously deployed service members raise their hands at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in New Jersey.

America at War

New Poll of U.S. Troops and Veterans Reveals Their Thoughts on Current Military Policies

In a new Smithsonian poll, conducted with the help of Stars and Stripes, current and former members of the armed forces take aim at conventional wisdom

Aaron Wixson, a Marine field artillery radar operator in Oceanside, California, transitioned from female to male in 2016. His biggest challenge was getting everybody to change the pronouns they used for him. “Some of them said, ‘We’ve been calling you “her” for so long.’”

America at War

The Faces Behind Transgender Troops’ Struggle for Acceptance

Meet some of the servicemembers at the center of one of the most controversial matters facing the U.S. military

Army Reservist Xiao Meng Sun, who left China six years ago, believes that military training teaches one to meet challenges.

Fighting to Be American

For centuries immigrants who served in the military could become American citizens. But are the women and men pictured here among the last?

Drawing of a helicopter on a wall of a house located at the first American helicopter crash site in Mogadishu. The Somali word on the helicopter's side, kulva, is an attempt to spell the word "Cobra," which was one kind of helicopter used to attack the village.

America at War

The Legacy of Black Hawk Down

Twenty-five years after the battle chronicled in the best-selling book, the author argues that we’ve learned the wrong lessons about fighting terrorism

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