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A patrol returns to Forward Operating Base Tillman, in eastern Afghanistan. It was closed in 2012, the year after this double exposure was made.

America at War

The New Archaeology of Iraq and Afghanistan

The once-fortified outposts that protected U.S. troops are relics of our ambitions abroad

A dog-tag memorial at Old North Church in Boston, which has honored service members killed in the Iraq and Afghan wars since 2006, making it the oldest such memorial in the country

America at War

How Should We Memorialize Those Lost in the War on Terror?

Americans have erected countless monuments to wars gone by. But how do we pay tribute to the fallen in a conflict that might never end?

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

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?

The Watermelon Drop in Vincennes, Indiana

From Opossums to Bologna: Weird Things Cities Drop on New Year’s Eve

Who needs a ball? Cities get creative on New Year’s Eve by dropping objects that reflect local products and culture

Artist’s impression of NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft encountering 2014 MU69, a Kuiper Belt object that orbits one billion miles (1.6 billion kilometers) beyond Pluto, on Jan. 1, 2019. With public input, the team has selected the nickname “Ultima Thule” for the object, which will be the most primitive and most distant world ever explored by spacecraft.

Ring in the New Year With NASA’s Most Distant Planetary Encounter in History

The New Horizons spacecraft is on final approach to the distant Kuiper Belt Object, Ultima Thule, and you can follow along live

he famous “Catwalk Site," one of the open air displays at the National Museums of Kenya Olorgesailie site museum, which is littered with ~900,000 year old handaxes.

What We Learned About Our Human Origins in 2018

From an upper jaw to red ocher paintings, two Smithsonian scholars note the significant discoveries in human evolution this trip around the sun

(Mårten Teigen, Museum of Cultural History; Associated Press; Stocktrek Images, Inc. / Alamy; CDC / James Gathany; Philippe Charlier; Brian Palmer; David Iliff via Wikimedia Commons under CC BY-SA 3.0; Alamy; Pasini et al. / World Neurosurgery / Elsevier; Donovan Wiley; Library of Congress)

Our Top 11 Stories of 2018

From a 50-year-old political scandal to swarms of genetically engineered mosquitos, here are Smithsonian.com’s most-read stories

John C. Reilly stars as Oliver Hardy, and Steve Coogan stars as Stan Laurel in the new release.

Please Extend a Laurel and Hardy Handshake to the New Film ‘Stan & Ollie’

The movie showcases the famed comedy duo at the twilight of their illustrious careers

Sunset near Turtle Rock, Joshua Tree National Park.

Using the Sounds of Nature to Monitor Environmental Change

From wind speed to temperature to atmospheric density, the sounds of the wilderness can help ecologists learn a lot about our planet

This graspable haptic device, called Foldaway, is the size of a drink coaster when flat, making it conveniently portable. The user places a joystick where the three hinged arms meet, and the arms offer resistance, to give a sense of the objects being manipulated.

Here’s What the Future of Haptic Technology Looks (Or Rather, Feels) Like

Bringing the sense of touch to virtual reality experiences could impact everything from physical rehabilitation to online shopping

Why More Babies Are Conceived in the Cold Winter Months

There’s evidence of seasonal reproduction all the way back to the 1800s

A map of the moon with labeled features, from Selenographia by Johannes Hevelius.

The 17th-Century Astronomer Who Made the First Atlas of the Moon

Johannes Hevelius drew some of the first maps of the moon, praised for their detail, from his homemade rooftop observatory in the Kingdom of Poland

Felicity Jones, playing future Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, makes the oral argument for Moritz in a scene from On the Basis of Sex.

Based on a True Story

The True Story of the Case Ruth Bader Ginsburg Argues in ‘On the Basis of Sex’

Moritz v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue was the first gender-discrimination suit Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg argued in court

An entry in the Noche de los Rábanos contest

Why Radish Carving Has Become a Popular Holiday Event in Oaxaca

On Dec. 23, hundreds of participants test their skills carving the ruby-skinned root during the Night of the Radishes

From 3-D Printed Gills to AI Dolphin Dictionaries, These Innovations Could Make Us More Like Aquaman

If you look beyond the movie, you can see how the underwater superhero’s signature powers translate in real tech

Saint Nicholas, Bishop of Myra, is shown throwing three balls of gold through a window, providing the dowry of three poverty-stricken maidens in an altarpiece painted between 1433 and 1435 for a monastery in Florence. The design was based on an altarpiece by Gentile da Fabriano of 1425.

Why We Should Bring Back the Tradition of the Christmas Orange

The appeal of a last-minute stocking stuffer

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Ingenious Minds

Farmworkers Rights Activist Mily Treviño-Sauceda Empowers Women to Create Change

The founder of the Alianza Nacional de Campesinas joined poet Jacqueline Suskin in a conversation about family, women, strength and unity

1960s science fiction illustration of lunar exploration.

The Missions to the Moon That Never Left the Drawing Board

From pioneers of science fiction to the height of the space race, these are the ideas for lunar flight that never launched

Erfurt's Christmas Market

Could Erfurt Be Germany’s Most Magical Christmas Town?

A Christmas pyramid, a 65-foot tree, a 14th-century bridge and a market serving mulled wine and drinking chocolates are among Erfurt’s festive offerings

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