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Articles

An artist’s conception of a distant Solar System Planet X, which could be shaping the orbits of smaller extremely distant outer solar system objects like 2015 TG387.

New Discovery Stirs Up Signs of the Elusive Planet 9

A new minor planet called “the Goblin” is the second most distant known object in the solar system

“It is especially exciting to see Sukiri bonding with and successfully raising these cubs,” says the Zoo's cheetah biologist Adrienne Crosier.

New Cheetah Mom Earns High Marks Caring for Her Three New Smithsonian Cubs

Cubs born to Sukiri on September 22 are latest in the National Zoo’s efforts to diversify gene pool of captive born cheetahs

In 2015, John T. Unger embarked on a project to recreate 14 of Eustachi’s drawings in life-size mosaics.

Art Meets Science

This Artist Redefines a “Chiseled Body”

Life-size and hyper-detailed, these anatomical mosaics draw on ancient inspiration

General George Washington observes the evacuation of Boston, Massachusetts, by the British forces under Sir General William Howe. Engraving by Frederick T. Stuart, c1867.

Bermuda

The Raid on Bermuda That Saved the American Revolution

How colonial allies in the Caribbean pulled off a heist to equip George Washington’s Continental Army with gunpowder

"Slab City: Dispatches from the Last Free Place" is a new book that explores a one-square-mile patch of desert in Imperial County, California, that once served as a military base. Seen here is a sentry box that once guarded Camp Dunlap’s southwest perimeter.

Inside Slab City, a Squatters’ Paradise in Southern California

Architect and author Charlie Hailey and photographer Donovan Wylie capture one of America’s last free places

The United Arab Emirates successfully built a palm tree-shaped artificial island called Palm Jumeirah off the coast of Dubai.

Can Artificial Islands Solve Overcrowding?

Some say yes, others say the increasingly popular projects are too expensive and harmful to the environment

Deep, lush colors in the Turkey Red Cabinet set of 1911 (above, Safe at Third) led many to tack these on their walls as works of art.

Would Baseball have Become America’s National Pastime Without Baseball Cards?

Tobacco companies spurred the mania, but artistry won the hearts of collectors

A cartoon from a U.S. newspaper from 1880 reads: 'Terrorism in the South. Citizens beaten and shot at."

The Deadliest Massacre in Reconstruction-Era Louisiana Happened 150 Years Ago

In September 1868, Southern white Democrats hunted down around 200 African-Americans in an effort to suppress voter turnout

Interior view of the House of Culture.

Armenia

Photos Document What Remains of a Soviet Atomic City

A new book explores the architectural history of Metsamor, Armenia, once a planned utopia for nuclear power plant workers

Wild Bilberry.

Armenia

Mapping Armenia’s Edible Landscape, One Wild Bilberry Bush at a Time

The 1000 Leaf Project aims to document Armenia’s hundreds of edible plants and mushrooms with help from local residents

The coating, if used on enough buildings at once, could also help deal with so-called “urban heat islands.”

This New Coating Could Help Keep Buildings Cool

The porous polymer uses tiny air holes to reflect all wavelengths of sunlight, cooling buildings far better than white paint

In the installation, astronaut Mae Jemison appears as a 3D rendering (above, left) and discusses her career and those of other women involved in the space program.

A Hologram of the First Woman of Color in Space Debuted on Museum Day

An installation at the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum featuring Mae Jemison highlights diversity in space exploration

Haile Gerima’s 1993 classic film Sankofa envisions an African-American model visiting present-day West Africa mystically thrust into the life of a slave.

Smithsonian Film Festival Examines African-American Life Through Dozens of Distinct Lenses

The first of its kind, the late-October event brings together perspectives both historical and contemporary

Billie Jean King is the fifth recipient of the Smithsonian “Great Americans” medal.

Smithsonian Names Billie Jean King One of Its ‘Great Americans”’

The tennis icon chatted about her life and legacy in a wide-ranging conversation at the National Museum of American History

Illustration of NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) observing an M dwarf star with orbiting planets.

TESS Space Telescope Will Find Thousands of Planets, but Astronomers Seek a Select Few

NASA’s new space telescope has already discovered two planets, but the hunt for a world like Earth is just getting started

The antennas are made from a special two-dimensional metallic material called MXene.

Are Spray-On Antennas the Future of Wearables?

The ultra-thin, flexible antennas can be applied to nearly any surface using an airbrush

A Mobius strip.

The Mathematical Madness of Möbius Strips and Other One-Sided Objects

The discovery of the Möbius strip in the mid-19th century launched a brand new field of mathematics: topology

When stimulated, OLM cells in the brain encourage risk-taking behavior.

The Brain’s “Bravery Cells” Encourage Risky Behavior

Cells in the hippocampus help determine whether to be apprehensive in stressful situations, and they could be stimulated to treat anxiety

Before He Was a Musician, John Lennon Was a Philatelist

Marking the arrival of a new postage stamp, the musician’s boyhood collection is on view at the National Postal Museum

One skull found showed evidence of a gruesome, violent death

The Dead Beneath London’s Streets

Human remains dating back to the Roman Empire populate the grounds below the surface, representing a burden for developers but a boon for archaeologists

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