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Smithsonian magazine’s top science titles this year.

The Ten Best Science Books of 2024

From a deep dive on a fatal space shuttle disaster to a study of a dozen iconic trees, these are our favorite titles this year

An annual event for more than 50 years, the Albuquerque International Balloon Festival has grown to become the largest in the United States.

Smithsonian Photo Contest Galleries

Brighten Your Day With These 15 Photos of Beautiful Balloons From Around the World

Lift your spirits with these airy images from the Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest

In our efforts to increase and diffuse knowledge, we highly recommend these titles this year.

The Best Books of 2024

The Best Books of 2024

Whether you’re doing some holiday shopping or looking for your own next read, consider our thoughtfully curated lists.

Kerry Washington stars as Charity Adams in Tyler Perry's newest film, The Six Triple Eight.

Women Who Shaped History

How a Black, All-Female WWII Unit Saved Morale on the Battlefield

The 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion sorted through a massive backlog of undelivered mail, raising American soldiers’ spirits during World War II

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The Ten Best Books About Travel of 2024

These top titles of the year whisk readers away on adventures and remind us of the many wonders in this world

Estimates of the number of Pacific Islanders captured by blackbirders and forced to work on cotton and sugar plantations in Fiji and Australia range from 61,610 to more than 100,000.

How ‘Blackbirders’ Forced Tens of Thousands of Pacific Islanders Into Slavery After the Civil War

The decline of the American South’s cotton and sugar industries paved the way for plantations in British-controlled Fiji and Australia, where victims of “blackbirding” endured horrific working conditions

This year's list includes Clouds in Space, The Manicurist's Daughter and The Ministry of Time.

The Best Books of 2024

The Best Books of 2024, as Chosen by Smithsonian Scholars

Staff at the Institution pick their favorite reads of the year, including riveting memoirs, fascinating true histories and fun fiction

Ships float in Aasiaat’s harbor.

As Greenland’s Ice Sheet Melts, an Island Town Rises

Geologists are working with local communities to determine how residents can adapt as the area’s sea level, in effect, goes down

The plant-based egg substitutes available today are less than perfect. Food scientists are working hard to improve them — and, maybe, make them better tasting and more nutritious than the real thing.

Scientists Are Trying to Crack the Recipe for the Perfect Plant-Based Eggs

With new ingredients and processes, the next generation of substitutes will be not just more egg-like, but potentially more nutritious

Visitors gather at the foot of Monkey Mountain, an attraction at Frank Buck's Jungle Camp in Massapequa, New York, around 1939.

History of Now

When 170 Wild Monkeys Escaped From a ‘Jungle Camp’ and Terrorized New York

In 1935, dozens of rhesus macaques absconded from Frank Buck’s Long Island menagerie. Nearly a century later, 43 members of the same species broke out of a South Carolina research facility

The products range from programmable rovers to books that introduce the terminology of robotics and circuitry to childen.

Engineers Choose the Ten Best STEM Toys to Gift in 2024

Creative circuitry and rolling robots make up this year’s top toys for teaching kids to love science, technology, engineering and math

Smithsonian's picks for the best history books of 2024 include The Barn, Eden Undone and The Wide Wide Sea.

The Ten Best History Books of 2024

Our favorite titles of the year resurrect forgotten histories and examine how the United States ended up where it is today

A painted lady perches on a flower.

Where Do Butterflies Migrate From? Clues Can Be Found in Pollen on Their Bodies

Trillions of insects move around the globe each year. Scientists are working on new ways to map those long-distance journeys

Smithsonian's picks for the best books about food of 2024 include McAtlas, A Call to Farms, Slow Noodles and more.

The Ten Best Books About Food of 2024

Travel to the American South, Vietnam and beyond with this year’s best cookbooks, memoirs and historic deep dives

A sculptor's rendering of "Lucy," Australopithecus afarensis, at the Houston Museum of Natural Science on August 28, 2007.

What ‘Lucy,’ One of the World’s Most Important Fossils, Has Taught Scientists in the 50 Years Since Her Discovery

The famous early human is still providing lessons to anthropologists about prehistoric Earth and its inhabitants

Today’s traditional Thanksgiving dinner includes turkey, stuffing and mashed potatoes. However, the very first Thanksgiving most likely included wildfowl, corn, porridge and venison.

What Food Was Served at the First Thanksgiving in 1621?

Turkey may have been part of the holiday meal, along with venison, shellfish and corn, but pies and potatoes were decidedly not on the menu

Over the last few decades, wild turkeys have moved into cities, where they thrive thanks to few predators, abundant food and plenty of space to roam and roost.

Why Are Urban Turkeys Thriving?

As many wild populations decline, some city dwellers flourish—and may become a source for reintroductions to rural areas

Straw-colored fruit bats typically start drifting into the park around October and leave in January.

The World’s Largest Mammal Migration Is Taking Place in Zambia Right Now

Each year, millions of straw-colored fruit bats descend on Kasanka National Park for a few months, and scientists are working to understand their mysterious journey

Queen Victoria at the Drury Lane Theatre, Edmund Thomas Parris, 1837

How an Engraving of Queen Victoria Ushered in the Era of the Bouquet Holder in England

The monarch set fashion trends during her time, and the flower holder became a sought-after accessory in Victorian society

An earwig with eggs

A Deep Look Into the Wacky and Wild Lives of Earwigs

The insects participate in elaborate courtships, are devoted parents, occasionally eat each other and have a gregarious nature

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