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"How can you make someone look important in Candy Land?" wondered Will Cotton, the New York City-based artist whose sugary landscapes often lacked subjects.

Artist Will Cotton Reveals How He and Katy Perry Played an Elaborate Game of Candy Land

Artist Will Cotton’s painting Cupcake Katy goes on view at the National Portrait Galley to welcome the pop star to D.C.

The crater measures almost 230 feet across.

This Hellish Desert Pit Has Been On Fire for More Than 50 Years

In the Turkmenistan desert, a crater dubbed “The Door to Hell” has been burning for decades

Riverbank of the Mississippi River as the dusk sun sets on a summer evening.

My Life as a Mississippi River Rat

A half century spent on, in, and around our most all-American body of water

Kayakers paddle along the roadway of the historic waterfront of Annapolis, following Hurricane Isabel. As much as four feet of water flooded the historic capital city.

Which of America’s Most Precious Historical Sites Are Threatened By Climate Change?

A new report warns that rising sea levels could destroy many of the nation’s important—and beloved—locations

The interior of Greenland (seen here with researchers’ tents pitched) is usually covered in frozen ice and snow. In July 2012, though, 97 percent of the surface melted for the first time in more than 100 years. Scientists now know why that happened.

New Research

Nearly All of Greenland’s Surface Melted Overnight in 2012—Here’s Why

High temperatures and black carbon from forest fires and fossil fuels combined to push the huge ice sheet over the edge

The northernmost statue of Lenin.

A Soviet Ghost Town in the Arctic Circle, Pyramiden Stands Alone

This outpost in the high north looks much as it did when it was abandoned in 1998, providing visitors with a glimpse into Soviet-era life and culture

This year, Smithsonian magazine's festival is themed "Science Meets Science Fiction."

Future Is Here Festival

The Future is (Still) Here: Day Two of Smithsonian’s Second Annual Conference

Instead of holding its own global fest this year, Nerd Nite descended on our nation’s capital.

Jet pack demonstration at Smithsonian magazine's 'The Future is Here' Festival

Future Is Here Festival

Watch a Man Fly a Jetpack Around D.C.’s Ronald Reagan Building at Smithsonian’s ‘The Future Is Here’ Festival

The conference’s first day ended with a bang—or should we say, a blast-off.

A combination of infrared and X-ray observations indicates that a surplus of massive stars has formed from a large disk of gas around Sagittarius A*.

Future Is Here Festival

Inside Black Holes

Three recent black hole events and how they shape our universe

Christopher Vo, a roboticist at George Mason University and drone technology educator, teaches everyday users how to build and fly drones like this one.

Future Is Here Festival

What Would You Do With A Drone?

As the potential drone applications grow, so does the build-your-own drone movement

Left, a golden record (© Nasa/National Geographic Society/Corbis) Right, the other side of the golden record shows directions to play it. Identical records carrying the story of Earth were sent into deep space on Voyager 1 and 2.

Future Is Here Festival

The Golden Record 2.0 Will Crowdsource A Selfie of Human Culture

Inspired by a similar effort in the 1970s, the project wants your help in creating a portrait of humanity to send out of the solar system

Kari Byron: Star of Mythbusters and Host of Science Channel’s Head Rush

2014 “Future Is Here” Featured Speaker

Mae Jemison: First African American Woman in Space / Founder and President of Two Medical Technology Companies

2014 “Future Is Here” Featured Speaker

George Takei: Actor, Social Justice Activist, Social Media Mega-Power, Author & Broadway Star

2014 “Future Is Here” Featured Speaker

Atlas V Launches the New Horizons Mission to Pluto.

Future Is Here Festival

Take a Peek Into the Future’s Present With Our Live Coverage of Smithsonian’s Two-Day Festival

The magazine’s 2nd annual conference brings together experts, authors and visionaries in the fields of science, science fiction and technology.

Cell phones have revolutionized daily life, and will only continue to impact our existence, says Joshua Bell, an anthropologist at the Natural History Museum.

Future Is Here Festival

The Future is Here: What’s Next For Mobile Phones?

Anthropologist Joshua Bell weighs in on new uses for cell phone technology at Smithsonian magazine’s annual festival

One 4D concept: underground pipes that change shape to help move water.

Tech Watch

Forget the 3D Printer: 4D Printing Could Change Everything

Scientists at MIT are using a new technique that could print responsive objects—from water pipes to sneakers—that adapt to their surroundings on their own.

In March 2012, shipwrights at the Mystic Seaport Museum replace planks in the hull of the Charles W. Morgan. The restoration of the ship required more than 50,000 board feet of live oak and other woods for framing, planking and other structural elements.

For the First Time in 93 Years, a 19th-Century Whaling Ship Sets Sail

Built in 1841, the Charles W. Morgan is plying the waters off New England this summer

A common octopus (Octopus vulgaris) stretches out on a reef environment beneath the sea.

Why Don’t Octopus Suckers Stick To Their Own Skin?

A chemical excreted by octopus skin tells their severed arms, “Don’t grab me or eat me!”

Diver Susan Bird works at the bottom of Hoyo Negro, a large dome-shaped underwater cave on Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula. She carefully brushes the human skull found at the site while her team members take detailed photographs.

New Research

DNA From 12,000-Year-Old Skeleton Helps Answer the Question: Who Were the First Americans?

In 2007, cave divers discovered remains that form the oldest, most complete and genetically intact human skeleton in the New World

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