Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Articles

Being Around Predators Changes the Shape of This Fish’s Penis

Armadillos have bony plates, stick bugs evolved camouflage, and the Bahamas mosquitofish evolved a bigger penis

America’s Chinatowns Are Disappearing

For many, Chinatowns are an attraction to a city - and many cities boast about their robust cultural neighborhoods

A new focus of hospitals is keeping you from ending up here.

How Hospitals are Trying to Keep You Out of the Hospital

With a big boost from supercomputers, hospitals are shifting more of their focus to identifying people who need their help staying healthy

Interactive map courtesy of ESRI. Text by Natasha Geiling.

See Why China’s New Highway System is an Engineering Marvel

In this series of satellite photographs, see the impact of the massive growth in transportation infrastructure

Hurricane Phailin approaching India last night

Hurricane Phailin Is As Strong as Katrina, Twice as Wide as Sandy And About to Devastate India

India is bracing for what is potentially the strongest hurricane they’ve ever seen

“Alexis”

This Photographer Shoots Portraits With a Thermal Camera

Artist Linda Alterwitz uses a camera that detects radiant heat, instead of light, uncovering hidden thermal signatures in everyday scenes

The Earliest Libraries-on-Wheels Looked Way Cooler Than Today’s Bookmobiles

These traveling libraries used to travel around bringing books to the people

The telegraph key used to send the famous message “What Hath God Wroght” over the prototype telegraph line between Baltimore and Washington D.C. in 1844

How the Telegraph Went From Semaphore to Communication Game Changer

Samuel Morse was an artist by trade, but to the world he’s best known for connecting the dots —and dashes— that forever changed the way we communicate

None

Astronaut Scott Carpenter, the Second American to Orbit the Planet, Dies at 88

John Glenn, who was a close friend to Carpenter, is now the last surviving astronaut from NASA’s Project Mercury, the original space program

China’s 3,000 Cemeteries Will Run Out of Space in Just Six Years

China may have the world’s largest population, but the country is not alone in its burial woes

Can ancient skeletons teach us about our genetic past?

Ancient Skeletons Reveal Genetic History of Central Europe

The skeletons, between 7,500 and 3,500 years old, house DNA that trace waves of migrations from regions across Europe

How We Spot Friends in the Crowd Before Being Able to See Their Face

Facial recognition is already very much in place in all sorts of ways, from Facebook to surveillance cameras. Perhaps now they’ll add body recognition too

None

There’s a New Breed of Botulism, And We Don’t Have a Cure for It

It’s new, it’s deadly, and it fights off our best anti-toxins

An artist’s depiction of the newly discovered ice-rich, rocky asteroid that was ripped apart by the distant white dwarf star 200 million years ago.

Scientists Just Discovered Water Near a Star 170 Light Years Away

The water was once bound as ice in a small, rocky planet or asteroid that was destroyed 200 million years ago

Where Did the Word Asteroid Really Come From?

It wasn’t until the 1850’s that the word was accepted by scientists. Today, we use the word all the time. We just credit the wrong guy for its invention

An artist’s idea of what PSO J318.5-22 may look like

This Baby Rogue Planet Is Wandering the Universe All by Itself

This planet, six times bigger than Jupiter, is sailing through space just 80 light-years away

Blizzident is similar to a mouth-guard, but it is lined with rows of bristles.

Checking the Claim: A 3-D Printed Toothbrush That Cleans Your Mouth in Six Seconds

A startup has developed a custom-fit tool that can brush the entire surface of your teeth all at once

“Please don’t hurt my baby!” this mother meerkat may say to her murderous female superiors.

Baby-Murdering Meerkat Alpha Females Enslave Subordinates As Wet Nurses

After killing lower-level females’ pups, ruthless dominant meerkats force the childless moms to nanny the alpha’s brood—those that resist are exiled

Some scientists think that our compatibility genes—the same genes that determine whether an organ transplant will take—play a role in sexual attraction.

Cracking the Code of the Human Genome

We Know Your Genes Can Influence Your Health, But Can They Also Influence Who You Love?

The same genes that dictate whether or not you can accept an organ transplant may guide your choice in a romantic partner

Nest Protect, the latest product to come from Nest Labs, reimagines the lowly household smoke detector.

For $129, Nest’s New Smoke Detector Talks to You

Tony Fadell’s startup unveils the Protect, a smoke detector far less annoying than others on the market

Page 637 of 1285