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Articles

Russia’s “Forest Boy” Says He Spent 16 Years in the Siberian Wilderness

The mysterious man claims to have never attended school, received any vaccinations and to have met only a few people throughout his life

Oceanographer Gareth Lawson, who studies pteropods, was able to identify Kavanagh’s sculptures to species, such as this Limacina helicina.

The Gorgeous Shapes of Sea Butterflies

Cornelia Kavanagh’s sculptures magnify tiny sea butterflies—ocean acidification’s unlikely mascots—hundreds of times

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Watch NASA’s Next Mars Orbiter Be Put Together, Piece by Piece

This time lapse video shows the assembly of NASA’s next Mars orbiter, MAVEN

Three Ancient Rivers, Long Buried by the Sahara, Created a Passage to the Mediterranean

One river system, called the Irharhar, appears to have been a particularly popular travel route, corroborated by both model simulations and artifacts

Designers Are Trying to Build an Invisible Skyscraper in South Korea

Most architects want everybody to see their buildings. But in South Korea, designers are working to achieve exactly the opposite: an invisible skyscraper

Eating Breakfast Probably Won’t Help You Lose Weight

As much as researchers themselves want to believe that breakfast helps people lose weight or keep it off, the evidence is far from conclusive

An aerial view of the PepsiCo World Headquarters in Purchase, NY

The Architectural History of Pepsi-Cola, Part 2: Edward Durell Stone and the Corporate Campus

Employee morale rose but architecture critics were repulsed upon the opening of the company’s new campus in Purchase, New York

Photographer Kieran Dodds has temporarily taken over the Smithsonian magazine Instagram account.

Six Questions With Photographer Kieran Dodds

The photojournalist talks about his Bionic Man assignment and what his plans are for taking over our Instagram account

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Bearing Witness to the Aftermath of the Birmingham Church Bombing

On September 15, 1963, four were killed in the Ku Klux Klan bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama

Watch This Woman Slowly Transform From Toddler to Elderly Woman

The idea behind Danielle, who is based on a real person, is “that something is happening but you can’t see it but you can feel it, like aging itself”

Modern Materials Make Houses Burn More Quickly

What used to take half an hour now lasts mere minues

Half of Children That Die Before Age Five Live in Just Five Countries

6.6 million children died before their first birthday last year, but the good news is that number is going down

Will Women Ever Overtake Men in Endurance Events?

When it comes to super long distances, women are catching up to men

Ben Jacobsen showing off his beloved flake salt

A Pinch of Salt Has Never Tasted So… American?

The fleur de sel has long been a trademark of French culinary craftsmanship, Oregon’s Jacobsen may have produced a salt crystal that competes with the best

Here’s What We Thought Earth Would Look Like from Space

Before we actually went to space, we had some ideas about what Earth might look like

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Orangutans Plan And Share Their Routes Before Hitting the Road

The authors suspect that other great apes and species of intelligent animals likely use similar communication strategies

What Happens When You Freeze Flowers and Shoot Them With a Gun?

With the help of a little liquid nitrogen, German photographer Martin Klimas captures the fragile chaos of flowers as they explode

Google Street View Goes to the Galapagos

Follow in Darwin’s footsteps, starting on San Cristobal Island and then venturing to Floreana Island and North Seymour Island

President Barack Obama is left-handed, as well as at least six former presidents.

Ask Smithsonian 2017

Why Are Some People Left-Handed?

Being a righty or a lefty could be linked to variations in a network of genes that influence right or left asymmetries in the body and brain

The small hopping insect Issus coleoptratus uses toothed gears (magnified above with an electron microscope) to precisely synchronize the kicks of its hind legs as it jumps forward.

This Insect Has The Only Mechanical Gears Ever Found in Nature

The small hopping insect Issus coleoptratus uses toothed gears on its joints to precisely synchronize the kicks of its hind legs as it jumps forward

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