Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Articles

None

This Museum Exhibit Shows How Awesome Overlooked Female Drummers Actually Are

It turns out that there are, in fact, women who drum. And they are amazing

Sleeping in This Underwater Hotel Room Is Like Staying in an Artificial Reef

Swedish artist Mikael Genberg explains how his underwater room off the coast of Tanzania can actually be good for the environment

Cheese made from human toe bacteria

This Exhibit Features Cheese Made From the Bacteria of Human Tears, Belly Buttons And Noses

The artists recently held a wine and cheese pairing event, in which visitors stuck their noses close to the human cheese and took a big whiff

3-D Printed Selfies Combine the Two Trends of the Year

If you’re tired of hearing about selfies or 3D printing this is not the story for you because it involves both

None

The Top Ten Doctor Who Stories for History Buffs

Fifty years after he was introduced to the world, the Doctor’s influence is bigger on the inside

To Dodge a Bullet, You’d Have to See It From Three Football Fields Away

Even the slowest handguns shoot a bullet at 340 meters per seconds

The More Reality TV You Watch, the More One Night Stands You Have

Watching reality television that depicts sex does actually say something about your sex life, according to new research

New research shows that plastic particles can absorb pollution and carry it into fish, leading to biomagnification as it moves up the food chain to humans.

How Plastic Pollution Can Carry Flame Retardants Into Your Sushi

Research shows that plastic particles can absorb pollution from water, get eaten by fish and carry the toxins up the food chain

A Darwin’s frog daddy, of the southernly species.

One of Nature’s Most Extreme Dads, the Darwin’s Frog, Is Going Extinct

The frog’s northern species is likely gone forever and a southern variety seems doomed to follow suit thanks to the amphibian chytrid fungus

Researchers have found neurological abnormalities that persist long after the symptoms of a concussion have faded away.

Four Months After a Concussion, Your Brain Still Looks Different Than Before

Researchers have found neurological abnormalities that persist long after the symptoms of a concussion have faded away

None

Hermit Crabs Avoid Conflict By Developing a Taste for Specific Types of Shells

As the crabs got older, their tolerance for shell diversity decreased, and they honed in on a single shell type they liked best

None

The World’s Tallest Water Slide Is More Than 134 Feet Tall

Riders—who will descend in inflatable rafts of four rather than alone—will reach speeds of more than 65 miles per hour

None

World’s Rivers and Streams Leak a Lot of Carbon Dioxide

Lakes and reservoirs take up more space, but rivers and streams release more of the greenhouse gas into the atmosphere, a new study finds

Elizabeth Mitchell’s new album for Smithsonian Folkways, The Sounding Joy, features new renditions of traditional American Christmas carols.

Revamp Your Christmas Playlist with These Unsung American Carols

Smithsonian Folkways’ “The Sounding Joy” features traditional Christmas tunes sung by folk legends Peggy Seeger, Natalie Merchant, Joan Osborne and more

For some people, like Staff Sgt. Dana Fernkas, having access to crucial information depends, in some part, on the typography and design of checklists and manuals.

Here Are NASA’s Top 19 Typography Tips

For some, the choice of font is actually a matter of life and death

None

Fresh Brains Are Way Squishier Than You Thought

Brains are so soft that you can deform them with a touch

People Are More Likely to Pay Greed Forward Than Good Deeds

People have little incentive to be nice to one another unless they are part of a specific group that creates some sense of shared identity

None

Why Men Tend To Have Bigger Noses Than Women

This also speaks to differences between modern humans and our ancient ancestors, since ancient humans had more muscle mass than we soft creatures of today

Six tons of ivory was destroyed by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service workers.

Why is the U.S. Government Crushing Six Tons of Valuable Ivory?

Rather than sell the luxury item, the Fish and Wildlife Service thinks that they’ve found a new tactic to save elephants

None

7 Epic Fails Brought to You By the Genius Mind of Thomas Edison

Despite popular belief, the inventor wasn’t the “Wiz” of everything

Page 660 of 1324