Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Articles

First edition copies of “the world’s weirdest book”

A 360-Page Book That No One’s Ever Been Able to Read Is Coming Back Into Print

Original editions of the Codex sell for up to $2,000, but a new reprint is available for $125

Stop That Foot Massage! Feet Are Not an Erogenous Zone

If you’ve been begrudgingly giving foot massages, you might want to check with your partner to see if they actually like them

None

Watch “Vintage” Signs Get Made in This Portland Shop

From painting to stenciling to distressing, watch a sign come to life in this little video from the shop

Is It Immoral To Kill a Zombie?

Perhaps it’s time to add ethics to your zombie preparedness training

Pumpkins

Who Steals Pumpkins From Kindergarteners?

Across the country, pumpkins have been stolen from their owners

Damming and dredging a California river for gold

The Gold Rush Left Behind Mercury That’s Still Contaminating California

Leftover mercury will continue to flush through the environment, eventually making its way into the San Francisco bay, for the next 10,000 years

Have you carved your pumpkin yet?

The Patents Designed to Make Carving Your Pumpkin a Little Less Messy

A group of innovators set out to simplify how we make classic Jack-o-Lanterns and their ghoulish grins

Mary Rogers in the river, 1841

Edgar Allan Poe Tried and Failed to Crack the Mysterious Murder Case of Mary Rogers

After a teenage beauty turned up dead in the Hudson River, not even the godfather of detective fiction could figure out who done it

World Series Game 6

The Last Time the Red Sox Won a World Series in Boston Was 1918. What Was That Like?

Red Sox fans are partying like it’s 1918.

None

Explore Mars’ Mountains and Canyons from a Probe’s-Eye View

Using ten years of data from their probe, the European Space has created a lifelike flyover simulation of the red planet

Reindeer Eyes Change Color to Match the Season

Reindeers’ wintery blue eyes are about 1,000 times more sensitive to light than their summery gold ones

None

The Earliest Bike Design Is Getting a Modern, Electric Reboot

What would early bike designers think of this Tron-like reboot of their classic wheels?

Behold! The World’s First One-Handed Zipper

After a lot of trial and error, inventor Scott Peters has made a no-fuss magnetic zipper

NPR’s Andy Carvin has donated the iPhone he used during the Arab Spring to the American History Museum.

The Phone That Helped Andy Carvin Report the Arab Spring is Now in the Smithsonian

The NPR reporter talks about how he was able to factcheck tweets amid the rush of information in 2011

Franken Berry cereal was originally released in 1971 by General Mills with his monster-buddy Count Chocula.

Franken Berry, the Beloved Halloween Cereal, Was Once Medically Found to Cause Pink Poop

The red dye used in the popular breakfast cereal resulted in several cases of the benign condition

Projections indicate that our rate of trash production will keep rising past 2100—a concern, because waste can be a proxy for all other environmental stresses.

When Will We Hit Peak Garbage?

Projections indicate that the global rate of trash production will keep rising past 2100—a concern because waste can be a proxy for environmental stresses

The Emoji Show Is Gathering Emoji Based Art

Like the selfie, the emoji has faced its fair share of derision. But as more and more people use the little icons they’re finding more acceptance

Celebrate National Candy Corn Day By Making Deep-Fried Candy Corn

Whether you love or hate candy corn, it’s probably worth knowing how it’s made and where it came from

This Drone Hunts Down Apple Disease

These drones are striking against a different kind of enemy: apple scab

These Spectacular Cutaways Give You An Insider’s View of Your Food

Nathan Myhrvold and a team of photographers have sliced meats, vegetables, pots, pans and ovens in half to produce stunning cross-sections of cooking

Page 669 of 1324