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The Campfire Hotel—a revamped 100-room motel lodge tucked away in Bend, Oregon's industrial stretch—first opened in October 2020.

Across the United States, Vintage Motels Are Being Imagined for Modern Times

The re-envisioned lodgings offer easy car-to-door access but also all the amenities of a boutique property, from local artwork to on-site fire pits

Exceeding 50 feet in length, Mosasaurus hoffmannii was among the largest mosasaurs.

Massive Mosasaurs May Have Evolved More Than Once

The predators, which were made famous in the “Jurassic World” franchise, likely arose at least three times

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There's More to That

How Artificial Intelligence Is Making 2,000-Year-Old Scrolls Readable Again

The innovative “Vesuvius Challenge” unlocked a mystery that had confounded archeologists for centuries

A moose moves through the forest.

How Should Colorado Handle Its Booming Moose Population?

Roughly 3,000 animals now roam the state’s mountain ranges

Josefina "Joey" Guerrero (third from right) received the Medal of Honor With Silver Palm for her actions during World War II, which were “instrumental in saving the lives of many Americans and Filipinos,” according to the award citation.

Women Who Shaped History

This Filipina Spy Used Her Leprosy as a Cover to Thwart the Japanese During World War II

Enemy soldiers overlooked Josefina “Joey” Guerrero due to her condition. Later, her heroic actions on behalf of the Allies were largely forgotten

Ada "Bricktop" Smith's clubs attracted high-profile visitors, including Cole Porter, the future Edward VIII and Elizabeth Taylor.

Women Who Shaped History

At Her Globe-Spanning Nightclubs, This Black Entertainer Hosted a ‘Who’s Who’ of the 20th Century

Ada “Bricktop” Smith, who operated venues in Rome, Paris and Mexico City, brushed shoulders with the likes of Langston Hughes, Salvador Dalí and Gertrude Stein

Do Ho Suh's Public Figures is the first new sculpture to be displayed in front of the National Museum of Asian Art in over three decades.

Take a Closer Look at a Surprising New Sculpture That Rethinks Who We Put on a Pedestal

Korean artist Do Ho Suh’s “Public Figures” makes a grand arrival outside the National Museum of Asian Art

A variety of plants and animals go through periods where they are dormant or in the dark.

Move Over, Cicadas: These Living Things ‘Go Dark’ For a Long Time, Too

From frogs to orchids, many organisms go dormant or move underground for lengthy stints

The law eventually caught up to the man of many names: Daniel Jackson Oliver Wendell Holmes Morgan.

The Fabulous Fabulist Lawyer Who Wasn’t, but Still Managed to Get a Man Off Death Row

Take in the remarkable tale of the fake attorney best known as L.A. Harris, whose scams put him in trouble with the law in jurisdictions nationwide

The Ghost of a Fisherman, Tsukioka Kogyo, woodblock print, 1899

Why Images of Ghosts Have Endured in Japan for Centuries

A new exhibition at the National Museum of Asian Art displays haunting, colorful woodblock prints

Built in 1917-1919, the St. Charles Air Line Bridge is one of the oldest in Chicago and has been designated a city landmark. It’s still in use for freight and cargo trains, and it lifts for boats and ships passing underneath.

Smithsonian Photo Contest Galleries

Marvel at These Bold, Beautiful Bridges

See 15 superbly suspended structures from the Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest

A multi-vortex tornado touches down on the town of Patricia, Texas.

Ten Amazing Facts About Tornadoes, Explained

To prepare you for the movie “Twisters,” we’ve compiled some jaw-dropping details about the powerful phenomenon

The cutter Douglas Munro and crew searching for illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing activity—including high seas drift-net fishing

How A.I. Is Revolutionizing Marine Conservation

Driven by a childhood marked by war and environmental devastation, marine scientist Dyhia Belhabib developed an innovative technology to combat illegal fishing

Charged with the 1974 theft of 19 masterpieces, Rose Dugdale entered a plea of “proudly and incorruptibly guilty.”

The English Heiress Who Masterminded a Multimillion-Dollar Art Heist and Built Bombs for the IRA

Fifty years ago, Rose Dugdale stole 19 paintings worth an estimated £8 million, including works by Vermeer, Velázquez and Rubens, from a British aristocrat’s estate

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Tweak the Recipe of This Australian Biscuit, and You Can Get a Hefty Fine or Even Jail Time

On April 25, a national holiday called Anzac Day, Aussies enjoy an Anzac biscuit in honor of military veterans

 Nikola Tesla in his laboratory in Colorado Springs around 1899

Nikola Tesla and the Tower That Became His ‘Million Dollar Folly’

The eccentric inventor’s dream of a wireless-transmission tower would prove to be his undoing

The earthquake on March 27, 1964, dropped Anchorage’s Fourth Avenue and some cars on it roughly 20 feet below normal.

How the Great Alaska Earthquake Shook Up Science

Sixty years ago, the largest earthquake in U.S. history shocked geologists. It’s still driving scientific discoveries today

The bamboo octocoral Isidella sp. displaying bioluminescence in the Bahamas in 2009.

Glowing Sea Creatures Have Been Lighting Up the Oceans for More Than Half a Billion Years

New research on branching animals known as octocorals pushes the early days of bioluminescence back over 200 million years

Hazel Ying Lee (right) and fellow pilot Virginia Wong (left)

Women Who Shaped History

This Chinese American Aviatrix Overcame Racism to Fly for the U.S. During World War II

A second-generation immigrant, Hazel Ying Lee was the first Chinese American woman to receive her pilot’s license

The Nesjavellir Geothermal Power Station. Geothermal power has long been popular in volcanic countries like Iceland, where hot water bubbles from the ground.

Is Geothermal Power Heating Up as an Energy Source?

Long confined to regions with volcanic activity, the method of harnessing energy from the Earth promises to become much more versatile thanks to new technologies

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