Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Articles

Pioneering designer Clara Driscoll conceived this indelible lamp around the turn of the 20th century—with help from her fellow "Tiffany girls."

These Women Were the Real Geniuses Behind the Iconic Tiffany Lamps

A chic light fixture reveals how female designers remade the Tiffany brand—and went largely uncredited for nearly a century

A diver prepares to enter the water of Malakal Harbor in Palau, where the plane flown by U.S. Navy pilot Jay Ross Manown Jr. was shot down in September 1944.

Recovering the Lost Aviators of World War II

Inside the search for a plane shot down over the Pacific—and the new effort to bring its fallen heroes home

Sports psychology research has increased dramatically in the last decade or so. 

What We’ve Learned Through Sports Psychology Research

Scientists are probing the head games that influence athletic performance, from coaching to coping with pressure

Artist and Shaman Between Two Worlds, Norval Morrisseau, 1980, shows the artist’s signature style: bold colors and a surreal sense of his subjects’ inner lives.

Inside the Biggest Art Fraud in History

A decades-long forgery scheme ensnared Canada’s most famous Indigenous artist, a rock musician turned sleuth and several top museums. Here’s how investigators unraveled the incredible scam

A white Baptist woman named Harriet M. Buss taught Civil War hero Robert Smalls (pictured) how to read and write.

Untold Stories of American History

What a Teacher’s Letters Reveal About Robert Smalls, Who Stole a Confederate Ship to Secure His Freedom From Slavery

Harriet M. Buss’ missives home detail the future congressman’s candid views on race and the complicity of Confederate women

A logging road in Montana’s Lolo National Forest. America’s woodlands are carved up by obsolete roads that fragment wildlife habitat and degrade fragile ecosystems. Now ecologists are calling in bulldozers to rip them up.

Planet Positive

The Case for Destroying Old Forest Roads

Can demolishing abandoned dirt paths point the way to a more sustainable future?

A mother humpback whale and calf are seen off the coast of Brazil.

Earth’s Migratory Animals Are in Peril, According to U.N. Report

The Convention on Migratory Species warns that many birds, mammals and fish face numerous threats, but they can be saved

Gijon, an Aaron program that Cohen debuted in 2007, created jungle-like scenes—distinct from the figures created by the previous version of the software, Aaron KCAT.

The First A.I.-Generated Art Dates Back to the 1970s

A new show at the Whitney showcases the visionary who devised the art world’s first artificial intelligence

A dugong, also known as a sea cow, in a protected marine reserve in the Philippines. On the mammal’s underside, remora fish snack on parasites—and dugong poop.

The Dugong, a Huggable, Seagrass-Loving Sea Cow, Has a New Best Friend: Drones

Keeping tabs on the species’ populations is surprisingly hard. A new aerial effort tracks the marks they leave behind

A close-up of Sojourner Truth’s face in statue created by Woodrow Nash. An 1883 New York Times obituary described Truth’s “tall, masculine-looking figure” and “deep, guttural, powerful voice.”

The Remarkable Untold Story of Sojourner Truth

Feminist. Preacher. Abolitionist. Civil rights pioneer. Now the full story of the American icon’s life and faith is finally coming to light

In 18th-century Venice, Carnival masks created a temporary feeling of equality between the ruling class and the lower classes.

A Brief History of How Carnival Is Celebrated Around the World

Here’s how Venice, Rio de Janeiro, Trinidad and Tobago, New Orleans, and Quebec City mark the pre-Lenten season

Fabrizio Fidati, a 57-year-old amputee, uses the MiniTouch device with his prosthetic to accurately sort cubes of different temperatures.

In a First, a Prosthetic Limb Can Sense Temperature Like a Living Hand

The advance may help users feel a greater sense of human connection through touch

With an abundance of explorable outdoor space, it’s no wonder that the country is earning a reputation as an adventure travel destination, especially among those taking to trails on foot.

Is Kyrgyzstan the Next Adventure Travel Destination?

Breathtaking hikes, yurt stays and opportunities for cultural immersion are attracting trekkers from around the world

Long before it was imbued with symbolic meaning in the zodiac and beyond, the dragon was an ambiguous silhouette adorning art forms.

Why Is the Year of the Dragon Considered So Lucky?

The only mythical creature in the Chinese zodiac, the dragon has long been associated with prosperity and imperial power

A little rain doesn’t stop the show, and neither does a worldwide pandemic. Just months after Covid-19 gripped the globe, high school football players—and referees—were back on the field.

Smithsonian Photo Contest Galleries

Are You Ready for Some Football? Prep for the Super Bowl With 15 Thrilling Photos of Americans Tossing the Pigskin

Celebrate the cherished American sport before the big game

Paleontologists are still investigating what the carnivorous dinosaur Megalosaurus looked like.

Paleontologists Are Still Unraveling the Mystery of the First Dinosaur

Two hundred years after it was first named, scientists are just beginning to reveal the secrets of Megalosaurus

Abraham Lincoln’s third annual message to Congress spurred prompt and consequential action on what became the first piece of proactive federal legislation to encourage, rather than discourage, immigration to the U.S.

Abraham Lincoln’s Oft-Overlooked Campaign to Promote Immigration to the U.S.

A few weeks after the president delivered the Gettysburg Address, he called on Congress to welcome immigrants as a “source of national wealth and strength”

Tang yuan fill the bowls of Asian households worldwide during Lunar New Year celebrations, the white, spherical desserts serving as edible representations of the moon shining overhead.  

A Lunar New Year Staple, Tang Yuan Are a ‘Dose of Luck and Sweetness’

The chewy rice balls ooze with indulgent filling and layers of symbolism

A late-19th-century photograph of John Mason's mansion on Analostan Island, now called Theodore Roosevelt Island

Untold Stories of American History

This Peaceful Nature Sanctuary in Washington, D.C. Sits on the Ruins of a Plantation

Before Theodore Roosevelt Island was transformed into a tribute to the nation’s “conservation president,” a prominent Virginia family relied on enslaved laborers to build and tend to its summer home there

A Kronosaurus, one of the top predators in Cretaceous-era tropical oceans, prepares to feast on an ammonite.

Uncovering the Secrets of Colombia’s Rich Fossil Deposits

Paleontologists are working hard to understand oceanic remains buried high in the Andes

Page 70 of 1322