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For species that reproduce sexually, every offspring is a gamble. Each has slightly different genes, giving it the potential to be carrying helpful, adaptive traits.

Can Animals Evolve Fast Enough to Keep Up With Climate Change?

Some may be able to, while others may not

The mineral-rich soak at Chena Hot Springs, about 60 miles northeast of Fairbanks, has been attracting tourists since the early 1900s.

Discover Alaska

You Can Soak in These Eight Hot Springs in Alaska

From resorts to remote spots, natural thermal waters throughout the state beckon tourists

Returning Rapids Project investigator Chris Benson examines old photos of the Colorado River to see how it has changed over time.

Citizen Scientists Document a Recovering Colorado River

The Returning Rapids Project charts a resurgent waterway and its surrounding ecosystems

Orly Weintraub Gilad has her grandfather's Auschwitz number, A-12599, tattooed on her arm.

Why Descendants of Holocaust Survivors Are Replicating Auschwitz Tattoos

Those who choose to put the numbers on their bodies hope the act will spark conversation about the Holocaust and pay tribute to loved ones who survived

Paleontologists have recognized three related, parrot-like dinosaurs in the Hell Creek Formation. Eoneophron infernalis (top left) walks by MOR 752 (bottom left) and Anzu wyliei (right).

Newly Discovered, Parrot-Like Dinosaur Roamed North America Alongside T. Rex

While larger dinosaurs are comparatively well-known, finding smaller species paints a more complete picture of life before the mass extinction

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There's More to That

Oppenheimer Has a Long History On Screen, Including the Time the Nuclear Physicist Played Himself

Now with 13 Academy Award nominations to its credit, the blockbuster film comes after nearly eight decades of mythologizing the father of the atomic bomb

Callum Turner (left) as John "Bucky" Egan and Austin Butler (right) as Gale "Buck" Cleven in "Masters of the Air"

Based on a True Story

The Real History Behind ‘Masters of the Air’ and the 100th Bomb Group

The long-awaited follow-up to “Band of Brothers” and “The Pacific” centers on an American aerial group nicknamed the “Bloody Hundredth”

Kelp cultivated in underwater forests could help curb climate change, both because of the carbon these forests capture and because products made from kelp can reduce carbon emissions.

Could Sinking Tons of Seaweed to the Ocean Floor Help Combat Climate Change?

Submerged seaweed can store carbon at the bottom of the sea, but how effective the strategy will be remains unclear

David Wisnia in his U.S. Army uniform after being “adopted” by troops of the 101st Airborne Division in 1945

The Couple Who Fell in Love in a Nazi Death Camp

A new book chronicles the unlikely connection between Helen Spitzer and David Wisnia, both of whom survived Auschwitz

A museum curator gives a sense of scale to the reconstructed jaws of the fossil shark Otodus megalodon.

Was Megalodon Slimmer Than Previously Thought?

A new study has spurred scientists to debate the shape of prehistory’s biggest shark

The original Macintosh computer may seem quaint today, but the way users interacted with it was game-changing.

Forty Years Ago, the Mac Triggered a Revolution in User Experience

When it was introduced in 1984, Apple’s Macintosh didn’t have any striking technological breakthroughs, but it did make it easier for people to operate a computer

Depictions of catlike animals are visible on stones under a rotating, starry sky.

Smithsonian Photo Contest Galleries

These 15 Photos Capture the Beauty of the Night Sky

Stars shine in these heavenly images from the Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest

This May brings the Kunstsilo Nordic Art Museum to the southern Norwegian city of Kristiansand.

The Most Anticipated Museum Openings of 2024

Scheduled to launch this year are new institutions dedicated to astronomy, Nintendo and women artists

Ringed by dramatic mountains, Cumberland Bay, on the coast of South Georgia Island, is home to whales, seabirds, penguins and elephant seals. The island draws scores of sightseeing cruises each summer.

Humpbacks Have Rebounded in This Spot Decimated by Whaling

South Georgia Island’s Cumberland Bay has seen a resurgence of the marine mammals

Verdun, Félix Edouard Vallotton, 1917

History of Now

As Empires Clashed During World War I, a Global Media Industry Brought the Conflict’s Horrors to the Public

An exhibition at LACMA traces the roots of modern media to the Great War, when propaganda mobilized the masses, and questions whether the brutal truths of the battlefield can ever really be communicated

For years, independent artist and educator Erika Nelson has crisscrossed the country, visiting roadside behemoths, gathering the stories behind them and creating miniature handmade versions.

One Artist’s Colossal Quest to Share Her Love of Roadside Americana

At her quirky outpost in Lucas, Kansas, Erika Nelson displays the world’s largest collection of the world’s smallest versions of the world’s largest things

Accents center on the pronunciation of words, while dialects encompass pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar. Here, the subjects of Grant Wood's American Gothic channel speaking styles popular in California and New York.

A Brief History of the United States’ Accents and Dialects

Migration patterns, cultural ties, geographic regions and class differences all shape speaking patterns

A female elephant seal rests with her pup on the California coast. Pups in this population spend more days fattening up on mother’s milk than in southern populations on the Kerguelen Islands.

Inside Elephant Seal Pups’ Race to the Depths

While northern pups dive right in, their southern cousins take their time

The 160-year-old pelt of the woolly dog Mutton in the Smithsonian’s collection

What Happened to the Extinct Woolly Dog?

Researchers studying the 160-year-old fur of a dog named Mutton in the Smithsonian collections found that the Indigenous breed existed for at least 5,000 years before European colonizers eradicated it

Where does the ocean end and the sky begin? It’s a little hard to tell as the sun sets on Aruba’s Baby Beach.

Smithsonian Photo Contest Galleries

These Inviting Photos Capture the Beauty of the Caribbean

The stunning shots will make you wish you were there

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