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The new film places the relationship between Mollie Burkhart (played by Lily Gladstone) and her husband Ernest (Leonardo DiCaprio) at the center of the story.

Based on a True Story

The Real History Behind ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’

Martin Scorsese’s new film revisits the murders of wealthy Osages in Oklahoma in the 1920s

The Pyramid Texts cover walls within the pyramids of King Unis (shown here) and other royals at the site of Saqqara.

Did Ancient Egyptians Know Meteorites Came From Space?

Hieroglyphic texts suggest they understood the rocks, which contained valuable iron, did not originate on Earth

Sphere lights up during its grand opening on September 29, 2023 in Las Vegas, Nevada. 

The Sphere Is Here. Are We Ready for More High-Tech Architecture?

The new Las Vegas performance venue challenges musicians and visual artists to produce content for its demanding format

An illustration of the Homo erectus child with her mother in the Ethiopian highlands, two million years ago

Two Million Years Ago, This Homo Erectus Lived the High Life

Dating of a child’s fossilized jaw and teeth suggest our relatives lived at altitude earlier than once thought

Mass Audubon's science coordinator Mark Faherty examines a horseshoe crab in Pleasant Bay, where he has conducted research on them for years.

New Synthetic Horseshoe Crab Blood Could Mean Pharma Won’t Bleed the Species Dry

The “living fossils” have been vital for testing intravenous drugs, but a few large pharmaceutical companies are using a lab-made compound instead

A sampling of Native representation in the films (clockwise from top left) Killers of the Flower Moon (2023), War Party (1988), The Last of the Mohicans (1992), The Revenant (2015), Soldier Blue (1970), Little Big Man (1970) and Dances With Wolves (1990)

From Wild West Shows to ‘Killers of the Flower Moon,’ Revisit the History of Native Americans on the Silver Screen

How American Indians in Hollywood have gone from stereotypes to starring roles

One of the first toothed birds ever discovered, Hesperornis paddled with its hind feet to hunt fish and evade marine reptiles in warm, Cretaceous seas.

During the Age of Dinosaurs, Some Birds Sported Toothy Grins

The often overlooked animals thrived for millions of years

A European depiction of Hasan Sabbah, an 11th-century leader of the Nizari Ismailis, and his followers in a garden paradise

Based on a True Story

The Medieval Sect That Inspired the Video Game ‘Assassin’s Creed’

The Order of Assassins is loosely based on the Nizari Ismailis, who formed a Shiite Muslim state that relied on political assassination to achieve its goal

A silky anteater, small enough to sit comfortably in your palm, rests in the canopy of a mangrove forest in Brazil’s Parnaíba Delta.

This Fluffy Little Anteater May Be a New Species

The animals eke out a living in a pocket of mangroves on Brazil’s Atlantic coast

Signs calling for the abolition of Columbus Day formed the backdrop for a protest in front of city hall in Flagstaff, Arizona.

The Evolution of Columbus Day Celebrations, From Italian Immigrant Pride to Indigenous Recognition

The holiday has been controversial practically since its inception

Taíno cacique Francisco Ramírez Rojas beats a palm frond to drive away bad spirits at a seaside ceremony of thanksgiving. A three-sided idol known as La Muñequina is thought to represent the Taíno belief that spirits of the dead are present among the living.

Who Were the Taíno, the Original Inhabitants of Columbus’ Island Colonies?

The Native people of Hispaniola were long believed to have died out. But a journalist’s search for their descendants turned up surprising results

Fossilized footprints in White Sands National Park

North America’s Oldest Known Footprints Point to Earlier Human Arrival to the Continent

New dating methods have added more evidence that these fossils date to 23,000 years ago, pushing back migration to the Americas by thousands of years

Could this innovation provide a solution to one of our era’s biggest scourges?

Scientists Have Created Synthetic Sponges That Soak Up Microplastics

Made from starch and gelatin, the biodegradable sponges remove as much as 90 percent of microplastics in tap water and seawater

The New English Canaan by Thomas Morton criticized the Puritan government in the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

There's More to That

A Brief History of Banned Books in America

Attempts to restrict what kids in school can read are on the rise. But American book banning started with the Puritans, 140 years before the United States

Jack Trice (second from left) and three of his teammates on the varsity football squad

Untold Stories of American History

This Black Football Player Was Fatally Injured During a Game. A Century Later, a College Stadium Bears His Name

Rival athletes trampled Jack Trice during his “first real college game.” He died two days later at age 21

The illegal trade of wildlife may include animals or plants, or parts of them, such as roots, stems, skin, bones or antlers.

A Look Inside Wildlife Crime Scene Investigators

Scientists are using the latest in DNA fingerprinting to combat the multibillion-dollar business of trafficking plants and animals

Joan Baez at the Alabama State Capitol in 1965, from Joan Baez I Am a Noise, a Magnolia Pictures release.

Folk Icon Joan Baez Sings a Song of Herself

After decades in the limelight, the American musician who spent a career exposing the world’s problems explores her own past

Fountain With Butterflies in Periwinkle and Milk, 2022

Amber Cowan’s Dioramas of Vintage Glass Will Transport You to Whimsical Worlds

The artist’s novel take on contemporary glasswork earned her the Smithsonian Women’s Committee 2023 Delphi Award

Male elephant seals can weigh up to 4,400 pounds.

How This Small Nonprofit Helped Save California’s Elephant Seals

Volunteers with Friends of the Elephant Seal educate tourists to prevent conflicts, inspire awe and keep the marine mammals safe

This statue of Christopher Columbus resides at Columbus Circle in front of Union Station in Washington, D.C. 

Breaking Down the United States’ Historical Obsession With Christopher Columbus

Columbus became Columbus in the American Revolution—when the colonials sought out an origin story that didn’t involve the British

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