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Articles

Maui's Haleakala volcano and the rest of the Hawaiian Islands formed out of molten lava as the Pacific plate drifted over the hotspot as three to four inches a year.

What We’re Still Learning About Hawaii

The fiery forces beneath the island chain still mystify geologists

“We want them to think, ‘maybe science is something I could do,’” coastal geoscientist Rob Young said of tribal youths, who took part in a camp focusing on the area’s spiritual heritage.

Preparing for a New River

Klallam tribal members make plans for holy ancestral sites to resurface after the unparalleled removal of nearby dams

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Letters

Readers Respond to the October Issue

Carole Pohn, with her children Jennifer and Andy in 1962 or '63, says photographer Vivian Maier called her "the only civilized person" in the Chicago suburb where they were neighbors.

Vivian Maier: The Unheralded Street Photographer

A chance find has rescued the work of the camera-toting baby sitter, and gallery owners are taking notice

Instruments developed at the Harvard- Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, such as this Solar Probe, will go to the Sun in 2018.

New Angles

In 2004, relatives of Albert Penn found the bust made in his image. From left: family members Virginia Maker, Larry Taylor, Evelyn Taylor, Andrea Bone and anthropologist David Hunt.

An Osage Family Reunion

With the help of Smithsonian model makers, the tribal nation is obtaining busts of ancestors who lived at a pivotal moment in their history

As curator of the White House, William G. Allman is responsible for studying and preserving the 50,000 pieces of art and décor in the residence's permanent collection.

Q and A With William G. Allman

The curator of the White House talks about the history of the President’s mansion and how to protect the collections from tipsy visitors

See People of the Caribou by Nicolas Villaume at the American Indian Museum's multimedia exhibit "Conversations with the Earth through January 2, 2012.

What’s Up

“Man does not live by salad alone,” says farmer Tevis Robertson-Goldberg of Massachusetts. “He needs croutons.”

Artisanal Wheat On the Rise

Giving factory flour the heave-ho, small farmers from New England to the Northwest are growing long-forgotten varieties of wheat

Stubbornly original, Still intended his art to “be engaged in that which exalts the spirit of man.” To achieve that, he said, “a fresh start must be made.”

Clyfford Still’s Sublime Art

A new museum devoted exclusively to the work of the abstract painter is opening in Denver. A leading critic takes a close look at one masterwork

Rating a lunar vacation.

The Tour Bus Has Landed

The ups and downs of a lunar vacation

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Most Interesting

Winfrey steps aside after a decade, Caruso steps in

Confederate Gen. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson’s men drew Union fire in an attempt to destroy a Potomac River dam.

Frozen in Place: December 1861

President Lincoln addresses the State of the Union and grows impatient with General McClellan

Henry Morton Stanley, photographed in 1872 at age 31, is best known for his epic search for the missionary David Livingstone, whom he finally encountered in 1871 in present-day Tanzania.

Henry Morton Stanley’s Unbreakable Will

The explorer of Dr. Livingstone-fame provides a classic character study of how willpower works

Clarence Darrow, addressing the jury as a defendant, was never convicted of bribery, but his two trials shattered his reputation.

Clarence Darrow: Jury Tamperer?

Newly unearthed documents shed light on claims that the famous criminal attorney bribed a juror

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Pollster George Gallup Jr. Looks to the Year 2000

Sea otters have teeth that resemble those of Paranthropus

Strange Animal Models of Human Evolution

What do sea otters, wolves and capuchin monkeys reveal about our hominid ancestors?

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Learning to Love Sponsored Films

By any count, sponsored films are the most numerous genre of film, and they are also the ones most in danger of being lost

A reconstructed skeleton of Rapetosaurus on display at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago.

Inside Sauropod Armor

A hollow, thin-walled bone is not exactly the sort of structure that is going to protect a sauropod from attack—so what was its purpose?

Water crystallizes into ice at 32 degrees Fahrenheit most of the time, but not always.

Ask Smithsonian

At What Temperature Does Water Freeze?

The answer is far more complicated than it first appears—water doesn’t always turn to ice at 32 degrees Fahrenheit

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