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Arts & Culture

David Fairchild demonstrates a new crop spraying technique in 1889.

America’s First “Food Spy” Traveled the World Hunting for Exotic Crops

A new book details the life of adventurer-botanist David Fairchild

In December 1957, Lymon appeared on “The Ed Sullivan Show” to sing “Goody Goody,” nearly two years after “Why Do Fools Fall in Love?” was a hit debut single.

Teen Idol Frankie Lymon’s Tragic Rise and Fall Tells the Truth About 1950s America

The mirage of the singer’s soaring success echoes the mirage of post-war tranquility at home

The Freer Buddha undergoes a CT scan at the National Museum of Natural History. "He wouldn't relax his legs," Donna Strahan recalls with a laugh.

How Science is Peeling Back the Layers of Ancient Lacquer Sculptures

These rare Buddhist artworks were found to contain traces of bone and blood

Ellen Raskin designed the first-edition book cover; she later wrote The Westing Game, which won its own Newbery.

Women Who Shaped History

The Remarkable Influence of ‘A Wrinkle in Time’

How the Madeleine L’Engle novel liberated young adult literature

John Lennon chats with Mike Love (far right, in dark blue) as the Beatles sit for a photo with Maharishi and other course participants.

1968: The Year That Shattered America

The Ashram Where the Beatles Sought Enlightenment

Beach Boys singer Mike Love recalls what it was like to be at the Indian locale, which remains a destination for fans of music and meditation

Thomas Edison's ideas fed the story that would become In the Deep of Time.

Thomas Edison’s Forgotten Sci-Fi Novel

By feeding his visions for the future to a well-regarded contemporary, the prolific inventor offered a peek into his brilliant mind

Republic Square in Yerevan decorated for Christmas.

Armenia

It’s Still Christmas in Armenia

The holiday celebrations continue through January 13. Here’s what to cook to keep the festivities going.

In the nothingness of space, sound waves have no medium by which to travel.

Science in the Movies

The Science of Silence in ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’

The soundless lightspeed attack that baffled some fans was actually the film’s most scientifically accurate moment

Women gleefully threw objects symbolizing oppression into the Freedom Trash Can, but they didn’t burn bras.

1968: The Year That Shattered America

Fifty Years Ago, Protesters Took on the Miss America Pageant and Electrified the Feminist Movement

Miss America pageant is under new leadership after a sexist email scandal. But the pageant has a long history of controversy—including the 1968 protests

In a survey of art experts, Thomas’ 2010 collage was named one of the most significant artworks of the 21st century.

How Mickalene Thomas Is Ushering in a New Wave of Contemporary Art

The celebrated portraitist’s glittering images of black women upend tradition

Lahmacun served up to the author at Mer Taghe in Yerevan, Armenia.

Armenia

‘Armenian Pizza’ Is the Comfort Food You Didn’t Know You Were Missing (Recipe)

What lahmacun may lack in cheese pulls it makes up for with juicy, spicy ground lamb

A spirit medium pauses to light a cigarette.

Photos Celebrate the Lives of Gender Non-Conforming Spirit Mediums in Southeast Asia

The pioneering photographer’s latest book documents the welcoming community of transgender individuals who serve as spirit mediums in Burma and Thailand

Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks in "The Post."

What The Post Gets Right (and Wrong) About Katharine Graham and the Pentagon Papers

A Smithsonian historian reminds us how Graham, a Washington socialite-turned-publisher, transformed the paper into what it is today

Each chapter progresses from the very small to the very big.

Learn to Speak the Language of the Universe With This Mindblowing New Book

Magnitude helps you imagine the outer limits of time, speed and distance—without breaking your brain

The stunning image that opens the Siphonophorae chapter in The Art and Science of Ernst Haeckel. Each gelatinous siphonophore is actually a group of colonial organisms all living and working together. To grow, they clone themselves—each new minion specialized for a specific function.

Art Meets Science

This 19th-Century Illustrator Found Beauty in the Slimiest of Sea Creatures

A new book chronicles Ernst Haeckel’s life and his gorgeous renderings of wild things—scales, spikes, tentacles and all

Hugh Jackman in "The Greatest Showman."

Based on a True Story

P.T. Barnum Isn’t the Hero the ‘Greatest Showman’ Wants You to Think

His path to fame and notoriety began by exploiting an enslaved woman, in life and in death, as entertainment for the masses

Elyse Butler got up close and personal to capture this fiery scene of lava flowing dramatically into the Pacific Ocean from Kilauea volcano.

Smithsonian Magazine’s Most Powerful Photos of the Year

Our photography editors select their favorites from a year full of stunning photojournalism

Mónico Márquez plays a Hohner button accordion with Venezuelan band Mestros del Joropo Oriental at the 2009 Smithsonian Folklife Festival.

The Remarkable Rebirth of the Button Accordion

Musician Gilberto Reyes redesigned the instrument to meet the needs of Latino musicians

MICRO's Smallest Mollusk Museum is inside the central branch of Brooklyn Public Library.

Putting Miniature Museums Where You Are Likely To See Them

The nonprofit MICRO is on a mission to meet people where they are, staging small exhibitions in busy, public places

A townsperson walks around as Gryla, the Christmas Witch

Why Iceland’s Christmas Witch Is Much Cooler (and Scarier) Than Krampus

With roots dating back to the 13th century, Gryla is not to be messed with

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