Children would line up in front of the "Temple of Vaccinia" to be vaccinated against smallpox.

COVID-19 May Permanently Shutter Museum Devoted to Vaccination Pioneer

In an ironic twist, Edward Jenner’s historic house is struggling to outlast the financial toll of being closed

Peale’s mastodon returns to the U.S. as part of this year's upcoming exhibition “Alexander von Humboldt and the United States: Art, Nature, and Culture” at the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

Alexander von Humboldt

The Story of Charles Willson Peale’s Massive Mastodon

When a European intellectual snubbed the U.S., the well-known artist excavated the giant fossil as evidence of the new Republic’s strength and power

Artist’s impression of the triple system with the closest black hole.

Astronomers Discover the Closest Known Black Hole

The newfound ‘invisible’ object is only 1,000 light years from home

This week's titles include Death By Shakespeare, Empires of the Sky and How to Feed a Dictator.

Books of the Month

Shakespearean Stabbings, How to Feed a Dictator and Other New Books to Read

The sixth installment in our weekly series spotlights titles that may have been lost in the news amid the COVID-19 crisis

Through the Manta Trust's adoption program, donors can choose to adopt any one of a number of frequently sighted manta rays in the Maldives.

Virtual Travel

Ten Animals and Plants Around the World That You Can (Virtually) Adopt

While COVID-19 stymies travel, help conserve those things—from cacti to manta rays—that will beckon you later

Micrograph of a well-differentiated papillary mesothelioma

How Evolution Helps Us Understand and Treat Cancer

A new book argues that controlling cancer is within reach if scientists are able to anticipate the evolution of resistance to traditional treatments

The Fox tunnel is one of only two underground facilities dedicated exclusively to the scientific study of permafrost where a visitor can actually walk around inside the frozen earth.

In a Tunnel Beneath Alaska, Scientists Race to Understand Disappearing Permafrost

What lies inside the icy cavern seems more and more like a captive, rare animal, an Earth form that might soon be lost

At the age of 16, Titouan Bernicot, a young conservationist and artist, realized that the coral reefs in French Polynesia were dying and resolved to do something to help. He founded The Coral Gardeners, a non-profit that educates the public about the importance of coral reefs.

Smithsonian Voices

Framing Hope Through a Photographer’s Lens

Marine biologist Cristina Mittermeier discovered that visual storytelling, rather than data sets, allowed her to be a better advocate for the ocean

Featured insects include the Picasso moth, the violin beetle, the green milkweed grasshopper and the cuckoo wasp.

The World’s Most Interesting Insects

A new title from Smithsonian Books highlights the diversity of Earth’s 10 to 100 million insect species

Herbert Spencer introduced the phrase "survival of the fittest" in his 1864 book, Principles of Biology.

The Complicated Legacy of Herbert Spencer, the Man Who Coined ‘Survival of the Fittest’

Spencer’s ideas laid the groundwork for social Darwinism, but scholars say there was much more to the Victorian Age thinker than that

In the past ten years, we’ve found fossils that widen both the geographic and time range of several early human species.

Smithsonian Voices

These Are the Decade’s Biggest Discoveries in Human Evolution

Celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Smithsonian’s “David H. Koch Hall of Human Origins” with some of the biggest discoveries in human evolution

An engraving by Levasseur after Jules-Elie Delaunay depicts the angel of death at the door during the 165 A.D. plague in Rome.

What Rome Learned From the Deadly Antonine Plague of 165 A.D.

The outbreak was far deadlier than COVID-19, but the empire survived

Honduran scarlet macaws.

How the Stunning Scarlet Macaw Came Back From the Brink

The bird, decimated by poachers and smugglers, is making a big comeback in the Central American rainforest

Artist's impression of the Chicxulub impact.

After the Dinosaur-Killing Impact, Soot Played a Remarkable Role in Extinction

The famous impact 66 million years ago kicked up soot into the atmosphere that played an even bigger role in blocking sunlight than experts had realized

Catch Bill Weir's new show, The Road to Change: America's Climate Crisis, Saturday April 25, 2020 on CNN at 10PM ET.

Smithsonian Voices

CNN’s Bill Weir Offers Solutions for How to Talk Climate Change in a Contentious World

Smithsonian’s Earth Optimism Summit features CNN’s Chief Climate Correspondent Bill Weir

"Our planet faces the challenge of a lifetime," says Bunch. "Let’s work together to imbue our future with all the hope and healing we have to offer.

Planet Positive

In a World Facing Grim Challenges, Hope Still Reigns Supreme

Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III says: ‘It’s time to put our heads down, and work’

Mangroves line a channel connecting the Belize River to the coastal lagoon system. These trees are hundreds of years old and provide important habitat to both terrestrial and marine species.

Smithsonian Voices

Here’s How Local Communities Can Help Save Mangroves

The Global Mangrove Alliance has a goal of increasing the world’s mangrove cover by 20 percent over the next decade

Stream live or watch repeated broadcast overnight.

Planet Positive

LIVE NOW: Watch the Smithsonian’s Earth Optimism Digital Summit

The two-day virtual event will bring scientists and many other experts to highlight success stories in conservation

Kilauea fissure 8 lava fountains reached as high as about 50 m (164 ft) on June 20, 2018

Could Rainfall Have Triggered the 2018 Eruption of Hawaiian Volcano Kīlauea?

A new study posits that groundwater pressure might have been a tipping point for the magma system near the eruption

Nick Pyenson and his colleagues next to fossil whales from Cerro Ballena, a site in the Atacama of Chile.

Smithsonian Voices

Digging Into the Past to Find Optimism for the Future

The story of what will happen in the coming decades and centuries is written in the geologic past

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