Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Smart News

The Great Wave off Kanagawa is the first print in Katsushika Hokusai's series Thirty-six views of Mount Fuji

The Enduring Influence of Hokusai’s ‘Great Wave’

A rare early print of the iconic image sold for a record-breaking $2.8 million at auction

Amid a multi-year drought, record winter rainfall has led to conditions perfect for fungi.

Winter Rains Bring Mushroom Boom in California

Fungi are popping up in numbers the West Coast may not see again for years

Ai Weiwei's Water Lilies #1 will be on view starting April 7.

Ai Weiwei Unveils Recreation of Monet’s ‘Water Lilies’ Made Entirely of Legos

In a new exhibition, the renowned Chinese artist explores beauty, technology and growing up in exile

A digitally colorized view of Vibrio vulnificus bacteria under a scanning electron microscope

These Flesh-Eating Bacteria Are Thriving Because of Climate Change

New research finds that infections caused by Vibrio vulnificus have increased over the last 30 years and expanded to new geographic areas

Activists from Just Stop Oil marched from London's Pentonville Prison in February 2023 in support of the U.K.'s political prisoners, including seven from their organization.

In Landmark Pledge, British Lawyers Say They Won’t Act in the Interest of Fossil Fuels

The litigators refuse to represent new coal, oil and gas developments or prosecute peaceful climate protesters

Skywatchers can see five planets this week.

How to Watch Five Planets Align in the Night Sky This Week

Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Uranus will appear as if in a parade in the Western sky on Tuesday

A sunet behind the mountains in what is now the Avi Kwa Ame National Monument in Nevada

Biden Designates Two New National Monuments

In total, the protected areas across Nevada and Texas encompass 514,000 acres of public lands

New York City's Flatiron Building is wedged between Fifth Avenue and Broadway.

New York City’s Iconic Flatiron Building Sells for $190 Million at Auction

The landmark hasn’t been up for public auction since the Great Depression, when it sold for $100,000

A woman throws flowers on the boxes containing human remains at Waldfriedhof cemetery.

Berlin Holds Funeral for Bone Fragments Linked to Nazi Research

Discovered in 2014, the remains of at least 54 victims were buried at a ceremony this week

Dill, Jalapeño and Gherkin, the three newly hatched radiated tortoises at the Houston Zoo.

90-Year-Old Tortoise Fathers His First Offspring at Houston Zoo

Critically endangered radiated tortoises don’t reproduce often, so this is a win for the species

An illustration of exoplanet VHS 1256 b, which is surrounded by clouds of hot silicate particles.

James Webb Telescope Spots Raging Dust Storms on an Exoplanet

The far-off world also has signs of water, methane, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide

One of the scrolls carbonized by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius

You Could Win $1 Million by Deciphering These Ancient Roman Scrolls

The Herculaneum scrolls have remained unreadable since their discovery in 1750, but researchers hope to change that

Marion Island is home to a quarter of all wandering albatrosses in the world.

The Ambitious Plan to Stop Mice From Eating Seabirds

Conservationists want to clear Marion Island of the pests, which are wreaking havoc on albatross and other nesting species

Aspen Mountain and Aspen Highlands in Colorado extended their seasons this winter.

Ski Resorts in the Western U.S. Will Stay Open Into the Spring and Summer

Slopes in California, Utah and Colorado are extending their seasons after record-breaking snowfall

A portrait of Ludwig van Beethoven by August von Kloeber. The composer suffered from health problems throughout his adult life, including hearing loss and gastrointestinal issues.

DNA From Beethoven’s Hair Reveals Clues About His Death

The composer was predisposed to liver disease and had hepatitis B at the end of his life, a new study finds

Google Bard is currently limited to some users ages 18 and up.

Google Launches A.I. Chatbot—How Does it Compare to ChatGPT and Bing?

Bard might give incorrect answers, but it “doesn’t go off the rails”

Dancers in Ukrainian Dress by Edgar Degas

The Met Is the Latest Museum to Reclassify Russian Art as Ukrainian

Amid the Russian invasion, museums are grappling with how to identify artists connected to Ukraine

The new logo's font is adapted from the city's subway signs.

The Love-Hate Relationship With New York City’s New Logo

Milton Glaser’s iconic “I Love NY” design gets an update—and not everybody loves it

Snow petrels were among the seabird species that did not reproduce in Antarctica's Dronning Maud Land region in 2021-22.

Strong Snowstorms Prevented Tens of Thousands of Antarctic Seabirds From Breeding

With their nesting sites buried under a blanket of snow, some petrels and skuas made no attempts at reproducing in December 2021 and January 2022

Third Act focused its protests on four banks—Chase, Citibank, Bank of America and Wells Fargo.

‘Rocking Chair Rebellion’ of Senior Citizens Joins Climate Protest

Thousands of retirees in 90 locations across the U.S. protested banks that finance new fossil fuel infrastructure

Page 249 of 1116