Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Smart News

The iconic house in a scene from The Goonies in 1985

Superfan Buys House From ‘The Goonies’

Behman Zakeri has seen the film more than 100 times—and wants to restore the home to its on-screen glory

An unidentified aerial phenomenon captured by the U.S. Navy

More Than 350 New UFO Sightings Added to U.S. Government Records

Officials speculate these may include balloons, drones, airborne plastic bags or birds

Arthur Duncan performing on "The Lawrence Welk Show"

Arthur Duncan, Talented Tap Dancer Who Broke Barriers, Dies at 97

The pioneering entertainer enjoyed a dazzling career that kept him dancing for decades

The finely crafted, decorative ceramics

Archaeologists Unearth 3,000-Year-Old Wishing Well in Germany

The Bronze Age well was full of decorative ceramics, jewelry and other items likely used for ritual purposes

Lightning rods can protect from lightning strikes, but they can only shield nearby areas.

Scientists Guide Lightning Bolts With Lasers for the First Time

The technology could one day protect wider areas than metal lightning rods do, perhaps shielding airports and launchpads during storms

Since 1970, the oceans have sunk about 90 percent of the excess heat from the atmosphere.

Oceans Break Record for Highest Temperatures Four Years in a Row

Warming oceans can drive sea-level rise and extreme weather

Portrait of a Woman, painted by Italian Renaissance master Giovanni Battista Moroni, is joining the Frick’s permanent collection.

The Frick Adds Its First Renaissance Portrait of a Woman to Permanent Collection

The stunning 16th-century painting by Giovanni Battista Moroni is now on display

An illustration of Charles Byrne, whose bones were displayed at the Hunterian Museum in London for some 200 years

Why a London Museum Is Removing the Skeleton of an ‘Irish Giant’ From View

Charles Byrne asked for his body to be buried at sea. Instead, an anatomist bought his bones and displayed them to the public

Teachers have cited concerns about students trying to pass off AI-written essays as their own work.

Student Creates App to Detect Essays Written by AI

In response to the text-generating bot ChatGPT, the new tool measures sentence complexity and variation to predict whether an author was human

The 800-year-old pendant is made of copper and plated in gold.

Cool Finds

Neutron Imaging Reveals Tiny Bones Inside 800-Year-Old Pendant

The high-tech method allowed researchers to examine the artifact without opening it

Monogenean worms dissected from the gills of a preserved copper rockfish from the University of Washington Fish Collection at the Burke Museum

Puget Sound’s Parasites Are Disappearing—but Don’t Be Glad to Say Goodbye

The decline, which was correlated with warming waters in a new study, is bad news for ecosystems

A photo of the International Space Station taken by a crewmember aboard the space shuttle orbiter Discovery in 2001. 

Space Station Astronauts to Receive New Spacecraft After Coolant Leak

The original vehicle was deemed too dangerous for a regular trip home and will only be used in an emergency

Eric Finkelstein visited 18 Michelin-starred restaurants in one day.

Man Sets World Record by Eating at 18 Michelin-Starred Restaurants in 24 Hours

Eric Finkelstein, a 34-year-old healthcare IT consultant, had been planning the attempt for months

Curatin call at the opening night of Indecent on Broadway in 2017

Florida High School Cancels ‘Indecent,’ a Play About Censorship on Broadway in 1923

Free speech groups—and playwright Paula Vogel—are condemning the school board’s decision

The Resurrected Christ Appears to His Mother by Peter Paul Rubens

Italian Police Seize Rubens Masterpiece From an Exhibition

Four people are under investigation for illegally exporting the painting and money laundering

The flower measures roughly an inch across and is at least three times larger than all other known amber-encased blossoms.

See the Largest Known Flower Preserved in Amber

Aided by modern technology, researchers discovered the prehistoric blossom was a case of mistaken identity

Boat docks sit on dry, cracked earth at the Great Salt Lake's Antelope Island Marina on August 1, 2021, near Syracuse, Utah.

Drying Great Salt Lake Could Expose Millions to Toxic Arsenic-Laced Dust

The largest saline lake in North America is on track to collapse within five years, a new report finds

Alexander Graham Bell circa 1910

The Smithsonian Will Restore Hundreds of the World’s Oldest Sound Recordings

They were made by Alexander Graham Bell and his fellow researchers between 1881 and 1892

An Anolis cristatellus lizard in Puerto Rico.

Genetic Mutations Could Help Lizards Survive City Life

Urban Puerto Rican crested anoles show genetic changes related to immune function, metabolism and limb and skin development

A painting at Brazil's National Congress that was damaged during the attacks

Rioters Damage Art at Government Buildings in Brazil

The government has released a list of artworks that were harmed during the attacks

Page 289 of 1143