Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Smart News

The violin has been called the ‘da Vinci’ for some time, but is called ‘da Vinci, Ex-Seidel’ since Toscha Seidel parted ways with it.

This 308-Year-Old Violin Could Become the Most Expensive Ever Sold

The “da Vinci, ex-Seidel” instrument’s estimated worth is $20 Million

Each sample in the redesigned facility is handled with gloves in a sealed, nitrogen-free box and stored inside a walk-in freezer kept at minus 20 degrees Celsius.

Fifty Years Later, Researchers Unbox Samples From Apollo 17

The lunar surface material was kept in a freezer at NASA’s Johnson Space Center since December 1972

Antiques dealer Laura Young purchased the bust at Goodwill for $34.99.

Cool Finds

Ancient Roman Sculpture Likely Looted During WWII Turns Up at Texas Goodwill

Experts are debating who the bust portrays, but they agree on one thing—a thrift store is an unusual spot to find a millennia-old statue

David Bennett with his son and Dr. Muhammad Mohiuddin from the University of Maryland School of Medicine

Porcine Virus May Have Led to the Death of First-Ever Pig Heart Transplant Patient

Doctors say this infection will likely be preventable in future pig heart transplants

Adam Hardin's 2.38-carat brown diamond "Frankenstone" is the size of a pinto bean.

Cool Finds

Treasure Hunter Unearths 2.38-Carat ‘Frankenstone’ Diamond

Adam Hardin discovered the impressive brown gem at an Arkansas state park

Genetically, each species were different, but the team also found differences in the skull shapes, the levels of bone formation in the skeleton, and the number of warts on the hands and feet. (Pictured: C. cueyatl)

Good News

Six New Miniature Frog Species Discovered in Mexico

The amphibians are found under leaf litter and hatch fully grown

The vehicle, ECHO, was designed by the Marine Animal Remote Sensing Lab at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts. ECHO is part of a large-scale research project that monitors the impact of human-induced climate change on the Southern Ocean.

Innovation for Good: Game Changers

This Tiny Yellow Robot Spies on Antarctica’s Emperor Penguins

The vehicle dubbed ECHO slowly rolls up to the birds without stressing them and may allow researchers to monitor their ecosystem more closely

Lake Mead photographed from the Hoover Dam in Nevada

Officials Will Release Less Water Into Lake Mead Because of Drought

Water levels in both Lake Mead and Lake Powell have dropped to historic lows as the West experiences the most severe megadrought in 1,200 years

Museum visitors admire a Pablo Picasso portrait of Dora Maar.

Meet the Muses Who Inspired Some of the World’s Most Iconic Artworks

A new book examines the lives of muses across history and the role they played in shaping treasured works like “The Kiss” and “Ophelia”

Employees at an Oklahoma recycling center found several pieces of a stolen bronze sculpture depicting ballerina Marjorie Tallchief.

Thieves Stole, Hacked Up and Sold Sculpture That Honored Famed Native American Ballerina

The culprits sawed the life-sized bronze tribute to Marjorie Tallchief into pieces

Fox Grass Below Adam's and 7,000 other works by Andrew Wyeth are now available to museums, researchers and members of the public.

Thousands of Andrew Wyeth Paintings Have Never Been Seen by the Public—Until Now

A new arrangement will make 7,000 of the American realist’s works available to museums and researchers

The clay pot contained 1,290 Roman coins.

Cool Finds

Amateur Archaeologist Stumbles Onto Trove of Coins Dated to Constantine the Great’s Reign

Found in Switzerland, some of the buried Roman coins were minted during a time of relative political stability, between 332 and 335 C.E.

A Tuatara in New Zealand

One in Five Reptiles Worldwide Are Threatened With Extinction

Researchers assessed over 10,000 species in a comprehensive new study

Tourists flock to Venice for its architecture and waterways.

Flooded by Tourists, Venice to Start Charging Access Fees

The pilot program to limit tourist access to the “Floating City” is voluntary—for now

Archaeologists now think this is a devotional pool to an ancient god, not a harbor or ship repair area. 

Cool Finds

An Ancient ‘Harbor’ Was Actually a Sacred Pool Designed for Scanning the Stars

Archaeologists think the devotional zone was dedicated to the god Ba’al

Hector the Deinonychus skeleton

Should the Skeleton of a Dinosaur That Helped Inspire ‘Jurassic Park’ Be Sold to the Highest Bidder?

The rare fossil could sell for $6 million at auction

Demonstrators at a pro-choice march in April 1989

History of Now

In 1973, a Leak at the Supreme Court Broke News of an Imminent Ruling on Roe v. Wade

Nearly 50 years later, a similar disclosure revealed that the court is poised to overturn legalized abortion in the U.S.

Researchers dated the skulls to between 900 and 1200 C.E.

Skulls Thought to Belong to Modern Murder Victims Actually Date to the Pre-Hispanic Period

Found in a cave in Mexico in 2012, the 10th- through 13th-century bones may have been displayed in a ritual tower of craniums

The zoo's flamingos live in a 9,750-square-foot outdoor yard with a heated pool and barn.

Wild Fox Kills 25 Flamingos and a Duck at the National Zoo

The incident is the first time a predator has broken into the exhibit in its 50 year history

Actress Blake Lively wore a Statue of Liberty–inspired gown whose copper bow unfurled into a blue-green train.

Gilded Age Excess Lived on at the 2022 Met Gala

Celebrities paid tribute to the era of extravagance through gold-adorned ensembles, splashy headdresses and more

Page 320 of 1127