Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Smart News

Scholars used a newly developed technique to test skeletons' teeth for the presence of Yersinia pestis, the pathogen responsible for the plague.

Cool Finds

Why Weren’t These Black Death Victims Buried in Mass Graves?

New research suggests some Europeans who died of the bubonic plague were individually interred with care

Based on the size of the skull, the research team also found that the rhino had a long thick neck, a short trunk similar to that of a modern-day tapir, and a deeper nasal cavity.

This Prehistoric Giant Rhino Was ‘Taller Than a Giraffe’

The prehistoric mammal had a 3.8-foot-long head and stood at about 16 feet tall

Organizers used state-of-the-art technology to create nearly life-size reproductions of Michelangelo's famed Sistine Chapel frescoes.

Immersive Experience Brings Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel Frescoes to the U.S.

A touring exhibition now on view in San Antonio, Chicago and Charlotte immerses visitors in 34 of the artist’s famed paintings

The newly deciphered genome, T2T-CHM13, added 200 million base pairs to the 2013 version of the human genome and found 115 new genes.

Scientists Are on the Cusp of Finally Deciphering the Entire Human Genome

After 20 years of work, the pursuit is nearly complete, but the team still has to sequence a Y chromosome

Lake Mead generates electricity and supplies water to 25 million people in Western United States.

Hoover Dam’s Lake Mead Hits Lowest Water Level Since 1930s

The reservoir generates electricity and supplies water to about 25 million people across tribal lands, farms and major cities

In 1921, Ruth Middleton embroidered this cotton sack with a powerful family story.

History of Now

A Simple Cotton Sack Tells an Intergenerational Story of Separation Under Slavery

Historian Tiya Miles’ new book traces the lives of three Black women through an embroidered family heirloom known as “Ashley’s sack”

An artist's rendering of Gunggamarandu maunala.

New Research

23-Foot ‘River Boss’ Croc Fossil Found in Australia

Slender-nosed extinct reptile would have patrolled freshwater ecosystems between two and five million years ago

A pygmy blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus brevicauda) crosses the Indian Ocean and passes near Mirissa, Sri Lanka.

Using Nuclear Bomb Detectors, Scientists Overhear the Secret Songs of a Never-Before-Seen Pygmy Blue Whale Population

The new group is named ‘Chagos’ after the islands close to where the melodies were detected

New genetic research suggests that the gray whale spotted off the coast of Namibia in 2013 originated in the western Pacific.

New Research

Gray Whale Breaks Migration Record With 16,700-Mile Journey

The whale, which is usually found in the northern Pacific Ocean, was spotted off Namibia in 2013

Officials posted a video showing the statue's excavation on Twitter.

Cool Finds

Headless Statue of Ancient Woman Discovered in Turkey’s ‘Mother Goddess City’

The 1,800-year-old sculpture dates to Metropolis’ Roman era

The new gray wolf pups in Colorado have yet to be photographed, so for now you'll have to make do with this bright-eyed pair.

Gray Wolf Pups Seen in Colorado for the First Time in 80 Years

Wildlife officials spotted at least three pups around a den site located near the Wyoming border

The painting is one of 47 in the pop star's D Heads series.

Cool Finds

David Bowie Painting Purchased at Landfill for $4 Expected to Fetch Thousands

The rock star created the semi-abstract portrait—up for auction through June 24—in 1997

While observing the crayfish, the research team saw that the crustaceans exposed to low levels of the antidepressant were more adventurous and twice more likely to pop out of their shelters and explore their surroundings.

Crayfish Exposed to Antidepressants Are More Adventurous

While the traces of drugs found in waterways alter the crustacean’s behaviors, it may leave them more vulnerable to predation

Researchers found the charred remains of wooden furniture at the site of the former Astra cinema in Verona.

Cool Finds

‘Miniature Pompeii’ Found Beneath Abandoned Verona Cinema

In the second century A.D., “a calamitous event, in this case a fire, suddenly marked the end of the complex,” notes a statement

It’s considered one of the coldest and smallest exoplanets discovered so far.

This Neptune-Like Exoplanet May Have Water Clouds

Despite the possible presence of water vapor, TOI-1231 b is likely not habitable because of its size

Queer artist Gilbert Baker preserved this 10- by 28-foot section of an original 1978 pride flag.

LGBTQ+ Pride

Long-Lost Fragment of First Rainbow Pride Flag Resurfaces After Four Decades

The brilliantly colored banner—now on view in San Francisco—flew on “Gay Freedom Day” in 1978

A blue jay photographed at a bird feeder. Fledgling blue jays and grackles in D.C., Virginia, Maryland and West Virginia have been dying of a mysterious ailment since late May.

Mysterious Ailment Blinding and Killing Birds in Washington, D.C. Area

Authorities are urging the public to take down bird feeders and baths in hopes of curbing the spread of what could be a wildlife disease

An individual buried in an amphora on the Croatian island of Hvar

Cool Finds

Ancient Necropolis Discovered in 17th-Century Croatian Palace’s Garden

The fourth- or fifth-century cemetery contained the remains of several individuals buried in jars

Sometime between 30-40 seconds after the diver was swallowed, the whale began to move its head from side to side and then resurfaced.

A Cape Cod Lobster Diver Was Swallowed by a Humpback Whale—and Then Spat Back Out

Except for severe bruising and a dislocated knee, the survivor is in good health and ready to return to work, he says

The mini museum is housed on the first floor of an Oakland, California, house whose exterior is decorated with a mural honoring the women of the Black Panther Party.

Mini Museum Honoring the Black Panther Party Will Debut on Juneteenth

A pop-up exhibition dedicated to the Black power organization is set to open in Oakland, California, on June 19

Page 379 of 1128