Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Smart News

The Atlanta Humane Society has taken some of their kittens and puppies to the Georgia Aquarium to get a break from quarantine.

Animals Are Taking Adorable Field Trips During Quarantine

With many zoos and aquariums closed to the public, keepers let animals roam empty hallways to meet their neighbors

This siphonophore may be the longest ever recorded.

Watch This Giant, Eerie, String-Like Sea Creature Hunt for Food in the Indian Ocean

Researchers shared a video of this massive siphonophore, one of the longest of its kind ever recorded

The deadline to submit a haiku for the "Social Distancing, Haiku and You" project is April 16.

Covid-19

This Sound Artist Is Asking People to Record COVID-19 Haikus

Called “Social Distancing, Haiku and You,” Alan Nakagawa’s project will result in a sound collage that interweaves a multitude of voices

Decorated eggs from the Isis Tomb, Vulci, Italy, on display in the British Museum

Ornately Decorated Eggs Have Been Traded Worldwide for Thousands of Years

A new analysis of ancient ostrich eggs at the British Museum underscores the interconnectedness of the ancient world

Currently, the toilet can test for up to ten different biomarkers from analyses of stool and urine samples, according to a Stanford press release.

Why Scientists Created a ‘Smart Toilet’ That Recognizes Your Butt

The bidet-like suite of devices detects abnormalities in feces that could flag signs of certain cancers

This week's feature is a 2012 adaptation of Jesus Christ Superstar starring Spice Girl Melanie Chisholm as Mary Magdalene and Ben Forster as Jesus.

Covid-19

The Show Must Go On(line): Watch Free Broadway Musicals Every Friday

Select Andrew Lloyd Webber productions will stream on YouTube for 48 hours at a time

Artist Shing Yin Khor is recreating famous works of art, including Marina Abramovic's The Artist Is Present, in "Animal Crossing."

Virtual Travel

Meet the Artist Behind Animal Crossing’s Art Museum Island

The art within Shing Yin Khor’s virtual world represents a sassy response to the game’s built-in natural history museum

This miniature room design by Julie Dumas Rose is a finalist in Eny Lee Parker's Clay Play challenge.

These Artists Used Clay to Build Their Dream Homes in Miniature

Ceramics artist Eny Lee Parker hosted a contest that asked quarantined creators to imagine their ideal rooms

A survey of 1,036 reefs in the Great Barrier Reef over the last two weeks of March revealed the most widespread bleaching event on record.

New Research

The Great Barrier Reef Is Now Facing Most Widespread Bleaching Event Yet

The severity of this year’s bleaching is second only to 2016, during which a third of the reef’s corals died

A gallery assistant poses with Andy Warhol's Elvis 1 and 2 1963-4 during a press preview for Tate Modern's retrospective on March 10, 2020.

Virtual Travel

Take a Virtual Tour of Tate Modern’s Andy Warhol Exhibition

The show ran for just five days before the London museum closed due to COVID-19

1796 portrait miniature of Mary Pearson by William Wood

Cool Finds

Newly Discovered Portrait Depicts Woman Who May Have Inspired Jane Austen Character

Mary Pearson, who was briefly engaged to the writer’s brother, may be the real-life counterpart of Lydia Bennet from “Pride and Prejudice”

Just as northern lights appear on Earth, Saturn has auroras—and they may help explain why the ringed planet's upper atmosphere gets so hot.

Saturn’s Auroras Could Help Explain the Weird Amounts of Heat in Its Atmosphere

The planet’s temperatures spike around the latitudes where auroras show up

Nadia and her sister Azul as cubs at the Bronx Zoo in 2016. Both tigers showed symptoms of COVID-19, and Nadia tested positive for the virus.

Covid-19

A Tiger in the Bronx Zoo Tested Positive for COVID-19

Nadia, a four-year-old Malayan tiger, is the first known animal to test positive for coronavirus in the United States

A rock samples collected during a 2010 drilling expedition in the South Pacific that found microbes in the sea floor.

Microbes Living in Deep Sea Rocks Spawn More Hope for Life on Mars

Starved of resources, these hardy bacteria still eke out a living, suggesting life forms could survive in the harsh habitats on other planets

Researcher Mark Meekan swims with a whale shark, which can grow up to 60 feet long, making them the world's largest fish.

New Research

Researchers Calculated a Whale Shark’s Age Based on Cold War-Era Bomb Tests

Nuclear bomb tests caused a spike in a radioactive form of carbon that accumulated in living things

About 6% of mountain lion deaths between 2005 and 2014 were due to the plague, according to new research.

New Research

The Plague Has Been Quietly Killing Yellowstone Cougars for a Decade

Researchers found that almost half of the mountain lions they tested showed signs of plague infection

London-based couple Filippo Lorenzin and Marianna Benetti built a miniature museum for their pet gerbils.

Covid-19

Quarantined Couple Builds Art Museum to Entertain Pet Gerbils

The story of two bored art lovers who found a way to “a-mouse” themselves

Ta-Kr-Hb was likely an ancient Egyptian princess or priestess.

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Discover Paintings of Goddess in 3,000-Year-Old Mummy’s Coffin

Researchers lifted the ancient Egyptian mummy out of her coffin for the first time in 100 years and, to their surprise, uncovered the ancient artworks

Patrick Stewart attends the 90th Annual Academy Awards.

Education During Coronavirus

Hear Daily Shakespeare Sonnets Recited by Patrick Stewart

The classically trained actor is reading a sonnet a day on Instagram

Times Square stands largely empty on March 22.

Covid-19

As COVID-19 Reshapes the World, Cultural Institutions Collect Oral Histories

Universities, libraries and museums are among the organizations seeking personal stories about the pandemic’s effects on daily life

Page 455 of 1116