Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Smart News

This is a European shore crab in the wild. Crabs like this were used in the study to complete mazes.

Crabs Can Learn to Navigate Mazes, Too

A new study highlights the cognitive abilities of an understudied animal

Contractors found a witch bottle similar to the one pictured here while demolishing a former inn's chimney.

Cool Finds

‘Witch Bottle’ Filled With Teeth, Pins and Mysterious Liquid Discovered in English Chimney

The charms were designed to ward off witches, but new research suggests they had medical uses as well

New Research

Double-Sided Tape Inspired by Spiderwebs Could Revolutionize Surgery

The two-sided adhesive instantly dries tissue then creates a strong bond—in just 5 seconds

Not for the faint of heart, these destinations are meant to entice thrill-seeking tourists.

Chinese Province Closes All of Its Glass Bridges Amid Safety Concerns

Heart-stopping glass structures have become a craze in China, but some have been linked to injuries and fatalities

New Research

Mosses Expand the Story of Ötzi the Iceman’s Final Journey

Seventy-five species of mosses and liverworts found in and around his body suggest he climbed the alps via a difficult gorge

This aerial picture shows Shuri Castle after a fire ripped through the historic site in Naha, Japan's southern Okinawa prefecture, on October 31

Fire Ravages Japanese Heritage Site Shuri Castle

The castle, first built more than 500 years ago, was seen as a symbol of the dynamic Ryukyu Kingdom

Officials hope to complete work on the new museum by the Jefferson Memorial's 80th anniversary in 2023

Trending Today

Philanthropist Donates $10 Million to Jefferson Memorial Museum

David Rubenstein’s donation will fund the creation of a new education center at the D.C. monument

Patriots toppled the statue in July 1776, but British Loyalists rescued and hid some of the fragments

You Could Own an Amputated Arm From the George III Statue Toppled at Bowling Green

The 18th-century lead fragment was unearthed in a Connecticut resident’s garden in 1991

Spoiler alert: No, it wasn't from beer burps.

Hold On to Your Lederhosen: Oktoberfest Produces a Whole Lot of Methane Gas

Incomplete combustion from gas appliances is likely the major culprit

It’s Death By A Million Cuts on This Slasher Planet!

Trending Today

NASA Celebrates Halloween With These Interstellar Horror Posters

The artwork highlights the weird world of exoplanets where it rains glass and planets circle zombie stars

Nirmal Purja smashed the speed record for summiting the world's 14 highest peaks, racing up all "8000ers" in just six months and six days

Trending Today

Nepalese Mountaineer Smashes Speed Record for Climbing World’s 14 Tallest Peaks

Former special forces soldier Nirmal Purja summited Everest, K2 and a dozen other 8,000-meter peaks in just six months

Sometimes the supernatural is more natural than you'd think.

Five Scientific Explanations for Spooky Sensations

What feels like a supernatural presence might actually be vibrations outside of humans’ conscious perception

The creepiest doll in all the land

A Minnesota Museum’s Creepy Doll Contest Is Here to Haunt Your Dreams

“The doll I disdain handling is the one with human hair,” says curator Dan Nowakowski

The Bayeux Tapestry tells the story of William the Conqueror's invasion of England.

New Research

Architecture and Math Show the Bayeux Tapestry Was Designed to Decorate a Cathedral

A new study proposes a convincing explanation for the 11th-century tapestry’s creation

Babies May Understand Counting Before They Fully Understand Numbers

By tempting an adorable pool of subjects with toys, a new study found that infants associate counting with quantities

A double ambrotype portrait of Albro Lyons, Sr. and Mary Joseph Lyons

NYC Monument Will Honor African-American Family Displaced to Make Way for Central Park

But the project has drawn criticism, particularly because the monument will stand some 20 blocks north of Seneca Village’s historic location

The tower had undergone a $7.9 million renovation.

New York’s Last Fire Watchtower Has Been Restored

Built in the 1850s, the structure was once part of the city’s fire-fighting network

Cool Finds

These Newly Discovered Shrimp Call a Whale Shark’s Mouth Home

Found in a whale shark off Okinawa, hundred of amphipods were living it up in the giant fish’s gills

Sandro Botticelli's "Birth of Venus" finds its subject striking a contrapposto pose

New Research

Why Viewers Are Drawn to Renaissance Artists’ Go-To Pose

A new study finds that the contrapposto stance reduces the waist-to-hip ratio, an attribute popularly associated with attractiveness

Nash won the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1994

John Nash’s Nobel Prize Sells for $735,000

Best known as the subject of “A Beautiful Mind,” Nash made pioneering advances in the study of game theory

Page 485 of 1116