Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Smart News

Reconstruction of the nesting ground of Hypacrosaurus stebingeri from the Two Medicine formation of Montana. In the center can be seen a deceased Hypacrosaurus nestling with the back of its skull embedded in shallow waters. A mourning adult is portrayed on the right.

New Research

Paleontologists Debate Whether New Research Found Signs of DNA in Dinosaur Fossil

The fossils are several times older than the theoretical maximum shelf life of DNA molecules

The dino statues have been returned.

Three Dinosaur Replicas, Stolen From a Utah Park, Have Been Found

‘Why—why would someone steal them?’ asked the artist who recently refurbished the models

Built at the turn of the seventh century, the white plaster-coated road begins in Cobá and ends 62 miles west, at Yaxuná's ancient downtown in the center of Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula.

Did a Seventh-Century Warrior Queen Build the Maya’s Longest Road?

Dubbed the “white road” in honor of its limestone paving, the 62-mile path is an engineering marvel on par with Maya pyramids

This illustration, created by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), shows the virus' spiky, crown-like fringe that shrouds each viral particle—giving it a “coronated” appearance.

Covid-19

A Guide to What to Know About COVID-19

As COVID-19 spreads around the globe, so does misinformation. Here, you can find facts about the virus and infection it causes

Florence Nightingale in bed at South Street in 1906, aged 86

Celebrate Florence Nightingale’s 200th Birthday With Exhibit Featuring Her Famed Lamp, Pet Owl

The Florence Nightingale Museum in London seeks to illuminate the “full story” of the pioneering healthcare reformer

A pickup truck collided with a moai statue and platform on Eastern Island.

After Truck Topples Easter Island Statue, Mayor Calls for Traffic Restrictions

The incident, which happened over the weekend, remains under investigation but may have involved faulty brakes

The Only Known Albino Orangutan Is Doing Great After Her Release to the Wild

Alba, who was captured and caged in 2017, underwent nearly two years of rehabilitation

The trajectory of asteroid 52768 (1998 OR2), which approaches the orbits of both Earth and Mars.

The Biggest Asteroid to Fly by This Year Will Zoom Past Earth Next Month

During its visit, the asteroid, called (52768) 1998 OR2, will remain almost 4 million miles away from Earth

Jeremy Bentham's auto-icon is now on display in a glass case in University College London's Student Centre.

English Philosopher’s Dressed-Up Skeleton Goes on View in New Glass Display

When utilitarian thinker Jeremy Bentham died in 1832, he requested his preserved remains be displayed in “an appropriate box or case”

Éva Székely won a gold medal at the 1952 Summer Olympics.

Éva Székely, Holocaust Survivor and Olympic Champion Swimmer, Dies at 92

In the wake of the war, she did not attempt to hide her identity. “Unequivocally,” she said, “I was a Jew”

A crew harvesting grapes in Glottertal, Germany, on January 18, 2016. Temperatures must drop below 19 degrees Fahrenheit to harvest. In the final winter months of 2019, it was not cold enough to pick grapes in most vineyards.

A Warm Winter Left Germany Unable to Produce Its Famed Ice Wines

Known for their sweet flavor, ice wines are made from grapes left to freeze on the vine

Erik Farrell stands beside one of the USS Monitor's eight-ton, Civil War-era Dahlgren guns.

Why Did Restorers Search a Civil War Battleship’s Guns for the Remains of a Black Cat?

Clearing out the eight-ton, 11-foot-long cannons gave conservators a chance to follow up on the tale of an unlucky feline

A gyotaku fish print

Art Meets Science

Traditional Japanese Fish Art Could Be a Boon for Conservation

“Gyotaku,” or the art of pressing ink-dipped fish onto paper, represents a wealth of scientifically accurate data on Japan’s marine life

Henneguya salminicola, a parasite that doesn't need to breathe oxygen to survive

This Animal Doesn’t Need Oxygen to Survive

A discovery in a jellyfish-like parasite bucks the typical trends of complex life

This photo of Earth's newest minimoon was taken by the 8-meter Gemini North telescope on Hawaii’s Maunakea. The image combines three images each obtained using different filters to produce this color composite.

Earth’s New Mini-Moon Is Leaving Soon

Our planet is just one stop along the car-sized asteroid’s solar system odyssey

Dame Helen Gwynne-Vaughan, chief controller of the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps, is one of six women set to be recognized with "blue plaques."

London Will Install Six New Plaques Commemorating Women’s History

The move is part of an ongoing effort to correct gender imbalances in the city’s 150-year-old “blue plaque” initiative

You can now a book a stay in Lucy the Elephant.

Spend a Night in This 65-Foot-Tall, Elephant-Shaped Airbnb

Keen travelers can pay $138 to spend a night inside Lucy the Elephant, a 138-year-old six-story structure on the Jersey Shore

A dog's cold nose could be used for heat seeking.

Dogs’ Cool, Wet Noses May Be Able to Detect Heat

A new study has found that dogs can pick out objects that are warmer than ambient temperature

Carl Cotton places individual letters on a label for an exhibition featuring hybrid birds.

Art Meets Science

The Chicago Field Museum Celebrates the Work of African American Taxidermist Carl Cotton

Cotton started working at the museum in the late 1940s, but he first became interested in taxidermy much earlier

None

New Research

Watch This Deep-Sea Sponge Sneeze in Slow Motion

The glass sponge can take up to a month to finish a sneeze

Page 487 of 1141