Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Smart News

Trump Administration Overhauls How the Endangered Species Act Is Enforced

Critics say that the new rules limit much-needed protections for at-risk wildlife

A previous strain of the TR4 fungus led banana producers to switch from the Gros Michel strain to the now-dominant Cavendish variety

A Banana-Destroying Fungus Has Arrived in the Americas

The so-called Panama disease targets bananas’ vascular systems to prevent fruit from growing

Trending Today

Welsh Man Is First to Walk the Length of the Yangtze River

Adventurer Ash Dykes took over a year to walk from the river’s source in Tibet to its mouth in Shanghai

Astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley assigned to first SpaceX crewed launch test out their new space suits.

Future of Space Exploration

Astronauts Test Out Their Sleek New SpaceX Flight Suits

The SpaceX designed pressure suits are more form fitting and maneuverable than the Space Shuttle’s orange suits

An adult Goliath frog caught by a local frog hunter.

How Did the World’s Largest Frog Get So Big? Possibly by Building Its Own Ponds

A new study documents the unique nest-building habits of the Goliath frog

Nom, nom, nom.

New Research

Researchers Think They Know Why Cats Eat Grass

Contrary to popular belief, grass only occasionally makes cats vomit

Every 30 seconds, the United States loses the equivalent of nine Grand Canyons to human development

The U.S. Loses a Football Field-Sized Patch of Nature Every 30 Seconds

A new report outlines the benefits offered by preserving 30 percent of the country’s remaining natural land and oceans by 2030

The author's son plans on releasing a trove of his father's unpublished works at some point during the next decade

J.D. Salinger’s Work Is Coming to E-Readers for the First Time

The author’s longtime publishing company will release four e-books in August

The Fincha Habera rock shelter in the Ethiopian Bale Mountains served as a residence for prehistoric hunter-gatherers.

Archaeologists Uncover Evidence of an Ancient High-Altitude Human Dwelling

A trove of artifacts have surfaced in Ethiopia’s Bale Mountains, at a rocky site more than 11,000 feet above sea level

Cool Finds

Fossil Trees Reveal the Oldest Known Forest in Asia

The grove of lycopsid trees is 365 million years old and covers 2.7 million square feet

Trending Today

There Is Going to Be a ‘Moby-Dick’ Musical

Broadway powerhouses Dave Malloy and Rachel Chavkin recently previewed the performance under the whale at the American Museum of Natural History

Trending Today

Cleopatra May Have Once Smelled Like This Recreated Perfume

A team sought to replicate ancient Egypt’s most famous perfumes based on residue found in old bottles

New Research

The Scientists Who Stared at Gulls

A new study suggests that watching the birds as they approach will slow them down or scare them off

A Police officer asks tourists to scoot.

Per Favore, Do Not Sit on the Spanish Steps

Plop down on the landmark and you might find yourself hit with a €250 fine

Would you drink it?

Why Scientists Are Making Vodka in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone

It’s perfectly safe to drink, according to a new report

The result. On Twitter, Samus Blackley describes it as "much sweeter and more rich than the sourdough we are used to."

Cool Finds

This Bread Was Made Using 4,500-Year-Old Egyptian Yeast

After extracting the dormant yeast from cooking vessels, an amateur gastroegyptologist used ancient grains to recreate an Old Kingdom loaf

Trending Today

A Crashed Spacecraft Might Have Put Earth’s Most Indestructible Organisms on the Moon

The microscopic tardigrades were part of a lunar library sent aboard the Beresheet lander that crashed last April

Reconstruction of the giant parrot Heracles, with small New Zealand wrens for scale.

This Chonky Ancient Bird Is the World’s Largest Known Parrot

Discovered in New Zealand, the bird has been dubbed ‘Squawkzilla’

Beyoncé Knowles-Carter photographed on July 14, 2019 in London, England.

A Beyoncé Portrait Is Coming to the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery

The image appeared in Vogue’s 2018 September issue and was shot by the photographer Tyler Mitchell

"The Gift of Literature" by Jules Arthur Arts is one of the three proposals for the sculpture honoring Maya Angelou at the San Francisco Main Library.

San Francisco Is Getting a Monument to Maya Angelou

The city’s arts commission is expected to choose one of three proposed designs this week

Page 499 of 1116