Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Smart News

The team analyzed 135 squirrel specimens under visible and ultraviolet light

Flying Squirrels Glow Fluorescent Pink Under Ultraviolet Light

The bubblegum pink coloring could help New World flying squirrels navigate, communicate or blend into their environments

Common fruit flies are ideal for complex genetic screens because of their short lifespan, relatively small genome and low cost.

Meet Nemuri, the Gene That Puts Flies to Sleep and Helps Them Fight Infection

A team of researchers looked at 8,015 genes and found one that made the insects super-sleepers

The June 6, 2019, event will mirror paratrooper landings on D-Day

What to Expect for ‘D-Day 75’

Preparations for the 75th anniversary of D-Day are already underway, and will include the flight of 30 Douglas C-47 Skytrains

Detail from one of the fragments showing the name "Merlin."

Fragments of Early Arthurian Legend Found in 16th-Century Book

The seven manuscript fragments, which date to the 13th century, tell the story of Merlin leading a battle charge

Sunflower sea stars in British Columbia, just weeks before wasting disease turned them to mush.

New Research

Why Almost All of the West Coast’s Sunflower Sea Stars Have Wilted Away

A new study suggests most of the keystone predators have died off due to an unknown pathogen and increasing ocean temperatures

Operation Ranch Hand has led to a multi-generational health crisis and an environmental catastrophe.

Trending Today

Court Rules ‘Blue Water’ Vietnam Veterans Are Eligible for Agent Orange Benefits

Sailors had long been excluded from health benefits related to the dioxin-tainted herbicide the military spread during the war

Neuroscientists Have Converted Brain Waves Into Verbal Speech

Researchers tracked participants’ neural activity as they listened to recorded speech, then translated brain patterns into synthesized speech

‘Frost Quakes’ May Have Caused Mysterious Booms in Chicago

The event happens when sudden temperature drops cause underground water to freeze and expand

Enrique Linares: "Zambra Gitana at the Roma Neighborhood in Granada." Postcard, Spain, 1910. RomArchive: fla_00026.

New Archive Reclaims the Narrative of the Roma

RomArchive includes more than 5,000 objects that highlight the creativity and self-agency of the often-maligned group

Trending Today

Joshua Trees Could Take 200 to 300 Years to Recover From Shutdown Damage

A former park superintendent says it will take centuries to regrow some of the iconic plants destroyed during the 35-day furlough

Los Angeles-based Nate D. Sanders Auctions will sell the collection on January 31, for a starting price of $3,500.

Dr. Seuss’ Letters to the Friend Who Launched His Career Are for Sale

Mike McClintock helped Theodor Seuss Geisel publish his first children’s book, which had been rejected 27 times

A rare, blue-eyed coyote

Rare Blue-Eyed Coyotes Spotted in California

Coyotes’ eyes are consistently golden-brown, so researchers have been surprised to learn of five California coyotes with piercing baby blues

Trending Today

Syndemic: The Little-Known Buzzword That Describes Our Troubled Times

A new report argues that the epidemics of obesity, undernutrition and climate change should be treated as one global mega-problem

Conservation of the Juanqinzhai moon gate in Qianlong Garden was completed in 2016.

Architect Annabelle Selldorf Will Design New Interpretation Center for China’s Forbidden City

The restored Qianlong Garden complex, a sprawling oasis of four courtyards and 27 pavilions, is set to open to the public for the first time in 2020

The North American fox squirrel is one of eight species deemed very high-risk threats

These 66 Species Are Potential Biodiversity Threats to European Ecosystems

Northern snakehead, green seaweed, striped eel catfish and fox squirrel are amongst the most high-risk species

The map currently features more than 130 entries divided into five categories

Interactive Map Renders Women’s Cultural Contributions to French Capital Visible

The evolving project highlights landmarks in Paris that were “financed, imagined or made by women”

The new survey follows up on findings from 2015.

Study Finds Art Museums Are Slowly Becoming More Diverse, but Progress Is ‘Uneven’

While more people of color are being hired at museums, there has been little change in diversity among senior leadership, especially

“Courting Devil Ray Ballet” by Duncan Murrell

These Are the Best Practices for Underwater Photographers Hoping to Protect Marine Life

You can look—and even use flash photography—but don’t touch

Cool Finds

Revealed: Leonardo da Vinci’s Reddish-Brown Thumbprint

The inky impression made on an anatomical drawing of a woman will go on view to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the artist’s death

Measles Outbreak Sparks Public Health Emergency in Washington State

There have been 36 confirmed cases, and most of the patients had not been vaccinated

Page 537 of 1116