Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Smart News

The eight-foot-deep pit contained two ancient coffins and an array of funerary vases.

Cool Finds

Greek Farmer Stumbles Onto 3,400-Year-Old Tomb Hidden Below His Olive Grove

The Crete local was trying to park his vehicle when he accidentally unearthed the ancient Minoan grave

The National Museum, seen from above, after the overnight fire in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Why Brazil’s National Museum Fire Was a Devastating Blow to South America’s Cultural Heritage

The collection of more than 20 million artifacts included the oldest fossil found in the Americas and a trove of indigenous literature

87 Elephants Found Dead Near Botswana Sanctuary

A report attributed the killings to a “poaching frenzy”

New Research

Genome Reveals When Opium Poppy Became a Painkiller

A combination of two genes over 7.8 million years ago was the first step to producing morphine and other narcotic compounds

Archaeologists excavate the outside areas of the Theater.

Remains of One of the First Theaters to Perform Shakespeare’s Plays Will Open to the Public After 400 Years

Excavations at the site have also unearthed a large complex that was built around the theater

The winning design features an 180-foot, 200-ton steel column jutting out of the Northumberland hillside at a roughly 30-degree angle.

British Aristocrat Commissions 180-Foot Monument Celebrating Elizabeth II’s Reign

The Third Viscount Devonport has chosen sculptor Simon Hitchens to bring the Elizabeth Landmark to life

New Research

Gene Editing Treats Muscular Dystrophy in Dogs

CRISPR gene editing has relieved symptoms of a canine version of Duchenne muscular dystrophy in four puppies, raising hope for humans

A few pages from the recently digitized codex.

Cool Finds

See Leonardo da Vinci’s Genius Yourself in These Newly Digitized Sketches

The Victoria and Albert Museum in London has made ultra high-resolution scans of two codices available online

Mexican Fireleg Tarantula

Thousands of Creepy Crawlies Stolen From Philadelphia Insectarium

Police suspect three current or former employees swiped the animals

Murky lakes contain high quantities of both algae and organic matter. Lakes bearing such greenish-brown or brownish-green tints tend to be of low water quality

America’s Lakes Are Losing Their Blue Hue as Waters Shift to Murky Greenish-Brown

Over five-year period, the country’s number of blue lakes declined by 18 percent, while murky lakes increased by 12 percent

A Burmese python that was captured in Florida's Everglades National Park.

Newly Discovered Hybrid Pythons Are Threatening Florida’s Wildlife

A new study has found that some invasive Burmese pythons carry DNA from another snake, which could make them more adaptable—and more dangerous

Artist's rendering of COSMOS-AzTEC-1.

New Research

Monster Galaxy Churns Out 1,000 Times As Many Stars As Our Own

COSMOS-AzTEC-1 is almost 13 billion years old highly organized but unstable and could shed light on galaxy evolution

The ghost of a bagpiper is rumored to haunt the caves below Culzean Castle

Cool Finds

Hidden Medieval Door Leading to Smugglers’ Caves Discovered Underneath Scottish Castle

Culzean Castle, a towering fortress overlooking the cliffs of Ayrshire, sits atop a labyrinthine network allegedly used by smugglers, ghosts and fugitives

Domed skylights offer tantalizing glimpses into the Amos Rex museum's sprawling underground galleries.

Helsinki’s New Subterranean Art Museum Opens Its Doors

The Amos Rex Museum is located beneath Lasipalatsi, a 1930s shopping center known as the ‘Glass Palace’

A skull with other bones of a victim's body is classified by anthropologists following an exhumation of a mass grave at the cemetery of Paterna, near Valencia, Spain,

Archaeologists Open One of Many Mass Graves From the Spanish Civil War

The excavation comes amid a push to deal more openly with a difficult chapter of Spain’s history

Is it just instinct?

New Research

New Zealand Penguins Make an Epic, Pointless, Swim to the Southern Ocean

A new satellite study shows the penguins travel over 4,000 miles to feed, even though their home shores are teeming with food

The project will also feature the world premiere of a controversial Ilya Khrzhanovsky film, produced from 2009 to 2011 on another simulated set.

An Immersive Art Installation Will Temporarily Resurrect the Berlin Wall

This fall, event organizers plan on constructing a pseudo-city within a block of Berlin in order to emulate life in an unfamiliar country

The precious piece sold for $57,500.

Sold: A Pocket Watch From the Titanic, Adorned with Hebrew Letters

The watch belonged to Sinai Kantor, a Russian immigrant who died when the ship went down

New Research

Climate Change Likely Iced Neanderthals Out Of Existence

Climate records gathered from stalagmites in Romanian caves show two extremely cold dry periods correspond with the disappearance of Neanderthals

Goats either prefer humans that sport a grin or make an effort to avoid those with a grimace, a new study shows.

Goats May Prefer Happy Human Faces

A new study found that goats gravitate towards images of smiling people, suggesting that they can distinguish between human expressions

Page 592 of 1141