Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Smart News

Elusive “Unicorn” Plant Spotted in Maine for the First Time in 131 Years

The state’s Department of Agriculture has documented around 300 flowering unicorn root stems

The NYPL's Insta Novels are available via Instagram.

Fall Down the Rabbit Hole With the New York Public Library’s Instagram Version of Classic Tales

Featured texts include ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,’ ‘The Metamorphosis’ and ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’

Satellite Image of Hurricane Lane

Trending Today

Why Hawaiian Hurricanes Are So Rare

The islands are usually protected by their remoteness and a stable high pressure system, which has gone wonky in the last year

Blue-and-yellow macaws are capable of blushing (left).

Like Humans, Some Birds Blush to Communicate

Blue-and-yellow macaws are capable of the feathered equivalents of facial expressions, new research shows

The tiny arm or leg fragment belonged to Denisova 11, a 13-year-old hybrid hominin

Cool Finds

Meet Denisova 11: First Known Hybrid Hominin

The 13-year-old girl’s mother was a Neanderthal while her father was a Denisovan

North Carolina will leave three Confederate monuments in place at the state Capitol

North Carolina Votes to Keep Three Confederate Monuments at the State Capitol

The state’s historical commission said it was bound by a 2015 law that restricts the relocation of statues on public property

A photograph of the fossil turtle Eorhynchochelys sinensis, which lived about 228 million years ago and sported a beak but no shell.

Newly Discovered Turtle Ancestors Chomped With Beaks But Bore No Shells

A 228-million-year-old fossil fills gaps in the tale of turtle evolution—and raises a few questions

Shuttered Amid Protests Last Year, Queer Art Exhibition Reopens in Rio

A successful crowdfunding campaign helped bring “Queermuseu” back to life

Haze in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

New Research

Air Pollution Is Stealing a Year of Life From People Around the Globe

Tiny particles that contribute to lung disease, strokes and heart attacks are robbing Americans of 4 months and over 1.8 years of life elsewhere

The iconic Barnum's Animals crackers are getting a redesign, thanks to PETA.

After 116 Years, Animal Crackers Have Been Freed From Their Circus Cages

A new redesign of the iconic treats shows animals walking across a savanna

A STEVE lights up the night over British Columbia.

New Research

STEVE the Purple Beam of Light Is Not An Aurora After All

In a second study of mysterious phenomena, researchers discovered that solar particles hitting the ionosphere do not power the violet, vertical streaks

Trending Today

Suspected Nazi Camp Guard Deported to Germany

Fourteen years after being stripped of his citizenship, Germany finally takes in Jakiw Palij, who was trained by the SS at Trawniki

Archaeologists unearthed the rotting teeth during construction of a new metro line in Melbourne, Australia

Cool Finds

Archaeological Dig at Australian Metro Station Unearths 1,000 Human Teeth

A local dentist probably flushed the molars down the toilet or discarded them with his trash

113 Sea Turtles Have Been Found Dead on a Mexico Beach

Officials are still investigating the cause of the die-off

Upturned under mysterious circumstances, the flagship vessel sank to its undersea grave with roughly 500 innocents—and one ship dog, a mutt dubbed Hatch—trapped within

New Nanotech Returns Henry VIII’s Favorite Warship to Its Former Glory

Researchers used tiny magnetic particles to remove the iron ions responsible for the wooden vessel’s decay

New Research

Ancient Mayan Clearcutting Still Impacts Carbon in Soil Today

Even 1,000 years after a forest regrows, the soil beneath still won’t hold as much carbon as it once could, a new study suggests

Obvious' "Portrait of Edmond Belamy" exceeded expectations at Thursday's sale

Art Meets Science

Christie’s Will Be the First Auction House to Sell Art Made by Artificial Intelligence

Christie’s will sell the work from Paris-based art collective Obvious, which created ‘Portrait of Edmond Belamy’ with the machine-learning algorithm GAN

Cool Finds

Scientists Begin Unveiling the Secrets of the Mummies in the Alexandria ‘Dark Sarcophagus’

The massives stone coffin found in July contains a woman and two men, including one who survived brain surgery

Poster for Cinématographe Lumière (1896)

Poster From One of the Earliest Public Movie Screenings Is Heading to Auction

The artwork advertised the Lumière brothers’ pioneering Cinématographe

If you stick to a diet of kale, brussels sprouts and similarly leafy greens, your salivary proteins will eventually adapt to their bitter taste

There’s a Scientific Explanation for Why Adults Are More Likely to Tolerate Leafy Greens

Just eat your veggies: Salivary proteins adapt to bitter tastes, making them more palatable over time

Page 594 of 1141