Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Smart News

Glowing proteins produced by the modified E. coli.

New Research

DNA Code Gets Two New Synthetic Letters—And Uses Them to Create a New Protein

Researchers hope the advance is a step toward producing a range of new compounds, including designer drugs and biofuels

Marianne Means during a 1983 interview with C-SPAN's Brian Lamb.

Pioneering Political Journalist Marianne Means Has Died at Age 83

The first woman assigned to cover a president’s activities on a full-time basis, Means wrote a widely syndicated column about the goings-on in Washington

New Research

Researchers Investigate What Makes a Poem Popular

A recent study found that vividness of imagery best predicted a poem’s aesthetic appeal

New Research

Your Oldest Ancestor Was Probably Sponge Like

A new study may settle a long-running debate about which creature was the first to evolve from a universal common animal ancestor

Winter recreationists circa 1975.

The Snowmobile Changed How Americans Did Winter

As the cold comes in, snowbound communities are tuning up their vehicles and recreationists are making speedy winter plans

The Amur leopard twins Akeno, left, and Zivon, right, are being baptized at the zoo in Leipzig, Germany, Thursday, July 6, 2017. The twin animals were born on 22 April.

Rare Amur Leopard Call Gets Caught on Tape

New footage of the cat making its distinctive roar offers a glimpse into the endangered species’ behavior

An aircraft takes off from Ronald Reagan National Airport, passing in front of the Moon as it rises above Washington D.C.

Trending Today

Super Pictures Capture This Year’s Only Visible Supermoon

If you missed last night’s celestial show, these images feature our lunar orb in all its glory

University of Michigan paleontologist Daniel Fisher holds up an intact mammoth rib unearthed from the field.

Cool Finds

Mammoth Remains Unearthed at Michigan Farm, Hint at Ancient Human Butchering

Researchers have found 40 additional bones, including the skull, tusks and teeth of an ice age creature

The Hubble Ultra Deep Field

Cool Finds

Chilean Telescope Takes Deepest Look Into the Cosmos Yet

In the process, researchers discovered 72 new galaxies and details on 1,600 more

The beginning of the Crazy Horse Memorial.

The Memorial to Crazy Horse Has Been Under Construction For Almost 70 Years

But you can still visit the memorial, which is located in South Dakota

Muhammad Ansi, "Drowned Syrian Refugee Child (from Images seen on TV)," 2016. "Muhammad Ansi, originally from Yemen, was detained at Guantánamo for almost 15 years before being released to Oman in January 2017. He learned to paint and draw at Guantánamo, working mainly in landscapes and still life. His art often features cities seen from far away, paths without beginning or end, and empty boats adrift at sea."

Exhibit of Art by Guantánamo Prisoners Prompts Pentagon Review

The Department of Defense has halted transfers of artworks by detainees

Hundreds of pterosaur eggs were found, 16 of which contained partial embryonic remains.

Cache of 120-Million-Year-Old Fossilized Pterosaur Eggs Found in China

Some of the eggs contained embryonic remains, offering unprecedented insight into the pterosaur’s early life phases

Earthworms Reproduce in Faux Mars Soil For the First Time

A vital component of healthy Earth gardens, scientists are testing their resilience in the harsh Red Planet environment

Archaeologists in California Unearth a Large Sphinx—From the Set of ‘The Ten Commandments’

Director Cecil B. DeMille gave the order for the entire set be buried beneath the sand after shooting on the blockbuster concluded

11 Cauldrons Found at Iron Age Settlement in England

The cauldrons, most of which were buried in a circle, appear to have been used in ceremonial feasts

A family of four buying gas at a service station.

A Short Picture History of Gas Stations

Gas stations have evolved a lot from their humble roots

The face of a dreamer.

Winston Churchill Imagined the Lab-Grown Hamburger

But he was off about the year when it would be created

A Thomas Gainsborough painting of Queen Charlotte

Five Things to Know About Queen Charlotte

Before Meghan Markle, the late 18th-century Queen Sophia Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz may have been the country’s first biracial royal

A CT scan of Pseudoliparis swirei

Cool Finds

Meet the Record-Breaking Fish That Lives 26,000 Feet Under the Sea

The creature is a type of snailfish, and has adapted to survive crushing pressures

One of the samples sequenced by the yeti researchers

New Research

Most “Yeti” Evidence Is Actually From Brown Bears

The results dispel the idea of these mythical beasts while providing clues to the ancestry of the elusive Himalayan and Tibetan bears

Page 646 of 1141