Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Smart News

This diminutive mammal could soon go extinct.

Trending Today

Only 30 of the World’s Most Adorable Porpoise Are Left on Earth

As “the panda of the sea” hurtles toward extinction, scientists stage a last-ditch effort to save the species

This is the 517th Xerox model 917 ever made, donated to the Smithsonian in 1985.

Watch the Original 1959 Ad for the First Office-Ready Xerox Machine

When the Xerox 914 entered offices, the working world changed forever

The crew of Skylab 4 in August 1973. From left to right: astronaut Gerald Carr, who commanded the mission; scientist-astronaut Edward Gibson; astronaut William Pogue.

Mutiny in Space: Why These Skylab Astronauts Never Flew Again

In 1973, it was the longest space mission — 84 days in the stars. But at some point the astronauts just got fed up

Trending Today

Blazing Green Meteor Lights Up Midwest Skies

Early Monday morning, the fireball buzzed Wisconsin before breaking up over Lake Michigan

This illustration by Helen Sewell graced one of the original editions of Little House on the Prairie, published in the 1930s. That book tells of the period in the Ingalls family's lives in which they settled in Kansas on land that still belonged to Native Americans.

The Little House on the Prairie Was Built on Native American Land

Yesterday was Laura Ingalls Wilder’s 150th birthday. It’s time to take a critical look at her work

A woodcut from 1482 is yours for the coloring in a book by the Bodleian Library.

Cool Finds

#ColorOurCollections Is Back, Turning Your Favorite Cultural Institutions Into Coloring Books

In its second year, it’s more vibrant than ever

Geckolepis megalepis

New Research

New Species of Fish-Scaled Gecko Can (Literally) Jump Out of Its Skin

The creature sloughs its skin when predators attack, leaving it looking like a raw chicken tender

Clerks (right) will no longer have to wear their distinctive wigs in the House of Commons.

Trending Today

British Parliament Is Losing its Wigs

They’re itchy, formal—and part of centuries of tradition

Romanians protest in Victoria Place in Bucharest on January 22.

Trending Today

Why Romanians Took to the Streets This Weekend

Up to half a million citizens protested a new decree that would have diminished anti-corruption penalties

Trending Today

Japan Plans to Make Olympic Medals Out of Electronic Waste

Organizers hope to reclaim gold, silver and copper from the used electronics for the 2020 games

This engraving of the 'Titanic' sinking was made shortly after the event happened, when the world was still reeling from the massive loss of life.

The Chief Designer of the ‘Titanic’ Saved Everyone He Could as His Ship Went Down

Thomas Andrews had argued for more lifeboats on the ship, but he was rebuffed on the grounds that it would ruin the view

Clocking in at 2.4 billion year old, this space rock is unlike the others.

New Research

A Martian Volcano May Have Continuously Erupted for Billions of Years

A space rock found in Northwest Africa provides new clues to volcanic activity on Mars

Although it's possible that Sandro Botticelli threw other works of his on the bonfire, the Birth of Venus thankfully survived.

A Fanatical Monk Inspired 15th-Century Italians to Burn Their Clothes, Makeup and Art

He told Florentines the apocalypse was coming, and to save themselves through self-censorship

The hole in the grate below the pressure vessel in reactor 2, possibly caused by melted nuclear material

Trending Today

Scientists Measure Highest Radiation Levels Yet Inside Fukushima’s Damaged Reactors

The latest measurements are over seven times the previously measured high—enough to fry a robot in two hours

:)

Researchers Discover a 17th-Century “Emoji”

The classic smiley face has been around for a long time

This paper plane could one day change the way the U.S. military handles one-way supply missions.

Cool Finds

Why the Military Is Investing in Paper Airplanes

Disposable drones could save lives—and money

This 1976 photograph shows a woman receiving a vaccination during the nationwide swine flu vaccination campaign.

The Next Pandemic

The Long Shadow of the 1976 Swine Flu Vaccine ‘Fiasco’

Some, but not all, of the hesitance to embrace vaccines can be traced back to this event more than 40 years ago

Babe Ruth's first major-league team was the Boston Red Sox, where he was a star player. When he was sold to the New York Yankees in 1919, the "Curse of the Bambino" began and the Red Sox didn't win another World Series until 2004.

Why Was Babe Ruth So Good At Hitting Home Runs?

People have been using science on the Great Bambino since the 1920s

Mary Leakey and her husband Louis in 1962.

Mary Leakey’s Husband (Sort of) Took Credit For Her Groundbreaking Work On Humanity’s Origins

Leakey and her husband, Louis Leakey, were a paleoanthropology power couple

In the summer of 1946, Holocaust survivors lent their voices to the "Henonville Songs," which psychologist David Boder recorded on this wire spool.

Spool of “Holocaust Songs” Found in Mislabelled Container

The “Henonville Songs” are being heard for the first time in 70 years

Page 705 of 1116