Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Smart News

Cool Finds

This Hospital Door Handle Doubles As a Hand Sanitizer

This way, infections don’t spread as easily—and no one has to remember to Purel their hands

New Research

A Virus—Possibly Spread by Pig Feed—Has Killed Millions of Piglets

The virus poses no threat to humans, but is deadly to piglets

Cool Finds

This Mummy Had an Angel Tattooed on Her Leg

A 1,300 year old Egyptian mummy was found to have the tattoo of an angel on her inner thigh

Most of us are more like the frog, than the prince.

Cool Finds

No One Wants to Admit They’re Ugly, Which Makes It Hard to Fight Beauty Bias

Nobody wants to join the ugly lobby, but that might be what we need to battle “lookism”

Lehman Cave

Cool Finds

Even Caves Need a Spring Cleaning

Volunteers removed two tons of detritus from Lehman Cave in Great Basin National Park

The English city of Bath was one of the top 10 tourist destinations in the 1800's

Cool Finds

Here’s How Tourism Worked in the 1860s

One of the only constants: Paris is popular.

Trending Today

Japan Has Been Ordered to Stop Whaling Near Antarctica

The United Nations called foul on Japan’s claim that whaling is done for scientific purposes

Andorra

Cool Finds

In a Few Small Countries, Tourists Massively Outnumber Locals

To attract enough tourists to overwhelm its population, a country needs something special to attract them.

Cool Finds

The Definitive Guide to the Dogs on the Titanic

There were twelve dogs on the Titanic. Here’s what happened to them.

New Research

Crows Understand Water Displacement Better Than Your Kid

Even Aesop knew that crows were so smart they understood how to get water to their beaks.

Researchers used the game Pardus to look at human organization.

New Research

Humans Playing Online Games Organize Themselves into Fractals

Players may be acting in a future, space-based world, but they still organize themselves into the fractals that humans have always fallen into

Cool Finds

George Washington Liked Ice Cream So Much He Bought Ice Cream-Making Equipment for the Capital

Washington used to serve ice cream to guests at the capital

Cool Finds

You Can Watch the First Ever Operation to Transplant a 3D-Printed Skull Into a Person’s Head

The operation, which took place on a 22-year-old Dutch woman, was a success

None

Cool Finds

It Once Took Tens of Thousands of Men to Recover an Astronaut from Landing

Splashdown support teams were absolutely massive

New Research

Kids Get Confused by Anthropomorphized Animals in Storybooks

This doesn’t mean we should stop reading them those books, however

None

Cool Finds

There Are Hundreds of Examples of Mind-Controlling Parasites

Parasites that hijack other creatures’ minds are not at all rare

Cool Finds

The Golden Gate Bridge Will Soon Get a Suicide Net Add-On

After record suicide numbers last year, the city will vote in May whether or not to install the net

Cool Finds

This Firefly Time-Lapse Video Is Beautiful

A visit to a serene lake in Missouri kicked off an obsession with creating time-lapse images of fireflies

These Cheetos are not going bad any time soon don't worry.

Cool Finds

“Sell By” And “Best By” Dates on Food Are Basically Made Up—But Hard to Get Rid Of

Where do these dates even come from, and why do we have them?

Office

New Research

Booking Your Vacation At Work? Bad Idea

Study finds that booking a vacation at work tends to lead to purchasing more expensive hotels and being less satisfied with your trip

Page 961 of 1127