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A northern saw-whet owl in Canada

Meet the Tiny, Adorable Owls That Have Mastered the Art of Hiding

One of the smallest owls in North America, the northern saw-whet lives among us and is rarely seen—but one volunteer science project aims to find them and uncover their secrets year after year

Did colonial Americans wear wristwatches? 

Did Colonial Americans Wear Wristwatches? And More Questions From Our Readers

You’ve got questions. We’ve got experts

An Olivetti Studio 46 typewriter that belonged to Octavia E. Butler. As the author recalled: "I wrote my first ten books on a manual typewriter."

In Her Inventive and Prescient Stories, Octavia Butler Wrote Herself Into the Science Fiction Canon

On her beloved typewriters, the literary legend mapped out a course for the future of the genre

A young chimpanzee looks on during an outing to an island in the Douala-Edea National Park in Cameroon, on December 15, 2024.

From Chimps Eating Medicinal Plants to Footprints Tracking Our Early Relatives, Here Are the Most Significant Human Evolution Discoveries of 2024

Smithsonian paleoanthropologists explore how the year brought us closer to understanding ancient human relatives and origins

One of the ceremonial double ikat textiles acquired by the Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art in 2024

Eleven Fascinating Acquisitions That Joined the Smithsonian’s Vast Collections in 2024

This year, the Institution collected everything from the stunning shell of an extinct cephalopod to a Blue Origin rocket booster

James Earl Carter, Jr. by Robert Clark Templeton, 1980

The Lasting Legacy of Jimmy Carter, Dead at 100

Smithsonian curators remember and honor the 39th president’s uncompromising idealism

A scorpionfish swims along an unnamed seamount on the Nazca Ridge in the Pacific Ocean.

The Ten Most Awe-Inspiring Ocean Moments of 2024

From animal journeys across oceans to the discovery of dozens of new species in the deep sea, these stories wowed us

Timothée Chalamet as Bob Dylan in A Complete Unknown, a new James Mangold film

Based on a True Story

The Real Story Behind ‘A Complete Unknown’ and Bob Dylan’s Early Career, From His Arrival in New York City to When He ‘Went Electric’

A new film starring Timothée Chalamet tracks Dylan’s evolution from an acoustic folk singer to a rock ‘n’ roll superstar

Birds (Cranes), Tamami Shima, woodblock print, 1959

See the Groundbreaking Work of 20th-Century Printmakers Who Formed an Innovative Arts Society in Japan

The sosaku hanga movement, now explored in an exhibition at the National Museum of Asian Art, was a showcase for new techniques in creative prints

Our most-read stories of the year featured photographer Vivian Maier, underwater caves in the Yucatán Peninsula, auroras and more.

Ten Top Smithsonian Stories of 2024, From a Mysterious Underground Chamber to Dazzling Auroras

The magazine’s most-read articles of the year included a close-up look at the adorable yet venomous pygmy slow loris, a profile of a little-known 20th-century street photographer and a majestic journey with divers into Mexico’s underwater caves

The mailbox for letters to Santa Claus at the home of the Parsons family in Pennsylvania, on December 10, 2020

Ask Smithsonian

Kids Send Thousands of Letters to Santa Each Year. Here’s What Really Happens to Them

The United States Postal Service and volunteers have responded to North Pole holiday correspondence over the past century

Pages from the diary of Yitskhok Rudashevski

The Discovery of a Jewish Teenager’s Holocaust Diary Reveals How Songs, Jokes and Stories Served as Cultural Resistance

Yitskhok Rudashevski documented his life while hiding from Nazis, as well as folklore told in his community that “must be collected and preserved as a treasure for the future”

This year's list includes Clouds in Space, The Manicurist's Daughter and The Ministry of Time.

The Best Books of 2024

The Best Books of 2024, as Chosen by Smithsonian Scholars

Staff at the Institution pick their favorite reads of the year, including riveting memoirs, fascinating true histories and fun fiction

A sculptor's rendering of "Lucy," Australopithecus afarensis, at the Houston Museum of Natural Science on August 28, 2007.

What ‘Lucy,’ One of the World’s Most Important Fossils, Has Taught Scientists in the 50 Years Since Her Discovery

The famous early human is still providing lessons to anthropologists about prehistoric Earth and its inhabitants

Queen Victoria at the Drury Lane Theatre, Edmund Thomas Parris, 1837

How an Engraving of Queen Victoria Ushered in the Era of the Bouquet Holder in England

The monarch set fashion trends during her time, and the flower holder became a sought-after accessory in Victorian society

How do scientists know which insects can see color?

Can Insects See Color? And More Questions From Our Readers

You’ve got questions. We’ve got experts

The laptop that belonged to Chris Janczewski, former IRS-CI agent

A Federal Agent’s Laptop Held the Keys to Seize $3.6 Billion in Stolen Bitcoin. Here’s How It Ended Up at the Smithsonian

Soon to be on display at the National Museum of American History, the laptop is the centerpiece of a criminal case that shows an evolving understanding of cryptocurrency

A dried sample of the original Penicillium mold that Fleming discovered in 1928.

The ‘Penicillin Girls’ Made One of the World’s Most Life-Saving Discoveries Possible

The true, forgotten and sometimes-stinky history of the cohort who took Alexander Fleming’s innovation and forever changed the face of modern medicine

Floating Clouds, Hisako Hibi, oil on canvas, 1944 

Discover the Remarkable Paintings of Three Japanese Americans Whose Life Stories Are Told Through Their Work

A new exhibition spotlights a trio who pushed the boundaries of American art and illustrated the experiences of World War II incarceration

The Island, Tuan Andrew Nguyen, single-channel video, color, 5.1 surround sound, 42 minutes, 2017

See a Film That Reimagines History on the Malaysian Island That Served as a Refugee Site After the Vietnam War

The work, now on view at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, tells the story of two characters on the island—the last people alive in the world

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