Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Travel

The rooftop garden and colonnade at the Museum of Jurassic Technology.

Urban Explorations

Inside Los Angeles’s Strangest Museum

Enter the dark and completely unique world of the Museum of Jurassic Technology

The as-yet-unnamed new volcanic island in Tonga, explored by GP Orbassano.

What’s It Like to Take the First Photos of a New Volcanic Island?

Meet the man who climbed to the top and took these stunning shots

A type of coral trout called the leopard trout (Plectropomus leopardus) swims on the Great Barrier Reef.

Anthropocene

Fishing Bans Create a Glimmer of Hope on the Great Barrier Reef

No-take reserves have helped commercially important species bounce back, but the reef still faces some serious threats

Journalists walk along the new Caminito del Rey in El Chorro-Alora, March 15, 2015.

“The World’s Most Dangerous Trail” Reopens This Week

A once-deadly path is now a modern tourist attraction

Urban Explorations

Eight Modern Speakeasies With Real Roots in the 1920s

These speakeasies across the United States do justice to the Jazz Age

John Wayne's dark-green 1971 Pontiac station wagon.

Make a Pilgrimage to the Brand New John Wayne Birthplace & Museum

Opening in April, a museum to match the movie star’s legacy

The Civil War

The Underappreciated and Forgotten Sites of the Civil War

To commemorate the end of the war 150 years ago, here are fascinating locales that remind us of the conflict’s sprawling impact

This particularly charming street in Colmar, France looks straight out of a fairy tale.

The 11 Most Endearing Small Streets Worth Visiting

These tiny corridors around the world invite you in with their charm and surprising level of bustle

The details of the replica (under construction last year), its area nearly the size of a football field, are based on 700 hours of laser scanning in the actual cave.

Finally, the Beauty of France’s Chauvet Cave Makes its Grand Public Debut

A high-tech recreation of the immortal artworks shines a new light on the dawn of human imagination

Ganden Sumtseling Monastery in Shangri-La was built in 1679 at the direction of the Fifth Dalai Lama.

Retracing the Footsteps of China’s Patron Saint of Tourism

Travelers are discovering the Ming dynasty’s own Indiana Jones, an adventurer who dedicated his life to exploring his country’s Shangri-Las

Diners eat lunch outdoors at the Osteria Margutta.

Rome’s Very Short Street With a Long, Magnificent History

Taste the food life on the Via Margutta, once home to Fellini and since 1953, the scene of Americans’ sweetest Roman Holiday

A barn owl by the light of the moon.

American South

Best Places to See Nature After Dark

The sun may power most of our world—but some things come alive only at night

Los Angeles, United States

See Street Art Around the World via Google

Thousands of new images help preserve the art form

"The show was another spectacular one! Reds and greens and yellows! The sky has just been on fire!" the photographer enthuses on Spaceweather.com.

Severe Solar Storm Paints the Sky Green on St. Patrick’s Day

A burst of particles from the sun is hitting our atmosphere and lighting up the night as far south as Illinois

Phytoplankton light up the beach on Vaadhoo.

These Spellbinding Light Phenomena Will Make You Believe in Magic

See seven stunning natural light shows from around the world

This sinkhole in Belize has drawn scientists and divers, shedding light on the mystery that ended the Mayan Empire.

The World is Full of Circles

In honor of a very special Pi Day, enjoy this map that explores the human-made and natural structures that come closest to a perfect circle

A man throws colored water as he celebrates Holi in Nandgaon, in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, February 28, 2015.

Holi 2015: Stunning Photos of Holi, the Festival of Colors

Celebrated all over India and around the world, the Hindu festival heralds the beginning of spring

The Well of Death came from the American motordome racing popular in the early 1900s.

India’s Dying Well of Death

Brave stuntmen have long been riding the near-vertical walls of India’s Well of Death—but the popular spectacle is on the decline

Page 112 of 202