CURRENT ISSUE
January 2013
Features
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/Born-to-Be-Mild-angel-devil-631.jpg)
Born to Be Mild
New research offers surprising answers to the age-old question of where morality comes from
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/Rio-Marcos-Rodrigo-Neves-631.jpg)
Rio Revolution
The Brazilian government’s bold efforts to clean up the city’s notoriously dangerous favelas is giving hope to people who live there
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/Frog-that-Roared-red-eyed-tree-frog-631.jpg)
The Frog that Roared
The world’s most charismatic amphibian is upending the conventional wisdom about evolution
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/National-Treasure-Emancipation-Proclamation-631.jpg)
Forever Free
The pen, inkwell and one copy of the document that freed the slaves are photographed together for the first time
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/Moulin-Rouge-Tropi-Can-Can-631.jpg)
Viva Moulin Rouge!
America’s first interracial casino helped end segregation on the Strip and proved that the only color that mattered was green
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/Tunnel-Vision-Larry-Edwards-631.jpg)
Tunnel Vision
An underground scientist is pioneering a new way to learn what the climate was like thousands of years ago
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/Spy-Jaron-Lanier-631.jpg)
The Spy Who Came In From the Cold 2.0
The digital pioneer and visionary behind virtual reality has turned against the very culture he helped create
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/Rising-Son-Japan-Jesus-631.jpg)
Land of the Rising Son
A mountain hamlet in northern Japan claims Jesus Christ was buried there
Departments
Contributors
Discussion
From the Editor
From the Castle
Time
Psychologists and anthropologists debate how different cultures answer the question, “What time is it?”
Test of Time
Among the organisms documented by photographer Rachel Sussman are 80,000-year-old aspen trees and 600,000-year-old bacteria
Coast Guard
Smithsonian scientists have taken to the Chesapeake Bay to investigate how marshlands react to the shifting environment
Will We Be Able to Prevent an Asteroid Strike and More Questions From Our Readers
Does lightning strike ships at sea and why does American English differ from British English?