July 2009
Smithsonian magazine delivers trusted and incisive reporting on history, science, nature, culture and travel.
Features
On the March
A traveling exhibition of China's 2,200 year-old terra cotta soldiers sheds new light on the ruler whose tomb they guarded
Nikita in Hollywood
When Khrushchev went to Tinseltown at the height of the cold war, the Soviet dictator put on a show of his own
We Have Liftoff
Forty years ago this month, the Apollo 11 mission put men on the moon—and brought America to Florida's shore
Birth of a Robot
Can scientists build a machine that, like a child, learns as it goes and plays well with others? A California-based group is finding out
Catching a Wave
Engineer Annette von Jouanne is pioneering an ingenious way to generate clean, renewable electricity from the sea
High Hopes for a New Kind of Gene
With "microRNA" transforming how researchers think about disease, Carlo Croce eyes new treatments for cancer
Departments
"Salami, Mr. Holcomb?"
The first women to attend the Naval Academy became seniors in 1979. Photojournalist Lucian Perkins was on deck as the old order changed.
Forest Primeval
An Illinois coal mine holds the world's largest fossil wilderness, a snapshot of life on earth 300 million years ago
Keeping Company
Observing ibises and kayaking among sharks, the noted writer savors life "up this Keys"
The Great Escape
Thornton Wilder sought a place where he could "refresh the wells." He found it in the desert
Wild Things: Life as We Know It
Whale of a comeback, dancing cockatoos, sticky bees, and waltzing pond scum
Ant Eye View
A new photo exhibit at the Natural History Museum reminds us that we still live in an age of discovery
There Oughta Be a Law
Centuries hence, historians may wonder: Where exactly did Congress store all those pork barrels?